How To Create Custom Windows 7 Themes

One of the new changes that Microsoft has implemented into the Windows 7 operating system is the ability to create custom themes. Now, these custom themes do come not anywhere near the third party themes that exist for Windows XP or Windows Vista as they limit the elements that can be changed. This does not mean however that there will be no third party themes for Windows 7 at all. Users should see the custom theme creation option in Windows 7 as a way to create basic themes for the operating system without the need to patch system files or install third party software programs. Created custom themes can also be saved and shared with friends or colleagues.

The custom Windows 7 themes allow the user to change the desktop background, including the option to create a slideshow of desktop images that are changed automatically, the color scheme, sounds and screen saver with the option to save this theme on the computer system. This means that other elements that are usually modified by the Theme including the windows Taskbar or the Start Menu are not affected by the custom theme creation.

To create a custom theme a user would right-click on the computer desktop of the Windows 7 operating system and pick the Personalize option from the context menu. This opens the main Personalization menu in the Windows Control Panel.

The Personalization menu lists all currently installed themes on the computer system. Important for the custom theme creation process are the four icons at the bottom of the screen: Desktop Background, Window Color, Sounds and Screen Saver.

1. Desktop Background

A click on Desktop Background will open a menu that can be used to pick an image to be used as the background image for the theme. This image can be one of the wallpaper images provided by Microsoft or another image from the computer system. It is possible to select multiple images, select a picture position which is important for pictures that are smaller than the screen resolution and to change pictures frequently.

2. Window Color

A click on Window Color leads to a configuration dialog know from previous Windows operating system. It basically allows the user to change the menu colors of the operating system

3. Sounds

Sounds opens another well known configuration window. It offers configuration options to change the sounds of the computer system.

4. Screen Saver

The last option is to select a screen saver for the custom theme in Windows 7.

The custom theme can then be saved by clicking on the Save Theme link in the main Personalization menu.

A theme can be saved for sharing by right-clicking on a theme and selecting that option from the menu. This makes it possible to distribute the custom Windows 7 theme to other users of the operating system.

Source: www.windows7news.com