we've come a full circle everyone old enough remembers the following 😂😂 2007: Make Windows XP look like Windows Vista 2009: Make Windows XP look like Windows 7 2020: Make Windows 10 look like Windows Vista
I remember trying to turn XP into 7 back in the day without knowing much of anything about WIndows customization, I got as far as making the taskbar button size stupidly small and changing the wallpaper
I remember a program who will make your windows 3.1 look and behave like 95... It was called "Calmira". Now, that is cool: Imagine not only changing the UI, but how the Operative system operates!
I remember using an installer called Isso Pack 5 to change my XP to vista back in the day, and it did a pretty good job. It changed everything in just a few clicks.
Well, I don't know what to say. This is close to my heart. I grew up with Vista and I love it and it's look, but I also want to run new programs. This is perfect.
I have a feeling that a lot of people didn't realize that in Vista, you could drag the widgets out of the dock and put them anywhere on the desktop. I liked to hide the dock. If anyone remembers, Windows 7 still had the widgets minus the dock.
The more Windows evolves, the more we miss XP, Vista and Se7en. Miss you guys, you made our childhood, now we have something to feel like you, but you are not there now.❤
Vista's glassy icons were works of art, light years ahead of Xp. Like the folder icons, I don't see what Microsoft dropped them in favor of the yellow ones in W7.
Hey Michael, for that Open-Shell skin you need to add the "StartMenuL10N" file into the Open-Shell program folder. It basically changes the language file so the fake "Text" in that area gets stretched out to the right size. Edit: Also I believe the glass override color doesn't work if you don't enable the menu glass.
Nice video! I thought I'd add on some of my own suggestions to make it a bit more authentic: - Go into the taskbar settings, and change the taskbar window view to "never combine labels." This will make the windows open in the taskbar work more like Windows Vista. - Right click the taskbar and add a new toolbar. It can be to any folder, but you can use the original Quick Access folder if you want, it's under Internet Explorer's directory. Put shortcuts to whatever programs you use most in here. This will make it look more like the Vista taskbar. - In Winaero Tweaker, enable the colored title bars setting. Then, change the system color to a color resembling the light blue color that Aero Basic's title bars had. This will make it look a little bit more authentic. You could also enable the Aero Lite theme, which gives windows thicker window borders like in Windows Vista, but it looks a bit strange in some places. - Change the icons displayed for shortcuts and folders you normally use to ones from Vista. - If you have a Vista ISO handy, you can replace certain programs like MS Paint with the version from Windows Vista. - This is not recommended, but there technically is a way to get the old Aero Basic theme in Windows 10, but it's completely impractical and probably won't work. To try it, right click a program and change the compatibility settings. Set the Windows version to Windows 95. Now, try opening the program. Chances are there will be some kind of error message, but if there isn't, the titlebar should look like the Windows Vista Aero Basic one. This is because Windows 10 keeps it as a fallback theme, or for programs that would break if the Windows 10 theme was being used. - Do not try this, but there *is* a way to get this fallback theme on all windows. It requires you to replace dwm.exe with a dummy application which doesn't actually do anything. This causes a bunch of problems, such as the login screen, Start menu, and UWP applications not working, but all windows will use the Aero Basic theming.
Honestly it might be a better idea to use Windows 8.1 if you still want support but want an older look - THAT you can make look near identical to 7 or Vista, including the themes.
Well 8.1 is out of support now, but pfft, I still use Windows 7 in a VM and it hasn’t been supported for 3 years (excluding professional with that extended support plan which ended on the 10th of January 2023.).
Cool! Was my first OS I used extensively using my first laptop. I kind of favour Windows 7 due to it just feeling and working a lot better, sort of feels like a completed Vista, but glad that people still are messing around and talking about it.
Thank you so much for this tutorial, I've hated the Start Menu since I first got my windows 10 and it's nice to finally have one that makes sense again after 3 years
Why cant Windows just drop a version that looks like vista. Instead their leaning more and more towards windows 95. Windows 11 looks like shit compares to vista
Thank your for this guide, I grew up using windows vista, a lot of people said I'm weird for using vista because its buggy and slow and I should just get a new mac, but I did not care and gave it a chance, and it turned out to be a very great experience, sadly the os ended support so now I just use windows 10, I thought the theme was boring so I wanted to make it look just like windows vista, and with out the help of this video I would have just the same boring windows 10 theme, when I was finished setting up all the themes, It through me back to old memory's I had using windows vista. thank your for this video once again.
