If you enjoy using themes to
change the look and sounds for your Windows interface, below is a
list of my themes available for downloading. Depending on which Windows operating
system you are using, you may need Plus!, Desktop Architect,
or a similar theme management program for these themes to work properly.
AND . . . I no longer
include startup and shutdown screens (logos) with my themes. Don't have the ability to
properly test them. Besides, like me, most people probably can't use them
because they're running a Windows operating system that no longer supports them.
DESKTOP ARCHITECT THEME
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
I'm running XP Pro on my system and
most themes work fine operating in "Windows Classic Style". I'm
still using the old location of Program Files/Plus!/Themes/ from the
Windows 95 days for ALL of my themes.
I use Desktop Architect
to manage and package my themes; have had no problems with it running under XP. It's a great
little FREE program that, while no longer
supported by it's developer, continues to perform well. That's pretty
amazing considering it was originally developed in the days of Windows 98. Naturally, the Win 98
sections of the program and the startup and shutdown screens no longer apply,
but it works great to manage and package themes. It's available for
downloading at many sites if you'd like to give it a try. I've tried
several theme management programs and this is the one I prefer over all
the others.
This program allows you to change
many of the settings for your themes. You can change the colors, fonts and
font sizes, window sizes, cursors, sounds, icons, etc. That way if you
don't like the way a particular theme looks as envisioned by its creator,
you can make changes to suit you then save those changes in a new ".Theme"
file. or save over the original one. It's fun to play around with once you get the hang of how to
use the various components.
Click below for more information on
using Desktop Architect. Some of the information only applies to Vista
users, but it should help those using other systems as well.
USING Desktop Architect
Theme Management Program
ATTENTION WINDOWS VISTA USERS
Have heard that Desktop Architect
is not compatible with Windows Vista. However, there is a way to get
around this problem. Go to
THIS LINK at Microsoft's site and follow the directions to set the
Compatibility features. Have heard back from someone who emailed me for
help with this program that this worked. In some versions of Vista, you
may need to install this program while signed on as an administrator.
Since most new computers are now shipping with Vista already installed,
more people may find this information of some help.
Once the compatibility features
have been set most of the DA features will work with Vista, except for the
Windows 98 sections and the startup and shutdown screens. Have no information about any
other theme management programs which will work with Vista.
USING DESKTOP THEMES WITH VISTA
Need help using my desktop themes with Vista?
CLICK HERE
Uninstalling Themes
Since my themes do not
"install" in the same way as a software program, none of them will
appear in the Add/Remove Programs listing. (This is true
for most themes by other creators as well.) Uninstalling has to be done
manually by opening the file management program (is it still called Windows
Explorer?), browsing to
C:\Program
Files\Plus!\Themes\
on your hard drive and deleting the applicable ".Theme" file and theme
subdirectory. Unless you are in need of hard drive space or are sure you will
never want to use a particular theme again, there's really no need to delete a
theme. Simply choose another one and apply it.
Most of my themes include
wallpapers in both 1024x768 and 800x600 resolutions. Those containing ONLY
1024x768 wallpapers are marked by asterisks. Many of the themes include multiple wallpapers.
NONE OF
THEM INCLUDE LOGO SCREENS OR SCREEN SAVERS.
AT A
MINIMUM, each theme includes: wallpapers, cursors, icons (many have two or more sets), and MP3 format wave
files.
The README files include credits
for the wallpaper art and music.
Themes are created as a Desktop
Architect self-installing executable file. To make
the installation of my themes easier, by
default they will AUTOMATICALLY be installed as follows:
* Theme files
to Program Files\Plus!\Themes\
*All other
theme elements will be placed in a new directory automatically created by the program under Themes using the name of
the specific theme. You do not need to enter the name of the theme
yourself.
With a few exceptions, I record,
edit and mix all of the music used. Also use some "stock" sounds I've
collected over the years—mostly
sound effects of various types.
The screen savers are executable files, are in a slide show format and
include music. The program allows for the music to be turned off if you
prefer. You can also adjust the transition effects, length of time to
display images, whether or not to show the captions, and a number of other
options from the control panel as well as set any of the images as your
wallpaper.
