Changing the Overall Look

The visual and auditory interface elements of Windows Vistacolors, Desktop background, icons, sounds, screen savers, mouse pointers, and so onare all part of a theme. Windows Vista comes with a few themes, other themes are available as add-ons, and you can also create your own themes. If the new look of Windows Vista doesn't appeal to you, you can revert to the look of earlier versions of Windows.

Change the Theme

Click the Start button, type pers in the Search box of the Start menu, click Personalization to open the Personalization window, and choose Theme to display the Theme Settings dialog box.

If you already have some customized settings that you want to save, with Modified Theme selected, click Save As. In the Save As dialog box that appears, name the current theme, select a different location in which to save it if you want, and click Save.

Select a different theme.

Preview the theme.

If you like the appearance of the theme, click OK.