It is not exactly a technology and it is not exactly new, but it is something that can speare us some money in the near future. What is it? It's called Vista Inspirat Shell Pack.
It has been more then 2 years since our beloved Bill and Microsoft have released the news that the new Windows (then called Codename Longhorn, now Vista) will be released in late 2006. It promised lots of things with a much greater need for resources. But since then things have changed a bit (more), in bad for Microsoft. They decided to give up on most of the new stuff that was going to be released in the new Windows. Not only that makes the new Windows useless (who would give ~200$ for a new theme and new icons), but also with the expense of upgrading the hardware... yes....because even if they droped the new stuff (like WinFS, the new database based indexing system) still it requires quit heavy computer power. Some say that Microsoft is giving a helping hand to the open-source community (more exactly Linux). Anyway because of what happened some people have decided that even if you won't upgrade the OS you will still want the new themes and icons (and most of the UI of Vista). So they have developed Vista Inspirat Shell Pack. What it does: It patchs some Windows files and makes your Windows Xp (32bit editions) look like Vista (I have tried them both...the real thing and the shell pack and they look almoust identical). All without any performance loss (yes ...you read well...not performance loss)... And with the help with some tools also included in the pack you can make menus transparent, etc. It even has a Mac docking (which looks fantastic but makes you CPu scream...).
In conclusion you have to try this. (forgot to tell you that it is universal... that means that no matter what language you Windows Xp uses it will work great). Tell me what you think after installing it...

hi man!...seems very uncovinient for Microsoft, what if the people think that the new Windows is just a skin upgrade, they (maybe me too) will buy the upgrade and the new "windows" will be useless after all, i have tried Vista since some time ago i'd say since the beggining of the 2004 and well i had a new computer and Vista just didnt want to work well, the images looked a mess and everything seems to me the same thing just had a different look, that would be my reason why people would choose the package instead of the real windows...

An excellent find, adriantc. I had turned off Windows' themes services and was running on the classic style, but with your find, I not only installed the new orbit/dock/clock, but also the theme. It's quite nice.

Oh, and if anyone's interested on using the Orbit, I created a Firefox, Thunderbird, and Trillian button for it (see below). Feel free to use them if you so desire.

I'm done with Microsoft anyway so my next computer will only run linux (In stead of a windows - linux dualboot system). This theme looks very good and I'm probably going to use on my computer. I've been thinking about pimping my windows desktop for a while now

Nice images Cerebral Stasis, thanks for sharing them with us.

im using brico vista install pack too (vista style)

its very nice, but im a little tired of the dark start bar...
i think im going to go back to the xp style.

I got vista style and registered on the forums. Looks very nice. So much eaiser to use then desktopx

This post has been edited by htdefiant: Mar 25 2006, 03:06 AM