Windows XP visual styles: Difference between revisions

Customization of the user interface of Windows XP

Visual styles are a set of visual customizations of the graphical user interface for Windows XP. They are designed by Microsoft and are compatible with all Windows XP editions except for the Starter edition. Since Windows XP, themes also includes the choice of visual styles as well.^[1]

Compared to the previous “Windows Classic” style used in Windows 95 to Windows Me (as well as the Desktop Themes applet in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95, Windows 98 (as well as Microsoft Plus! 98) and Windows Me), the new visual styles of Windows XP have a greater emphasis on the graphical appeal of the operating system, using saturated colors^[2] and bitmaps^[3] throughout the interface, with rounded corners for windows.^[4][5]

By default, “Luna” is preinstalled on Windows XP Home Edition and Professional, while “Royale” is preinstalled on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and “Embedded” is preinstalled on Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009. In addition to the preinstalled visual styles, Microsoft has released additional ones for download, such as “Zune”. Third parties have also released their own visual styles, however these require modification of core Windows components to work, a practice that Microsoft does not officially endorse. “Luna”, “Royale”, “Zune” and “Embedded” in particular are codenames of the official visual styles made by Microsoft for Windows XP.^[6]

There are also some visual styles that were developed by Microsoft as placeholders before unveiling the official visual styles, which were typically used in beta versions of Windows. These include visual styles such as “Watercolor”, “Mallard”, “Plex”, “Slate” and “Jade”.

The visual styles API was substantially expanded in Windows Vista and later. Nevertheless, the API remained heavily under-documented.^[7]

The following is a list of visual styles and themes offered for Windows XP.

“Luna” (the Moon in Latin and various other languages) is the codename for the default visual style of Windows XP. Officially known as “Windows XP style”, it is available in three color schemes: blue (default), olive green and silver.^[5][8] The Luna theme features a colored plastic-styled interface, with rounded corners in the title bars and a green-colored start button. The close button is colored red, while the minimize, maximize/restore buttons are colored as the same color of the theme.

Critics who did not like the theme nicknamed it as a “Fisher-Price interface” among others due to its perceived childish nature and design.^[9][10]

Luna was retained as a placeholder theme in all pre-reset Windows Vista (Longhorn) builds alongside the Plex, Slate and Jade themes (see below), as well as the very early “Omega-13” post-reset builds 3790, 5000, 5001 and early Beta 1 builds 5048 and 5059. Luna was completely removed from all post-reset builds beginning as early as build 5098 after the unveiling of Aero in build 5048.

A variation of the Luna theme also appeared in the Windows CE line of embedded operating systems beginning with Windows CE 5.0.

“Luna Concept” is an informal name given to a in-development version of the Luna theme from late 2000^[a] during the concept phase. It was originally designed by Frog Design, who also designed the skins used in Windows Media Player since version 7.^[11] Being early in the design process, it featured a flat interface with no rounded corners, a blue gradient in the taskbar, orange gradients in Explorer windows, and a different-looking green-colored start button.

During conception of the Luna theme early on in its development, there was originally plans to have two distinct visual styles for Windows XP: Luna as the consumer theme, and Mercury as the professional theme. Both themes also had corresponding Windows Media Player skin designs made, which became “Windows XP” and “Windows Classic” respectively. Ultimately, however, Luna was the only one to be finalized outside of the concept stage, and Mercury was never fully realized.^[11]

“Luna Beta” is an informal name given to a near-final version of the Luna theme that appeared in beta builds of Windows XP from builds 2428 to 2465, replacing the Watercolor and Mallard themes found in previous builds prior to build 2428. This iteration of Luna later appeared (in source code form) in the leaked source code of Windows XP in September 2020. Officially known as “Whistler style”, it is similar to the final Luna theme with some slight differences, such as a brighter scrollbar, differently-shaped taskbar buttons and a much shinier start button. It also lacks the two color options, namely olive green (codenamed “Homestead”) and silver (codenamed “Metallic”). This theme is unofficially available as a separate theme made by enthusiasts.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to its inclusion in build 2428, an even earlier version of Luna Beta was showcased at CES 2001 following completion of the concept stage of Luna that began in late 2000, using an internal build of Windows XP that was developed for the event (build 2415).

