Make Windows Xp Look Like Ubuntu Linux
Changing the look of your Windows XP to Ubuntu is really really easy. The thing is that many people get tired of the old look of Windows XP including me so changing it to Ubuntu Linux is a nice option. But before you can continue, you need a few things which are :
1. UxTheme Multi-Patcher
2. Human Visual Style Theme
3. IconTweaker.
4. Super Turbo Tango Patcher
5. Stardock BootSkin
6. LogonStudio
Ok now lets begin with the tutorial.
1. The first thing is the Visual Style. To change your visual style of Windows XP, download UxTheme Multi-Patcher and install it. After installing it, download the Human Visual Style Theme. Then extract the theme to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes and then go to your Desktop. Right click and go to Properties, then go to Appearance and Select Human as the theme. Now you are done with the visual style part.
2. The next step is to change the icons of Windows XP to something that looks like icons in Ubuntu Linux. Download Super Turbo Tango Patcher and install it. During installation, select the icon set as Tangerine as this pack contains the icons that are matches the icons in Ubuntu Linux. There is another software that can change the icons of Windows XP which is IconTweaker. Download it and then download IconTweaker Theme to change the icons of Windows XP. Use this software if you dont want to use Super Turbo Tango Patcher.
3. The next thing is to change the mouse pointers which you have in your computer. The ones that come with the human theme. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\Human\Cursors and find “install.infâ€. Then right click on install.inf and select “Installâ€. Then go to Control Panel > Mouse and choose the newly added “xFree cursor theme.
4. Now you should change the wallpapers. Its inside the human theme folder C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\Human\Wallpapers. Just chose the wallpaper, Right click on it and Click Set as Desktop background. or You can get the Ubuntu Wallpaper Here.
5. Now coming to the boot screen of Windows Xp which i dont like at all. Download Stardock BootSkin, its a free application so just download it and install. And then download Ubuntu Boot Skin and apply it.
6. The last step is to change the logon screen of Windows Xp. For that first download LogonStudio and then download the Ubuntu Logon Skin and use it with LogonStudio.
Now to make 3rd party applications like Mozilla Firefox to blend in like Ubuntu, download the Ubuntu Theme for mozilla and change the look of Firefox as well.
Great guide!@
I’m loving it
Why not just install Ubuntu?
Why not just duel boot XP and Ubuntu. Then use Ubuntu when you want a secure system, and boot to Xp for your games.
Mike, because some people like a crappy OS that looks like a good one.
“Why not just install Ubuntu?”
People have to transition themselves towards a new operating system sometimes, to minimize the ’shock’. This is one way to do that.
agree with mike, installing ubuntu is actually is easier than installing all that theming crap.
Ha ha!!
Is that the biggest waste of time i have ever heard of?? Not only is windoze a crap OS (really), but Ubuntu does not even look good! Don’t get me wrong Ubuntu is great, but not because of the looks! Hehe, i’m still laughing…
hehe.. hehe..
I think it is funny that there are all these “why not just install Ubuntu” posts. When I read a guide a couple of weeks ago for making Ubuntu look like Vista, there were many comments saying “why not just install Vista”
So you’ve changed the reason from “getting tired with the look of Windows XP” to “people have to transition themselves towards a new operating system”?
Seriously, this is a lot of trouble for little gain, and just makes for a confusing computer.
The best way to transition to Ubuntu Linux is to install Ubuntu Linux. Making XP look like any Linux distro just screams FAIL! to anybody observing it. “I wanted to migrate to Linux, but I couldn’t do it!”
It your Windows XP is looking tired, sheesh, download some fresh backgrounds and icon sets. Mimicking another OS just makes for a confusing, less intuitive computer and is very sad.
using wubi to install ubuntu from within xp is by far the easieast way to go. in under 10 minutes you’ll have a dual boot system without the need for partitioning etc, if you dont like it just boot to xp and go to add remove programs and uninstall ubuntu from there.
Whats the point?
it still is windows… and i dont think the default gnome theme that comes with ubuntu that pretty to make the change, there are alot of good visual styles for windows on deviantart that do not mimic other OS, i recommend searching for Area04 for example.
“People have to transition themselves towards a new operating system sometimes, to minimize the ’shock’. This is one way to do that.”
Man, I wish I did that… Instead I just jumped right in. With Slackware. Before they shipped with a GUI by default. After I wiped my windows partition.
So yeah. Bad first experience. And second… and… third. Then I found Ubuntu.
I must say that, for a Windows port of a Gnome theme, it doesn’t look too bad.
I’d rather stick with the genuine article though
Have a look at Mint Linux. It is based on ubuntu, yet have many extra features. And it’s pretty. I don’t think i have ever had a better “out of the box experience”. On my MacBook (Santa Rosa) I only had to do a few tweeks comparing to other distros i’ve tried… \m/
Nice!
Love ubuntu!
This is the first step in making your Ubuntu computer look like a mac.
After reading countless other tutorials over the past two years (Make Ubuntu Look like XP, Make Ubuntu look like Vista, Make Ubuntu look like OSX…) I never thought I’d see this one.
I wouldn’t do it (I think every OS has its own subtle charms), but I thank you for the tutorial.
does anybody really find ubuntu beautiful at all? I’d rather use a Windows 3.11 theme (or as somebody already pointed out, just plain move away to Linux)…
@coderjoe
finally some1 who thinks this tutorial is useful.
I think this is rally cool. It helps with the transition from Windows XP to Gnome.
I think it is sort of like putting training wheels on a bike, they wont be there forever but they will be useful for a while.
Well, i use both ubuntu and windows as dual boot. I still use Windows mostly for games and other applications, but I like so much the Ubuntu look that i made my Windows XP looks a bit like Ubuntu. Softwares I use: litestep, human visual style, tango patcher, ubuntu similar boot and login screens, findexer to explorer, icons and cursor.
