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Price: Free
Date Added: Nov 2006
Operating Systems: Windows XP
File Size: 30200KB
Downloads Count: 238843
Author: Window X's Shrine
Like the look of Vista but don't want to switch from XP? Then try out the Vista Transformation Pack. It changes XP's basic interface, including the Start button, the Control Panel, system dialogs, icons, and more, so that XP mimics the look and feel of Vista.
Be aware, though, that the transformation is only skin deep. The program won't give you transparent windows, Vista applets, or other unique features of Vista. You're still running XP; it only looks like Vista.
After you install the program, get that Vista look by right-clicking your Desktop, choosing Properties --> Appearance, and choosing from the "Windows and buttons" drop-down list Windows Aero. To use Vista wallpaper, click the Desktop tab and scroll through the backgrounds. Vista wallpaper will have strange numbers, such as "img19," instead of names.
One caveat: Before using the program, make sure to create a Restore Point, because the installation can be somewhat difficult.
--Preston Gralla
| Most Recent Reviews | User Rating |
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Reviewed by:
MATR
Mon Nov 19 02:38:58 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: Excited and started using vista transformation pack gladly. Apparantley it was very good looking and impressive, even though it was taking bit more time for the system to get started. But within couple of weeks the following problem arised. As the system has windows xp, the user has to enter the password to login. Once the user did this, the system was behaving as if it was going to start, but (within 2 minutes) it was showing the password screen again. I think this is because of this transformation pack. I request you all please let me know the solution, if you can think of one. Thank you all. |
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Reviewed by:
cpaguy123
Mon May 28 08:26:52 PDT 2007 Duration of ownership: 3 Months Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: |
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Reviewed by:
lumpofblubber
Thu May 24 06:12:35 PDT 2007 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: It looks just like the real vista. a 13 year old like me cant fork out a thousand. but this gives me everything i need from vista Weaknesses: how to change the language? i cant understand spanish Overall Evaluation: improve xp without paying a single cent. what more do you want? |
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Reviewed by:
kuroganeki
Wed May 16 19:04:31 PDT 2007 Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks Strengths: easy install, true vista look, doesn't require a high graphics card, very customizable fetures Weaknesses: BIG file, takes long to instal Overall Evaluation: i completly love it!!! it is SOOOO awesome!!!!!!! thanks PC world for having this!!! |
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Reviewed by:
rivers699
Sat Mar 10 02:29:57 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 6 Months Strengths: The look and feel of Vista! The install was a breeze, although the warnings were scary. The Aero Glass transparencies look just like Vista. Weaknesses: The only weakness is having to wait for it to "build Vista Icons" at start up and having to click OK before the desktop loads each time. Overall Evaluation: I recommend this program for those that are not ready or are unable to upgrade to Vista. A very good program. Download the installation file from the author's website. |
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Reviewed by:
mleftin
Mon Mar 05 19:52:02 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 1 Months Strengths: Looks and feels like Vista. Downloaded fairly easy. No trouble installing the program. Weaknesses: You may have a problem checking the boxes in the initial setup. Overall Evaluation: Overall the program gives the XP machine the look and feel of Vista. The Aero thumbnails and the dock setup work perfectly. My Campaq Presario had no problems with the Transformation Pack. |
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Reviewed by:
wcarr16
Sun Feb 25 11:31:47 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 4 Days Strengths: Beautiful UI with several strong feature enhancements. No ridiculeous hardware requirements or broken drivers/software, and especially no DRM issues. Weaknesses: Installation choices could be better explained. You presented with a multitude of choices to check off. If you're not sure, better to halt installation until you know what options to check off. Side bar is handy but included gadgets seem somewhat less stable that the rest of the UI. RSS reader has problems updating and I generally have to reset preferences on a restart. May be a wrong checkbox from intallation Overall Evaluation: Love the look and utility. Got off the bleeding edge two years ago. Moderately fast, stable system is more important to me, but I like to tweek. Vista while pretty would have required a $500 hadware upgrade plus the cost of Vista. Too many issues and unknowns at this time. The Transform pack gives me 90% of the functionality and appearance plus 100% of the speed and stability of my XP Pro installation. Highly recommend. |
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Reviewed by:
sabrosura
Sat Feb 17 20:04:37 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 2 Months Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: |
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Reviewed by:
sid4workeller
Sat Feb 10 09:59:25 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 1 Weeks Strengths: Easy as if it was built for me Weaknesses: Haven't found them yet. But, give me a month. Overall Evaluation: If this was any easier, my X wife could handle this.. My present wife, found it to be very easy and wants it downloaded to her machine . |
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Reviewed by:
Elippl
Sun Jan 28 13:40:33 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 3 Weeks Strengths: It looks like Vista and has some of the things in the OS. The mouse pointers look great. The icons are Vista like as well. Weaknesses: It can be a change that you won't be able to return to normal XP with out system recovery. Not all of the side bar's icons are working. The windows aren't transparent. The start bar has icons in it. The boot screen look really bad anf fake. Overall Evaluation: If you wan't a look a like of Vista and aren't planning to upgrade this is perfect for you. If you only want to keep it for a week or just for the looks don't try it. Vista comes out January 30 and I'm waiting for Vista to be mailed to me. This is nice but XP doesn't have as many problems and is less of a problem to use. |