Every time i see the Vista UI, I feel in heaven. I used to mix longhorn with Vista and 7 on my windows 7 system. Now using the same theme on Manjaro Linux KDE Plasma.
MJD, my dude. This is amazing! I've been watching your videos for the past year and I've just been loving the content. You got me to get my old installs and install VMs of all of them so that I could play around. But now, I can just make my PC like one of the most underrated OS's with the latest functionalities that didn't exist in Vista's time. DUDE. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I loved the Vista look so this'll sure come in handy : ) also i didnt have to do the icons because i already installed a vista pack. edit: now i am dualbooting win 7 and win 10
For some reason, you have to go to the registry and fix the auto refresh when changing the recycle bin. For example, if you have items in there, it may not show up as full unless you refresh the desktop. Also, you would want to add the quick launch. If you want a desktop with aero that is very close to 7, you can purchase Windowblinds. A very cool theme pack that alters the UI of your desktop. One time, I altered one of the default aero themes. using the Windows Blind editor. I actually deleted the taskbar that came with it because it says "vista style" but it looks nothing like a true vista taskbar. Then I used Open Sell. So it was very close.
For window titles in taskbar: Right click taskbar > Taskbar settings > Change "Always hide labels" to something else. For QuickLaunch: Right click taskbar > Toolbars > Add > then go to this folder: %UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch Then unlock the taskbar and drag it to the left, like in XP/Vista. *CustomizerGod* is a user-friendly program which lets you change system icons. Not only folders, but also the libraries/personal folders (Downloads, Documents, Music, etc.) Also, Vista didn't have Aero Shake nor Aero Snap. If you want, you can disable those in WinaeroTweaker.
Ever tried StartIsBack++? I think it does a better job of providing an Aero-style start menu as accurately as possible, with pixel-perfect alignment and animations. It also handles taskbar appearance. Good customization, too.
I'm guessing windows 12 or 13 will have a more aero styled theme since trends always recycle over time including UX designs. Plus the minimalism/flat design trend is already dying out and companies are finally starting to add more Skeuomorphic elements
20:16 There is a better way to change the folder icon and many other icons All you have to do is to copy a file called imageres.dll located in System32 from a vista machine and paste it somewhere in the windows 10 machine and go to C:\Windows\System32 on the win10 pc and rename imageres.dll to imageres 10.dll. After that , paste the win Vista imageres.dll on the win 10's system32 folder. After you do all of this , restart your computer. After your pc restarts, all the icons would have changed from the win10's to the win vista's
as a windows 7 user in 2021, the start menu does look like windows 7 also, for some reason, my school's computers used classic shell for the start menu and made it classic. it's like they follow your tutorial
Vista's usage is only 0.39% so most people don’t seem to be missing it as nearly all upgraded to 7 even before Vista ended mainstream support in 2012 which was also when 7 overtook XP. It was only in the last few years Vista’s decline slowed right down after ending support in 2017 but few if any viruses ever got created for it
Well, i use open shell, ( i used your guide for making it look like windows xp) so i can just change the settings on it from xp to vista if i want. You just make the taskbar black, get the right start button, set the menu, and tada. On the window frames, i got an aero theme (which i use for xp as it looks more like it than aero) but you can change the settings and make it ice blue, like vista with aero off. Get a program to change the sounds, I don’t care about the icons, and tada
Everyone knows that Windows 10 is the worst operating system, even worse than Vista, I had more problems with Windows 10 in 2 months than with Windows Vista in 3 years
Windows Vista is the most beautiful Windows OS ever, period. I remember back in 2007-2008 when I first saw Vista on a laptop at an electronics store. It was one of those 17-inch behemoths that was really popular back in the day. Heck, I still remember muttering "This is the future" to myself when checking out that laptop. Also remember their "The WOW starts now" campaign (probably butchered the name, it was long ago anyway)? You know my first response when I first saw that ad? "Wow"... (in retrospect it's as cheesy as it is, but back in the day, I felt I was living in the future). My first laptop was Vista-powered. It was an Acer with AMD Turion X2 CPU. Used it for a while, then it got stolen. Brilliant laptop, that one