Stardock’s WindowBlinds is indeed a great start, but it’s just one element if you really want to revamp XP’s look and feel to closely resemble Vista.

A complete solution can be found in the so-called ‘Vista Transformation Pack’ (VTP), created by a very dedicated guy known simply as “Mr. Windows X”. Already up to version 6, VTP is a free download (http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php?showforum=83) that combines many individual pieces with an automatic installation routine for ‘one click’ customization. It actually updates many of the resources for XP’s system files to give them a nice Vista look (icons, etc.) VTP also replaces XP’s original boot, welcome, and shutdown screens; and adds Vista’s sound scheme, animated cursors, wallpapers, and screen saver… all things that a WindowBlinds skin alone can’t provide.

VTP even installs several companion freeware programs to further extend the Vista-like experience. These include the Start Orb, a taskbar thumbnail preview, and Styler — another skinning program used with or without WindowBlinds to change the toolbars in Windows Explorer and IE to resemble those in Vista.

I particularly like Thoosje’s Vista Sidebar, a third-party app installed by VTP that’s an almost exact duplicate of the new Sidebar in the “real” Vista. There are already lots of Gadgets available for Thoosje’s Sidebar, many of them similar to Gadgets written for Vista. They provide some cool add-on functionality including clocks, CPU/disk/memory gauges, weather info, calendar, media player, RSS feed viewer, etc. (You can install the Sidebar even without the rest of VTP - just download it from http://www.thoosje.com).

VTP also installs a WindowBlinds skin that I think is more Vista-like than almost any that I’ve seen, including the ones on the WindowBlinds website. If you have the paid (not freeware) version of WindowBlinds installed, you’ll even get Vista’s “aero glass” window borders and title bars.

And for the finishing touch, check out Otaku Software’s TopDesk: It adds a Vista-like “3D flip” to visually toggle between your running applications.

I applied VTP on my Dell laptop, and it ran perfectly the first time. But be forewarned: this is not something for technical neophytes. VTP does so much that there’s lots of places for little glitches to occur. But fortunately, it’s also quite safe — the worst that can happen is that you simply run VTP’s uninstall and you’re right back where you started. And there’s a very active community forum with detailed instructions and lots of help to get you over any rough spots.

With the full set of VTP’s customizations (plus WindowBlinds and TopDesk if you want ‘em), you can have much of Vista’s new look — and even some of its new functionality like the Sidebar — without spending a cent. Not a bad deal!

Hello Rob V.

Thanks for the detailed comments and sharing this with other readers. And since it sounds like VTP is the one to use, since it has been recommended by others as well.

I’m going to be doing another article on VTPand include the information you have provided.

Regards, Ron

I agree with Rob. I installed a month ago VTP + WindowBlinds + Glass2K + TopDesk and it all seems to lead to as closely to Vista as possible. VTP really installed smoothly on my Inspiron B130 and did not cause any notable problem. Occasionally, though, updates for XP downloaded automatically from Microsoft’s website might change back some icons, in which case you might need to either re-install VTP or do a system restore, in order to reverse the effect of the not-so-necessary-but-meddlesome updates.

Hristomir,
Thanks for the comments.