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Reviewed by:
Kapricorn62
Mon Jan 15 02:00:16 PST 2007 Duration of ownership: 1 Months Strengths: Looks & feels like Vista Weaknesses: occasional error message upon start up (only 1...only sometimes) Overall Evaluation: I love it! the install for me was a snap, the directions were fairly simple, and it installed on the first try. Makes you feel like your OS is Vista |
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Reviewed by:
Foshizol
Thu Dec 28 17:55:14 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: Download and install went fine for me I don't know what everyone is complaining about. Weaknesses: Programmer needs to spell check. To many warnings that you may mess up your I understand one warning but they make it scarier then it really is. True computer techs don't mind doing a full format and reinstall. I didn't really care for the gadget stuff that came up, but that's because I already use Yahoo Widgets. Overall Evaluation: I like the look of the tool and the folders, and my Icons seem crisp. I like the way the My Computer folder looks inside. This is why I love to install new linux distros so I can look at something different for awhile. |
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Reviewed by:
water
Thu Dec 28 14:09:04 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: none Weaknesses: none Overall Evaluation: Prevx1 calls it malware will not alow me to run it |
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Reviewed by:
gregmb
Thu Dec 28 08:46:53 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: Corrupt file. Weaknesses: Corrupt file. Overall Evaluation: Corrupt file. |
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Reviewed by:
micki99
Thu Dec 28 00:14:58 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 5 Weeks Strengths: beautiful. like the whirly when working rather than the hourglass. Weaknesses: none so far Overall Evaluation: Find it attractive. Also find that my pc works faster since I installed it. Had problems with initial installation. Had to uninstall and reinstall, but since then no problems. Like the bar at the bottom which shows how much further to bring up page. Very attractive and easy to use. Did not download from pcworld. Got it from site recommended by Kim Komando. check her download section. |
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Reviewed by:
Blazer
Wed Dec 27 17:21:34 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: non Weaknesses: corupt zip file Overall Evaluation: instead of downloading from PC World, if you go to www.windowsxlive.net you will get a proper (uncorupted) file |
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Reviewed by:
shortstuff2604
Wed Dec 27 17:11:34 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: This is not a zip file, canot open it Weaknesses: can not open this file Overall Evaluation: poor can not open this file just like everybody else who trys to use it . try to make this file avalable |
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Reviewed by:
Marcelo
Wed Dec 27 17:06:48 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: Who nows? Weaknesses: Lack of care Overall Evaluation: Yeap! The problem is that the .zip file has only the 10% of the data that should. The description says that the file is 12500KB and the downloaded file is only 1.2K. Does any body take cares to check out these problems? |
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Reviewed by:
joeyford1
Wed Dec 27 16:56:53 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: Weaknesses: corrupted archive Overall Evaluation: Unable to extract from archive. |
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Reviewed by:
nirrp
Wed Dec 27 16:31:50 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: ?? Weaknesses: Invaid Archive: vtp5_5.zip Overall Evaluation: End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on the last disk(s) of this archive. |
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Reviewed by:
jryder27
Wed Dec 27 15:53:09 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Months Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: Empty Zip |
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Reviewed by:
CKam38
Wed Dec 27 15:00:50 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Months Strengths: not valid zip file Weaknesses: wont work Overall Evaluation: cant use =no good |
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Reviewed by:
yuquotqueen
Wed Dec 27 14:36:05 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Days Strengths: poor Weaknesses: poor Overall Evaluation: Zip File Would Not Open |
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Reviewed by:
roti
Wed Dec 27 13:55:53 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: It doesn't open. Says file corrupted. Worthless Was very dissapointed |
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Reviewed by:
sklein
Wed Dec 27 13:49:27 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Months Strengths: Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: I downloaded the file but it would not open. It is either a corrupted file and/or it is not a valid archived Zip file. |
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Reviewed by:
yangbon
Wed Dec 27 11:44:11 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: Weaknesses: THE ZIP FILE WAS EMPTY. HARD TO EVALUATE A PROGRAM WHEN THE ZIP FILE CONTAINS NOTHING Overall Evaluation: |
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Reviewed by:
pipolisious
Wed Dec 27 10:19:26 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 1 Days Strengths: The zip file does not open! Weaknesses: The zip file does not open! Overall Evaluation: The zip file does not open! So how can this be evaluated if it can not be installed? |
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Reviewed by:
labjr
Wed Dec 27 10:07:58 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Months Strengths: could not download the transformation pack as the files are corrupted Weaknesses: Overall Evaluation: wish I could use it but the files are corrupeted and would not download so I am disappointed as I would like to have seen how it works |
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Reviewed by:
sirknight6
Wed Dec 27 09:35:24 PST 2006 Duration of ownership: 0 Months Strengths: Weaknesses: It doesn't seem to be a valid ZIP file. I cannot open it. Overall Evaluation: |
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