There are only a limited number of Windows themes available that don't require the uxtheme.dll patch, and most of them are getting a bit tired: Royale, Royale Noir, Zune.

Sizzled Core reports today that the Windows Embedded theme from the standard CTP refresh can be extracted and installed on Windows XP and 2003 systems.

As you can see from the start menu image at the right, it's shiny and blue. The download has been strangely packaged (as a rar inside a zip), so I've re-uploaded a straightforward zip file to RapidShare and RapidSpread.

Download it, unzip it, and place the .theme and embedded folder into your %systemroot%\resources\themes (usually c:\windows\resources\themes) folder, then double click on the embedded.theme file.

You'll be immersed in the glorious azure tones of the Windows Embedded theme.

Enjoy!

It's been about a week since Google launched the public beta of its open source web browser, Google Chrome. While the browser certainly ain't perfect by a long shot, it does render pages quickly and has a few innovative features like an unconventional placement for tabs and a unified search box/location bar.

Over the past week there's been a flurry of activity surrounding the browser. Not from Google developers, but by third party developers who have done their best to make Google at least as useful as Firefox or Safari. A few folks have taken a different approach and tried to make Firefox look and feel a bit more like Chrome. Here are a few of our favorite Google Chrome updates from week one.


Themes

If you like Google Chrome's layout but can't stand the bland light blue color scheme, you're in luck. It turns out that all you need to do to change the browser's theme is replace a single default.dll. Your first step should be to the ChromeSpot message boards where dozens of users have posted custom themes. You can also find custom themes at Google Chrome Themes. (Link removed due to allegations that the developers were stealing themes without crediting the authors).

One you find a theme you like, you should backup your default theme by making a copy of your default.dll file. It's located in \Documents and Settings\[username\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\[version number]\Themes in Windows XP. Then just download the theme of your choice and unzip the new default.dll location to the same location.

If you're using Windows Vista the path should be \Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\[version number]\Themes\

Unfortunately since Google hasn't yet built a theme manager for Chrome there's no simple way to switch between mulitple themes from within the browser settings. If you're looking for an easier way to switch between themes you can try the Chrome Automatic Theme Switcher, but it won't work with the latest build of Chrome.

[via Lifehacker and Google Blogoscoped]

Perhaps our fate is sealed at Download Squad. Perhaps if you avert your eyes now you can save yourselves. Abandon all hope ye who read past this point, and know, yea verily, that while the weather stinks here, the company is diverse and you're bound to find someone you have something in common with.

The Ubuntu Satanic Edition is Linux for the damned. You don't have to be damned to use it (well, we're using it, and we've been telling ourselves this). The best thing is that it is so well designed and configuration is so well documented, you won't even need to use naughty words in the installation process. (We do advise, to get the most out of your hellish computing experience, that you follow the configuration guide. Some of it is very obvious, some of it isn't.)

Unlike the (now on temporary hiatus) Ubuntu Christian Edition and (active) Ubuntu Muslim Edition, which both have religion-specific applications, the Satanic Edition is simply a collection of themes, wallpapers (some NSFW), sound effects and splash screens. We suppose that's fine, as we really don't want any Satanic applications on our computers, although we're pretty sure someone will comment on the true nature of OEM installs of certain software that comes pre-installed on many computers. We didn't say it, though, okay?

Ubuntu Satanic Edition is visually quite stunning. We mean this in a good way. The artwork is very professional looking, the themes render well (and there are hints for making them work better with applications that have issues with dark themes), and the screen savers and bootsplash screens work without issue. There are even Beryl Skydomes especially for this edition.

Ubuntu Satanic Edition can be optimized for wide screens, and can be uninstalled, should you have complaints from co-workers, loved ones, or just feel really creeped out. It'll install happily on Hardy, Feisty, Gutsy or Edgy in either the 32- or 64-bit varieties (PPC does have a few components missing). There are guides for installing and configuring both Ubuntu and Kubuntu. There are also several additional themes for Emerald, icon themes, and other assorted goodies that are not "officially" part of the Satantic Edition.

The version number of the Satanic Edition? Duh, 666.4, of course.

