For those who don't want to get Vista, or simply can't afford it, there are several ways to get some "Vista feeling" into your computer. I've been browsing through a bunch of them, and I think the Vista Transformation Pack 7.0 is the best alternative for those who want pretty real Vista experience. To get the best effect though, you need to have Stardock WindowBlinds 5.1 or later installed. WindowBlinds costs $19.95 and can be found here. You can download the Vista Transformation Pack here. It says it's an "adware version", but that's not true. I don't know why they put that there.
I've been using Vista Transformation Pack for about two months by now. Sometimes some of the third-party applications fail to start, but it's not so often. I also recommend you install this on a clean copy of Windows, since some updates might interfear with the setup. It can non the less be installed on an up-to-date machine, but there might be some minor complications with changing system DLLs. But I consider it worth it. Here's a screeny I shot for this post. One of the best features with the Transformation Pack, is the Vista start menu clone, a third party app that's called ViStart. According to Microsoft, it took a crew of 24 a year to develop the real Vista start menu. It took one person a couple of months to develop this Start Menu. Microsoft are inefficient. Lawl.
Click the image to see the full-size.
Looks pretty good, huh? You also get a really nice taskbar-clock that replaces the standard Windows clock. I don't use it, because it doesn't support 24-hour clock. You also get a Vista cursor theme. On first look, most ordinary people (Not Microsoft engineers, of course) would be "fooled" by this.
Here's a comparison; The real Vista Start to the left, the Vista Transformation Pack to the right. I found a 1024x768 pic of Vista Desktop on the Internet. Took a pic out of my desktop, and paint.exe'd it. I know I have a gay butterfly as a pic. I rarely log out, so I haven't bothered changing it. The left pic is from here.
I aim this thread towards people who either can't run/afford/get Vista. Please don't write stuff like "Fuckin idiot! Wanna have Vista, get Vista!" I personally think Vista is unnecessary. Yes, it's an all-new re-written blablabla... system. A rewritten system that doesn't support your good ol' apps. Or hardware. And uses an unnecessary amount of system resources on idle, and leaves nothing for other things. If you want to run Vista, you can just dream of running it if you sit on less than 1GB. But that's just my opinion, you can have your.
I hope I gave at least some people a nicer desktop. And no, I didn't make any of this. I just wanted you to know that it exists.
EDIT: Forgot to say that this also adds hardware acceleration to the desktop.
I've been using Vista Transformation Pack for about two months by now. Sometimes some of the third-party applications fail to start, but it's not so often. I also recommend you install this on a clean copy of Windows, since some updates might interfear with the setup. It can non the less be installed on an up-to-date machine, but there might be some minor complications with changing system DLLs. But I consider it worth it. Here's a screeny I shot for this post. One of the best features with the Transformation Pack, is the Vista start menu clone, a third party app that's called ViStart. According to Microsoft, it took a crew of 24 a year to develop the real Vista start menu. It took one person a couple of months to develop this Start Menu. Microsoft are inefficient. Lawl.
Click the image to see the full-size.
Looks pretty good, huh? You also get a really nice taskbar-clock that replaces the standard Windows clock. I don't use it, because it doesn't support 24-hour clock. You also get a Vista cursor theme. On first look, most ordinary people (Not Microsoft engineers, of course) would be "fooled" by this.
Here's a comparison; The real Vista Start to the left, the Vista Transformation Pack to the right. I found a 1024x768 pic of Vista Desktop on the Internet. Took a pic out of my desktop, and paint.exe'd it. I know I have a gay butterfly as a pic. I rarely log out, so I haven't bothered changing it. The left pic is from here.
I aim this thread towards people who either can't run/afford/get Vista. Please don't write stuff like "Fuckin idiot! Wanna have Vista, get Vista!" I personally think Vista is unnecessary. Yes, it's an all-new re-written blablabla... system. A rewritten system that doesn't support your good ol' apps. Or hardware. And uses an unnecessary amount of system resources on idle, and leaves nothing for other things. If you want to run Vista, you can just dream of running it if you sit on less than 1GB. But that's just my opinion, you can have your.
I hope I gave at least some people a nicer desktop. And no, I didn't make any of this. I just wanted you to know that it exists.
EDIT: Forgot to say that this also adds hardware acceleration to the desktop.
Last edited by Freezer7Pro (2007-07-08 20:33:37)
The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP