At a Glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- Allows control over the appearance of Windows
Cons
- Doesn’t skin the left Explorer panel in Vista/7
Our Verdict
Give your PC a personal touch with this shell enhancement.
If you want to thoroughly change the way Windows looks, this
program may be the best way to do it. It lets you apply entire new
“skins” to the operating system to make it look just about any way
you’d like. You can use the skins built into the program, download
others, and even make and customize your own. You’ll be able to
skin just about every part of Windows, and can do much more than
that. You can, for example, add buttons to title bars, skin the
Windows Vista sidebar, change the Start menu animation, and even
skin Internet Explorer navigation arrows and tabs, as well as
Windows’ Start menu shutdown/lock buttons.
The program doesn’t actually alter system files, so you’re not putting Windows at risk when you use it. Using and configuring skins is surprisingly easy, with a simple-to-follow visual interface guiding you through all the steps. If you’re an XP user, and want to make your PC look like Windows Vista, you can apply a skin that will do that for you as well.
–Preston Gralla