XP to Vista in 30 minutes!!

Windows Vista has been severely criticized for excessive memory usage. The operating system apart from being expensive demands a computer with a good configuration, further adding to the cost. However, everyone will accept that in terms of looks, Vista is miles ahead of XP. Given below are steps to convert your ordinary windows XP pc to one that looks almost like windows Vista.

Convert XP to a Vista lookalike:

1. Desktop:

a)ViStart:
ViStart converts your start menu to one that looks like the Windows Vista Start Menu.
You can download ViStart here

b)ViOrb:
ViOrb replaces the start menu button with the Vista orb.

You can download ViOrb here

c)Windows Blinds

Windows Blinds is a software used to apply transparent skins of type .wba.

Windows Blinds is a shareware by Stardock. Cracked versions are available on the Net but we advice you to download it from stardock.

You can download Windows Blinds here.

Aero Plus skin for windows Blinds can be downloaded off here.

d)True Transparency

It gives a transparent feel to the Title bar.
After downloading, apply Aero2 theme by right-clicking on Deskbar Button.

True Transparency can be downloaded here.

e)Google Desktop

The Sidebar from Google Desktop may be used to emulate that of Windows Vista. It is also packed with a number of other features.

Google Desktop can be downloaded here.

f)WinFlip

It emulates the 3-D flipping of windows in Windows Vista. Excellent Application.

It can be downloaded here.

With this your desktop will look almost like windows vista. The taskbar and Title bar would be transparent, so the theme would depend on your wallpaper. It would be good to have a large collection of wallpapers. The photos widget in google desktop shows random pictures and the color scheme can be changed at will by changing desktop background.

2.Explorer

a)Styler

It can be used to add Vista style toolbar buttons. This is however optional as Windows Blinds supports this feature too. The styler bar however adds to the vista feel in explorer.

Styler may be downloaded here.

b)QTTab bar (Requires Dot Net 2.0)

It can be used to add tabbing feature like Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 or the Vista explorer to your explorer. This requires Dot Net 2.0 framework which can be downloaded here

QTTab bar can be downloaded here

c)Vista Drive Status

This application creates custom icons for your hard drives according to a number of parameters.

It can be downloaded here.

d)Breadcrumbs toolbar

It replicates the breadcrumbs feature of the Vista Explorer. It is a very convinient utility and helps in quick navigation between folders. Combined with QTTab bar, it makes your Windows Explorer very powerful.

Breadcrumbs toolbar can be downloaded here.

e)Xentient thumbnails

It is a very Nifty utility and replaces the icon of all image files with the image itself. If size of Desktop icons is increased, it can be used to imitate the thumbnails view on the desktop.

Xentient thumbnails can be downloaded here.

f)Folder size

Like Windows Vista, it gives the size of all files contained in the folder.

Folder size can be downloaded here.

g)Icon Pack

Changes all the default XP icons to Windows Vista icons.

Vista Icons Transformation Pack can be downloaded here.

3.Others

a)Firefox Aero

Replicate the Internet Explorer 7 by firefox themes such as Aerofox. They may be downloaded from the Customize Firefox page from Mozilla Firefox.

b)Logon Screen

The logon screen can be patched using Logon Studios.

Download Logon Studios here

You can download the logon screen here. Patch it using Logon Studios.

c)Boot Screen

Vista has a very minimalistic boot screen. You can change the boot screen using Boot Screen. File to be patched can be downloaded here.

d)Vista sounds

The sounds can be patched using the sound patch.

It can be downloaded here.

Congratulations!! You Windows XP looks a lot like Windows Vista now. If you followed the steps right, it should look something like this.

XP after transformations

If I missed out any feature or if there is any confusion, please leave your comments behind. I will be glad to help you out.

If you want your XP to look like a Mac, click here