WINDOWS
How to install a visual style?
A visual style (called ‘VS’) changes your Windows graphic environnment : windows, taskbar… You may find some nice-looking VS on the internet. But when you would try to use it, you would encounter problems. Actually, as Microsoft decided, Windows doesn’t accept unsigned VS. Only the rare Microsoft-signed VS are working on a standard Windows system. Fortunately, some patches were made to get rid of this.
You can download one of them here (english) or here (français).
Then unzip it wherever you want, and launch it. The uxtheme.dll will be patched and you’ll be able to aply any VS. You’ll probably have to reboot your system.
To apply a VS, first unzip it in ‘C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes’ then double-click on it and click OK.
Free Software:
Macintosh
How to change icons with a software?
It is possible to use a software to change icons. There are some softwares wich provide the ability to change icons such as Candybar or LiteIcon
How to change icons without a software ?
Select your icon .icns cmd+c after cmd+i, a new window appears:
select the small icon in the top and cmd+v
How to change icons of stack ?
To change your icons stack you can use this software Stacks in Da Place, just drop and drag your icons (png) on the apps and click on Apply Icon.
Free Software:
Bowtie : iTunes control
Magnifique: Themes switcher
SlipCover: Create cases
LINUX
How to change your wallpaper ?
The easiest way to change your wallpaper when running Gnome is to right-click on your desktop and select the option to change Wallpaper.
How to install a GTK Theme ?
The most used and famous way to install a gtk theme, is just to download it, extract the files wherever you want, and then copy and paste the theme folder in :
‘/usr/share/themes’ if you want the theme to be available for each user of your computer (you would need to be super-user to copy and paste the files in this location)
‘/home/your-user-name/.themes’ for the theme to be available only for you (don’t forget to show hidden files, hidden files names start with a dot)
To copy and paste you can use your favourite file manager, or use the command cp.
You can also use gnome-appearance-properties wich can be found :
‘System => Preferences => Appearance’.
By typing ‘gnome-appearance-properties’ in a console.
By right-cliking on your desktop, choosing to change the wallpaper and select the first tab in the new window.
Just click on the Install button and select the the archive you downloaded. The archive file has to be .tar.gz ! This method sometimes does not work because some theme makers don’t make their archives properly. This is also why the first method is recommended.
Once your theme is installed, you can select it using ‘gnome-appearance-properties’. Next to the install button, there is a button to customize. The appearing window is quite easy to understand. Select your theme and it will be applied. Window borders are customized in the 3rd tab.
You can also use ‘gtk-theme-switch2′ to apply themes. It is available in the repositories, just run Synaptic and search ‘gtk-theme-switch’.
