Revised at 06/09/2008

Windows XP > Vista tutorial
Now downloadable as a MS Word document!*
* latest updates and new adds may not be included

This is my 1st XP>Vista tutorial, I've searched and found all possible things that make XP look like vista. Happy reading!

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TRANSFORMATION PACKS
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These packs will automatically transform your XP to Vista, but you'll need MUCH more then that to make your XP look as close as possible to vista...


Vistamizer: [link]

BricoPack Vista Inspirat 2 (SP3 compatible) recommended: [link]
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Like I said, transformation packs are not enough, here is a list of other required things for a vista feeling:

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VISUAL STYLES
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Get the basic vista look with msstyles, you'll need to patch uxtheme first.

Best Visual style (msstyles) Vista VG ultimate: [link]
Aero Ultimate ViOrb - to make the whole orb appear on the msstyles: [link]
Aero Ultimate Vistart [link]

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WINDOWBLINDS SKINS
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Get the premium Vista Aero experience on XP with WindowBlinds 6! You will get real glass and blur, and many other features with WB!

Best WindowBlinds style: Aero Ultimate RC1 [link] - Highest Quality vista style for XP

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GLASS WITHOUT WINDOWBLINDS
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Don't have WindowBlinds? Don't worry, you can get Aero Glass frames with these:

Border Skin - one of the best glass emulators for XP: [link]
Best vista TT skin - Aero Ultimate for TrueTransparecy: [link]
Vystal: [link]
FastAero: [link]
TrueTransparency (highly recommended) [link]

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MISCELLANEOUS VISTA ITEMS
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Vista user pictures: [link]

ALL vista wallpapers [link]

Vista Sounds [link]


Vista screensavers: [link]

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WINDOWS FLIP3D AND ALTERNATIVES
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Get the awesome Flip3D effect just like in vista.

New! Best Flip3D - Shock3D (free)
TopDesk: 1.5 (shareware) [link]
WinFlip: (free) [link]
Madotate [link]

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LIVE TASKBAR PREVIEWS
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Did you notice a cool vista feature which displays small thumbnails over a taskbar? You can have the same in XP!

Visual Tooltips: [link]

Visual Task Tips: [link]

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VISTA LIKE APPLICATIONS AND SKINS FOR THEM
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Windows Mail:
windows Live Mail [link]

Windows Defender: [link] (WGA required)

Windows Live Photo Gallery: [link]

Windows Media Center:

Skins for XP MCE 2005 Media Center program: [link]

MediaPortal (open source media center): [link]
Vista like skin for media portal: [link]
Nero Home: [link]
Vista skin for Nero home: [link]

Other Media Center software: [link]

Windows Media Player 11 (Genuine Windows required): [link]
Best windows media player resource pack: [link]

Internet explorer 7 (Genuine Windows required): [link]

Mozilla firefox: (alternative to ie7)
Tutorial on how to make Firefox look like IE7 Vista: [link]


Windows Calendar: [link]

Vista Help for XP: [link]

Vista Games explorer:
V1: [link]
V2 (possibility to add games): [link]

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EXPLORER PLUGINS IN VISTA STYLE
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Want your explorer to look and work like vista's? Try these:

Favorite Links for XP: [link]
Styler (vista toolbar) [link]
Styler skins - Vista perfection X4: [link]
Other types and languages: [link]
Vista adressbar: [link]

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PORTED VISTA APPLICATIONS (originals)
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Real programs from vista hacked to work on Windows XP

Windows Vista Sidebar RTM (original sidebar from vista): [link]
(Windows Sidebar Styler [link] )

Vista paint, notepad, calculator: [link]

Vista games for XP: [link]

Vista Snipping Tool, Sticky Notes, and Inkball Game, Texas Hold'em ported to Xp: [link]

Windows Journal for XP: [link]

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WINDOWS SIDEBAR ALTERNATIVES
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Rainmeter Windows Sidebar (recommended): [link]
Takes very little resources!

Google Desktop demo: [link]

Thoosje's Vista Sidebar: [link]

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MODIFICATIONS AND DESKTOPX
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These applications imitate the functions of vista ones. Some of them are limited in functionality.

Welcome Center:
Glass: [link]
Basic: [link]

Windows Picture Viewer for XP (mod): [link]

Windows Photo Gallery (DesktopX): [link]

Vista system properties: [link]

Vista personalization for xp: [link]

Vista clock for xp: [link]
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RESOURCES
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Windows Vista original icons and pngs:

You can use these icons in a dock or any system elements:

347 vista icons: [link]
347 Vista pngs: [link]
Vista application icons: [link]
Vista RTM WOW icon pack: [link]

Vista Icon packages:

For tuneUP: [link]
For IconPacakger: [link]
For IconTweaker: [link]

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BOOT\LOGON\SYSTEM SOUNDS
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Original vista boot screen for xp: [link]
Best Logon available for XP: [link]

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WINDOWS PRODUCT (RED)
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Dell released a special set of computers with Vista Product (RED) for charity purposes. If you have ever supported (RED) you can get the special wallpapers, screensavers, sidebar gadgets and dreamscene for XP: [link]

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DREAMSCENE ALTERNATIVES
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And last but not least:
Dreamscene (Video, Animated wallpaper):
In Vista Ultimate there is a extra called dreamscene, it lets to use a video background as a wallpaper :

DreamRender - one of the best dreamscene programs for xp: [link]

KMplayer (tutorial) [link]
Bsplayer (free): [link]
VLC player (free): [link]
Dreamscene animations: [link]
DreamsceneXP (flash on Desktop) [link]
AuroraXP: [link]
JelyXP: [link]
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WEBSITE LINKS
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Other customization websites:

Windows [design] [rus] [link]
Crystalxp.net: [link]
WinModify: [link]
Joejoe.org: [link]
Winmatrix: [link]
Wincert: [link]
Aeroxp.org: [link]
The Vista (RUS) [link]
JCXP: [link]
Aqua-soft: [link]
Wintuning (RUS) [link]
Vistart (vista start menu) official website: [link]

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OTHER TUTORIALS
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If you want your XP look like any other OS, check out these:
XP > Longhorn tutorial for longhorn fans [link]
XP > Leopard tutorial by anoos: [link]
TUTORIAL: Transform Windows XP into Windows Vista, Without Using any Customization Pack: [link]
This tutorial is mostly hacking system files to look like vista.

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Comments are welcome!

Feel free to suggest other software, will be included to the tutorial! if you found this informative, and don't forget to visit my gallery for lots more HQ vista stuff