[via Aditya Kavoor's blog]

Sure, we don't actually have any real idea what Windows 7 will look like. But if you believe the screenshots floating around the web, the next version of Windows will look an awful lot like Vista. With a few new effects. And so when the folks at DeviantART decided to put together a few Windows 7 themes for Windows XP, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the themes look and feel a lot like Windows Vista.

That said, they're much prettier than the default themes available for Windows XP. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't make it easy to install third party themes for Windows XP. Officially you're pretty much stuck with Windows XP, Windows Classic, and a Microsoft Zune theme. So the first thing you need to do to install a third party theme is to install a program called UxTheme Patcher.

If you're running Windows XP SP2 or earlier, you can download a Windows 7 theme and UxTheme Patcher in one fell swoop at MegaLeecher. Just unzip the file and click the multi-patcher file in the UX Theme Patcher Folder and then click the Windows 7 M1 VS.msstyles file in the Windows 7 M1 VS subfolder in the Themes folder.

But the included UxTheme Patcher isn't compatible with Windows XP SP3. So if you have SP3 installed, you'll need to download and install a patcher from another location. Once you've done that and rebooted your system, you should be able to install third party themes like the Windows 7 theme. Just don't expect it to look like much other than a Windows Vista theme.

What are some of your favorite third party themes for Windows XP? Let us know in the comments.

[via Life Rocks 2.0 and Shell Extension City]

It's been a few years since the Opera web browser's interface got a major overhaul. But now the Opera Desktop Team has posted an updated version of Opera 9.5 beta which features a shiny new theme.

The new theme is a bit closer to what you'll find on Opera's non-desktop browsers, including Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile and Opera for the Nintendo Wii. Aside from a darker look, there are a few nice features, like an animated stop/refresh button that turns red when a page is loading, and green when it's finished.

There's also a new settings icon in the main toolbar that lets you open the side panel to launch the Opera Widget engine, bookmark sidebar and other tools.

The updated version of Opera 9.5 beta is a development snapshot, so there are some known issues. But there's an option to install this version side by side with an existing version of Opera so you don't lose your settings.

After checking out 10 slick new themes for NetNewsWire yesterday, we started going on a themes kick. Many of our favorite applications, from VLC to Firefox are skinnable. Today, let's take a look at chat and social networking application Digsby.

Digsby already ships with a decent looking set of skins. But if you'd prefer Digsby to look like Windows Live Messenger, or a native OS X application (even though Digsby doesn't currently run on OS X), you can install user-generated skins.

Digsbies.org has a list of skins available, plus a series of conversation themes and emoticon sets. The site is an unofficial Digsby community, don't expect to get tech support updates from the Digsby team at Digsbies. But you can find a wealth of information at the Digsbies wiki, IRC channel, and blog. There's also a Digsby wish list where you can vote for the features you'd most like to see in future releases. The actual developers may or may not ever actually read your comments or pay attention to your vote. But if you have something you really want to get off your chest, Digsbies could be the place to do it.

[via Techie Buzz]

Now that a lot of people are spending as much time looking at their RSS readers as their web browsers or email clients, it's probably a good idea to give your reader an appearance you can live with. If you happen to use NetNewsWire, one of the most popular RSS apps for OS X, you've got plenty of stylesheets to choose from.

NetNewsWire supports CSS styles, so it's not too difficult to code your own if you happen to have some CSS experience. If you're a CSS newbie, though, don't sweat it: there are plenty of looks to choose from. We went beyond the preloaded styles and picked out some options that should please even the pickiest readers. Some of them not only change the look of NetNewsWire, but add some useful functionality as well. Take a look at our top 10 themes.

A few months ago Google launched an iGoogle themes gallery, making it a little easier to find themes for your personalized Google homepage. But just a little. While you can search for themes in the directory, there's no way to browse by category. So if you want to see celebrity, nature, or artsy themes, you have to either search through the whole pile or keep entering search terms until you find what you're looking for.

InThemes is a new unofficial iGoogle themes gallery that puts the official gallery to shame. Themes are divided up into categories and subcategories. And since each theme submitted to inThemes is reviewed before it's added to the gallery, there's a better chance of finding themes that aren't... how to put this delicately... hideous.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

If you love Ubuntu Linux, but you're not so fond of its default brown theme, there's hope. You can find an assortment of alternate themes in the System->Preferences->Appearance menu. The themes will change the colors of your program toolbars.