The “Windows 20th Anniversary” theme is a special theme exclusively made for the Japan-only limited-release 20th Anniversary edition of Windows XP in 2005 (with only 5000 units sold) to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Windows (1985–2005).^{[citation needed]} Visually, the theme itself is not that different to Luna aside from using a unique background, a slightly different sound scheme and some unique icons.

“Windows Classic” is the name of a visual style that is built-in to the operating system kernel, utilizing the original look-and-feel of Windows used since Windows 95. Officially titled “Windows Classic style”, it supports customization of the various elements of the Windows user interface, but does not use the visual style API that was first introduced in Windows XP. It is used by default in versions of Windows prior to Windows XP and is also used when the theme service is disabled, as well as in other certain scenarios such as Win32 console windows or when booting the system into Safe mode. Classic style widgets are also used for applications that are not theming-aware even though theming is enabled.

Compared to other visual styles, it is less CPU-intensive and offers better performance^[12] (which is also why it is used by default on Windows Server 2003 through 2008 R2 for the same reason), as well as supporting greater color and font customization options. The classic style uses a beveled design, with sharp edges and 3D-styled widgets for control elements. Marlett was designed to be used for various elements of the user interface, such as the minimize, maximize, restore, and close buttons. It supports custom colors, sizes, and font styles for each elements of the user interface. Custom elements and values applied to the user interface can be saved in a preset known as a color scheme. Over time, the classic style has been updated, such as the title bar gaining support for two-tone color gradients in Windows 98 and the default color scheme was changed into a different one in Windows 2000, however the previous one was kept as one of the many built-in color schemes.

Windows XP and prior includes 22 preset color schemes for the classic style, with four of them being optimized for the visually impaired.^[b] “Windows Standard” was the default color scheme of Windows 2000 and Windows Me and later appeared on Windows Vista and Windows 7 (which was renamed to “Windows Classic” in the latter). A slightly darker variant of the Standard scheme, called “Windows Classic” (not to be confused with the renamed “Windows Classic” variant of “Windows Standard” in Windows 7), was the default color scheme of Windows 98 (albeit with a dark blue desktop background instead of green, which was done during the development of Windows 2000) and appeared on Windows Vista but not Windows 7.^[13][5] Other schemes appeared in previous versions of Windows.

The classic style was removed as an option from Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 onwards; however it still exists internally for backward compatibility purposes.^{[citation needed]}

These sets of themes use visual elements from the Royale visual style (see below).

“Royale” (also known as Energy Blue and “Media Center style”) was a visual style designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and later ported over to Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.^[14] It is accompanied by a new wallpaper (inspired by Windows XP’s iconic Bliss wallpaper). It presents a relucent, vivid and faux-reflective color scheme with intense blue and green colors, using a glossy finish. The theme was later made available in December 2004 as an optional download.

On April 7, 2005, Microsoft New Zealand^[15] had made the Royale theme and the wallpapers for the New Zealand theme available for download^[16] for all editions of XP through Windows Genuine Advantage on its website, but as of 2019 it is no longer available. Because of the freeware nature of this package, it had also been available on software download websites, such as Softpedia at one time.^[17] The wallpaper included with the package is different from the one that was included with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.

Microsoft did also release a Windows Media Player visualization and skin at one time^[when?]. The skin was released in Experience Pack for Tablet PC and was available for free,^[18] but the installer only installed it on Windows XP Tablet PC Edition devices, for which it was licensed.

“Royale Noir” is an unreleased theme that looks like a darkened version of Royale, having a blackish and bluish to purple tint. It also has a black Start button, which changes to green when the mouse hovers over it. As Royale Noir was leaked and not finalized by Microsoft, it has been noted for some imperfections,^[19] such as the title bar becoming too dark when the window is inactive.

A few weeks after Royale Noir was leaked, “Zune” was officially released in a theme package to accompany the release of Microsoft’s new Zune media player. In terms of style, Zune resembles Royale and Royale Noir, particularly the latter. It displays a brown to light shadow style and is the first publicly released visual style for Windows XP to include a differently colored Start button from the green XP,^[20][21] which is colored orange in the Zune theme.

Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 came with a dedicated visual style called “Embedded” that is similar to Royale, Royale Noir and Zune, but featured a mix of dark blue colors.

Early builds of Windows since Windows XP included visual styles and themes intended to be placeholders to the final themes that were developed internally before they were publicly released. The following is a list of these.