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/2600/ubuntuxpmb5.jpg
Make Windows Xp Look Like Ubuntu Linux…
Is there any possibility to make it run like Linux?…
I don’t think so!
Just install Fedora or Ubuntu… You’ll love it
Note:if you really need Windows, you still can install it in a virtual machine with VirtualBox.
Guys, Windows is around for one big reason: plug & play. Please stop bashing Windows because none of the elite Linux gurus has developed a user-friendly installer.
For goodness sakes, anytime you want to install a new video or sound card, it’s back to recompiling just to get it to work. That’s only if you can still boot up after installing the new hardware.
I use both, but i’m not going to pretend that I hate Windows.
Also, good work on the theme.
Has it occured to anyone that a user might be REQUIRED to use Windows in a work environment?
i suggest you use Wubi, so you can see and feel the real thing:
http://www.wubi-installer.org/
i don’t see the point of doing that what you suggest (except for fun, maybe)
Hahaha, I’ve seen tutorials like “how to make your Ubuntu to look like new Leopard, or Vista”…
This one look like turnover.
i love to see a visual style to make windows look like linux mint.
Cool! I got Ubuntu Linux Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS on my Pentuim III (Desktop) PC and actually I used this trick for my New Free laptop Dell Vostro 1000 (15 1000) Looks pretty cool with this
Thanks!
Yeah I prefer to have a Linux Desktop PC & Windows Xp Look-Like Ubuntu Linux Laptop…
Pretty hard to replace a new PC OS just like that
Just replace the Look and evrything should be ok :]
Yhanks!
Because my wireless and 3d gpu don’t work properly in Ubuntu… and I like being able to access my files without having to mess with terminals and fstab… I like being able to defragment my file systems when they start to slow down… and of course, gaming.
i can’t install ubuntu on my dell inspiron 1100 due to hardware issues. until i can afford a new computer an ubuntu look is better than the MS look
Exactly you jackasses… my laptops will not recognize the wireless networks in Ubuntu no matter what I do but they will work with ethernet… but this is why I have laptops… FOR THE WIRELESS.
If Ubutu is that great, you’d think they’d get their OS right out of the box so that it works with wireless like every other OS out there.
Changing themes and customizing looks is what makes your PC, YOUR PC. Thanks to the poster with the tutorial. The time you took to write it is appreciated. As for the rest of the fanboys and jackasses, f off.
Nice tip. very useful if we want to feel like using Ubuntu but not installing it.
Guys, imagine this situation like…hotels. What are in hotels? Same, bed, toilets, bathroom, etc. But we don’t want the same looking environment, that would be boring, right? Besides, think of it as a good way to prank our buds. ” Hey guys, I got Ubuntu, and I can play games with it, without installing Wine!”
ok, that’s not the point….
Another thing to remember, Unlike Windows, we don’t pay for Ubuntu. It’s Open-Source and it’s free. Just appreciate it. They wasted their electricity, their intellect, and their time to create something for us. FOR FREE.
If you don’t have the heart to pay them, appreciate them. If you don’t have the heart to appreciate them, DON”T CRITICISE THEM.
If you can’t stand to criticise them, MAKE YOUR OWN that you can be satisfied with. They are places where you can suggest what you think lack ion Ubuntu, and not here. Same as Windows, but for Windows at least you have the right to complain; you paid.
As for me, I love both Windows and Ubuntu.
How about “novelty?” I did this just to do something different. To have a unique computer. I’ve done the same thing with Mac themes … and Vista themes on XP. It’s just clever and entertaining. I’ve made Linux look like Vista and Mac, too. I use several different OS’s and find that they’re ALL fantastic for what they’re intended to do (and all frustrating, too). Themes are barely more than a way to make your interaction with the interface more entertaining. Drives the IT guys crazy at work, though. They never know what system they’re looking at
I use this theme because I use both Windows and Ubuntu. I like things to be… what’s the word? Consistent. I like switching from XP to Ubuntu via VirtualBox to be smooth.
What is all this “well y dont u install lunix” bitching? Is it such a bad idea to install the theme because you like how it looks?
There’s no way that someone likes ubuntu looks. That’s just…nvm
Let’s put it this way, windows is for the average. You can indeed do all the things you do in windows on a linux platform and about hardware, there’s ALWAYS a workaround. Ubuntu is one of the most automatized linuxes i’ve ever seen. I stick with Debian, but for a starter is the perfect way to learn.
btw, the guide is not bad at all, but i’d do it by hand changing the files instead of installing one app for each stuff.
works great,,,recommand 100%
Very nice and useful tips. Thanks
The default Ubuntu theme (Human) looks like crap, which is why I’ve themed mine to look like Leopard. Yes, Leopard. Honestly, I have no yet come across a nicer looking theme, which is not surprising given the money pumped into the development of the “theme” by Apple for OS X.
In any case, theming XP is useless because no matter how the Window borders look, everything else still looks and feels like CRAP. And it never themes 100% fine. More like 75%. Some buttons don’t look right, or words fall off buttons, the colors get messed up, whatever. I’d just stick with the MS provided XP themes (like Zune) or install Ubuntu!
Thank You.
thx, i’ll try it.
Unless you have a serious gaming computer, all this stuff put on your computer will eat away at memory. I should know. I had XPize, and at least 1-2 other programs running that changed how XP looked, and even with a memory optimizer (actually I suspect that may have eaten more memory than it freed anyway) my computer ran slower. I formatted my computer recently and since I left it the way it is, it’s been running a lot faster. The same old default look is a small price to pay for efficiency. You can also download a couple themes that work with XP without needing to change anything.