But if you're looking for something slightly more comprehensive, you might wan to check out Blubuntu. It's a theme that gives Ubuntu a nice calm blue color scheme. It also comes with a suggested wallpaper.

You can install Blubuntu by opening a terminal window and typing "sudo apt-get install blubuntu-look." Once installed, you should find Blubuntu listed in your Appearance menu. In order to apply Blubuntu to your login screen, go to System->Administration->Login Window, and select Blubuntu from the "local" tab.

[via Tombuntu]

Last week Google launched a new directory for iGoogle themes. At the same time, the company launched an API for developers who wanted to create their own custom skins for the Google personal homepage service. But if you're not the sort of person who enjoys spending your spare time sifting through XML code, creating your own theme might seem a bit difficult.

Luckily someone has been kind enough to create an online application that lets you design iGoogle themes with no coding knowledge. All you have to do is visit igThemer and choose from a long list of colors, Google logos, and other graphics.

Or if you're looking for real-time feedback on your designs, another developer has come up with an iGoogle theme editor bookmarklet. All you have to do is visit iGoogle and copy the code from his site into your URL bar. Up will pop a theme editing dialog asking you to choose your colors, images, and graphics. Unlike igThemer, this application doesn't give you pop-up color selection tools, so you'll need to enter color codes by hand.

[via Google Operating System]

There are plenty of programs out there that let you skin Windows to make it look like Linux, OS X, another version of Windows, or something else altogether. But if you're just tired of looking at your Windows 2000 or XP bootup screen while waiting for your computer to start, all you need is BootSkin.

This free application lets you replace your Windows splash screen with another image. There's a huge library of available splash screens at WinCustomize, with images ranging from the often-appropriate pirate flag to the ironic Windows ME boot screen.

BootSkin is available as a free download from Stardock, the same company behind the commercial Windows skinning application WindowBlinds and program launcher ObjectDock.

[via Brown Thoughts]

Google has allowed users to customize their personalized iGoogle start pages by adding themes for a while now. But aside from a handful of themes that show up in a box on your iGoogle page there hasn't been a great way to find new themes.

Now Google has added a themes directory to its gadgets directory. There still aren't a ton of themes to choose from (Just 18 as of this morning), but we expect to see the number grow. Most of the themes are currently Google designs, although there are a few third party themes. Hopefully now that there's a central place to showcase themes we'll see more third party development.

The company has also set up a page for anyone who wants to develop their own theme.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

We love contests, and that goes double for contests that take skill and effort to pull off. Macthemes2 is sponsoring an all out battle to the death over Mac Themes, and they're inviting you to throw your well-Photoshopped hat in the ring.

They write, "So without further ado, we're ecstatic to announce the MacThemes Theme For a Week Contest. With over 13,000 elements to theme in OSX the grueling task of creating and producing a theme takes the right kind of artist. That's why we decided to shake things up a bit. Instead of a long, drawn out development period, with little interaction from users and meager rewards at the end, the Theme For a Week Contest, as its name implies, lasts a week, with a (mock-up) development process as clear as glass and rewards fit for a king"
They're giving away a ton of cool gizmos and chotchkys for the skillful designer with a flare for all things desktop.

Google introduced a set of themes for your personalized homepage (or iGoogle) a few months back. But if you're looking for a few more customization options, check out this new Google gadget.

Once you install the gadget on your homepage, you can choose from a variety of custom skins, create your own, or submit themes for other users to install.

Some of the skins change the graphic behind the search bar at the top of your page and not much else, while others give your entire page a new look. Future version of the gadget will include a built-in skin editor.

[via Google Blogoscoped]

WordPress is a powerful and very extensible blogging engine that is gaining more CMS (Content Management System) features with each release. As anyone who has downloaded a copy can probably tell, the directory structure is pretty friendly to hacks and plug-ins, but unless you are your own WordPress coding ninja, you might be asking yourself: where exactly can all these themes, plug-ins and hacks be found? Thus the idea for a short roundup of WordPress download sites and communities was born. Following is a starter list of sites for themes, plug-ins, tips and tricks of all kinds, ripe for helping you take your WordPress-powered site as far as you need to go. Since we're sure we haven't found every site for WordPress goodness, feel free to add your favorites in the comments and we'll update this post with the good ones.