Windows XP included two publicly available placeholder themes, “Watercolor” and “Mallard”, which served as placeholders for the Luna theme, which was publicly shown at CES 2001 and made available to testers in build 2428. One theme that was not available in any other builds of Windows XP is named “Candy”, which originated in a 2020 source code leak of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

“Watercolor” (internally named “Business” and codenamed “Professional”) is a placeholder theme that appeared in early pre-release builds of Windows XP from builds 2250^[c] to 2419 and later appeared (in source code form) in the leaked source code of Windows XP in September 2020. Officially known as “Watercolor button style”, the theme more closely resembles Windows Classic, featuring sharp edges and similar window proportions. It features a primarily blue and white style with mostly flat shading and retains certain UI elements from the Classic theme style. This theme is unofficially available as a separate theme made by enthusiasts.^{[citation needed]}

“Mallard” is a placeholder theme that was designed as a decoy to show to the public during the development of Beta 2 while designers privately worked on Luna.^[23] It appeared in pre-release Windows XP builds from builds 2410 to 2419 and later appeared (in source code form) in the leaked source code of Windows XP in September 2020. Officially known as “Sample Test Visual Style”, It features two color schemes, Chartreuse Mongoose, which features a primarily green and orange style, and Blue Lagoon (internally named as Paler), which uses a teal and purple style. It features an orange start button with a green notification area as well as a slight curve on the left-hand side of the title bar. This theme is unofficially available as a separate theme made by enthusiasts.

“Candy” is an unannounced and unreleased theme that was found (in source code form) in the leaked source code of Windows XP in September 2020. It was made in-between builds 2250 and 2257, according to the dates found within the metadata of the files in the theme. Candy appears to be an imitation of the Aqua theme found in earlier versions of Mac OS X (10.0 to 10.6), using Aqua-like design elements for some parts of the UI such as the buttons and scroll bars.^[24] Not much is known about its purpose, however it was likely meant as a way to test the theming engine that was first available in build 2250. According to some publicly available screenshots, only some UI elements have been reskinned to make it look like Mac OS X’s Aqua theme style; the majority of the theme still retains elements of the Classic theme style due to its incompleteness. The theme also contains a unique start button image that contains the Windows logo without the word “start” next to it on a pinstriped background, as well as having a small curved corner at the top-left. This design apparently mimics the Apple menu which had a singular Apple logo, while the curved corners are a nod to the menu bar on Classic Mac OS and early versions of Mac OS X, which had curved corners on both sides; the pinstripes are also a nod to the Aqua theme itself.

Windows Vista (as “Windows Longhorn“) contained three placeholder themes during the “pre-reset” stage of development; these include “Plex”, “Slate” and “Jade”. The Luna theme from Windows XP was also carried over as a placeholder theme in all pre-reset builds and some post-reset builds. These themes served as placeholders for the Aero theme, which was publicly shown in post-reset build 5048.

“Plex” is a placeholder theme used in Windows Longhorn builds 3683 to 4042 (main). It uses a predominately blue color throughout the interface.

“Slate” is a placeholder theme used in Windows Longhorn prior to the development reset in builds 4042 (Lab06) to 4093. It uses a slate gray color scheme.

“Jade” is a placeholder theme used in Windows Longhorn prior to the development reset in builds 4066 to 4093. It uses a light gray and white interface with a differently-styled start menu, reminiscent of the final version of Windows Vista.

Windows only loads a visual style that bears a valid Microsoft digital certificate.^[25] As such, third-party visual styles can only be used if one of the Windows files called uxtheme.dll is altered to allow unsigned visual styles.^[26][27] Microsoft is aware of such a practice and suggests obtaining a newer revision of the patched uxtheme.dll file in case problems occur after Microsoft’s own updates to the file have been applied (typically through an OS service pack).^[28]

Third-party applications can be configured to work with visual styles. By default, the title bar and the window borders of Windows Forms-based applications are rendered using the user’s preferred visual style, while the rest of the application’s graphical user interface (GUI) is rendered in the Classic style.^[29] This is because these two different parts of the GUI are rendered using two different software libraries: the title bar and the window borders (“non-client area” or “user controls”) use Windows USER, and the remaining controls (“client area” or “common controls”) use version 5.8 of the Common Controls Library.^[30] Version 6.0 of the Common Controls Library contains both the user controls and the common controls, and developers may configure the application’s user interface to be displayed in the user’s currently-selected visual style by forcing it to be rendered using version 6.0 of the library.^[31][32]