Clicking on the title of a
theme/screen saver will take you to a page where you can see a preview
(themes) or sample images (screen savers). The theme previews show the
color scheme and icons as displayed in Desktop Architect's preview window.
I've also included an image showing the cursors and icons.
June
7, 2006:
Recently discovered that many of the
cursors used in my themes are the creations of a first-class theme author,
Ingalill Colbell.
This unknowing use
of her work occurred because I collect sets of free cursors from
all over the Internet to use in my themes so I don't spend a lot of time "reinventing the
wheel". I do make many of the cursors, just not the
more standardized ones. Unfortunately, the individuals offering them for download often
don't include any credit information. Since I've chosen to use only the ones
I consider the best, it turns out they have
often been those created by Ingalill. I know from experience how many
hours it can take to create cursors and was surprised to learn I've been
using her work without giving her the credit she deserves.
She was very gracious
when she notified me about this. She told me has been having lots of
problems with people using her theme elements without
credit or permission. I offered to revise and upload new zip files for any
of my themes in which she'd identified her cursors had been used. She said that was not necessary
and if I
gave her credit on this page, I could continue to use them now and in
the future. Thank you so much, Ingalill. I appreciate your understanding.
CREDITS
MANY/MOST of the cursors used in the themes featured on this site were created
by:
Please visit her site to see all her wonderful work. She is a truly gifted
artist and offers a wide variety of subjects in her themes,
many of which were selected as a "Doctor's Choice" (5-stars) at Theme World. Know
you'll find many
themes you'd love to use on your computer and can't find anywhere else.
All files downloaded from this site are free of adware/spyware wrapping.
Removed all my themes and
screen savers from ezThemes' server and will never use them
again to host my themes. They're "wrapping" authors' files inside self-extracting files so they can include other programs to generate revenue
(unless you become a subscriber and pay for the privilege of being able
to download them without the extra stuff). Their justification is being able to keep the themes free.
But....you end up with adware or spyware on your computer by
default. Am
very much opposed to this practice. If I wanted these files on my
computer, I'd download them myself! Rant!! Rant!!
Don't
host files on my server because I can't afford the cost of
the needed bandwidth. My themes and screen savers are currently available
from these sites:
Desktop Realm (since
October 2006)
Themes
Unlimited (since August 2006)
DESKTOP
REALM
This is a
relatively new site (October, 2006) for hosting themes, wallpapers,
cursor sets, icon sets, and screen savers. Hopefully they will continue
to grow and offer more choices for their visitors.
NOTE:
This site now
offers its authors an opportunity to generate revenue for themselves by
allowing their files to be wrapped with adware/spyware. While I've opted
out of this program, don't know about anyone else.
Be aware that SOME
of their files may now be wrapped and exercise caution.
1/8/2008 UPDATE:
Since Theme World has not processed
any theme updates since May 7, 2007, have replaced the individual theme
links at that site with those at Desktop Realm for your convenience.
This site provides a personalized sub-domain for their
members which displays ONLY that author's files. Unfortunately, these
pages display in order by the date on which the themes were added to
their server, not alphabetically. Makes finding a particular theme much
more time consuming. Here's the link
for my page:
If you see this link for a file—"Download
from Themes Unlimited"—the
file is stored on their server. Please be aware that
authors who
upload files to this site may elect to allow their files to be wrapped,
so it's possible to get some adware/spyware with downloaded files. So
far none of the many files I've downloaded from here have been wrapped.
Since I have not given permission for my files to be changed in any way,
you may be certain all my files are adware/spyware free.
In addition to
hosting files on their own server,
this site is an affiliate of ezThemes;
many of the files actually reside on ezThemes' server and authors
simply upload the link to Themes Unlimited. You should be extremely
careful when downloading any files with this link:
"Download
From ezThemes/SubPortal",
especially if it's an executable file rather than a zip file.
This site offers
a service which displays ONLY my themes. Here's the link:
See something you like? Follow the
link to download. It'll open a new window at the appropriate site where
you can download the zip file. The README file included with each zip file
contains installation instructions.
DR = Desktop Realm
TU = Themes
Unlimited
= Became available for downloading within the last
month
= Became available for downloading within the last
month
