When it comes to using .msstyles you need to patch uxtheme.dll to
use them. There's roughly a thousand msstyles out there (though many of
them are just the default Windows XP style with the color changed
somewhat).
.msstyles is the skin format that the default Windows XP theme is
in. But Microsoft made it so that you can't use uncertified MSStyles.
Some people have gotten around this by patching Microsoft's skin engine
DLL (uxtheme.dll). By disabling the digital signature checking, you can
then use those third party msstyles (or you can use SkinStudio which
will import them automatically into WindowBlinds).
If you decide you want to use .msstles, beware that some companies are trying to sell
programs that do little more than simply patch uxtheme.dll. Don't be
fooled by slick marketing. They'll be the ones trying to tell you that
their programs use "no additional resources" or "0 footprint".
Worse, people have been led to believe that these programs are what are
doing the skinning. They're not. UXTheme is something that's on your
system. It was written by Microsoft. And contrary to what some have
claimed, Microsoft has not condoned doing this.
But as a free method for users who are reasonably tech savy who like
msstyles, patching uxtheme.dll and downloading msstyles is a viable way
to skin Windows XP -- just don't pay someone to do it.
Also, beware of claims like uses no extra memory or "won't slow down
your computer". The fastest way to run our computer is to run Windows
classic. UXTheme.dll is a skinning engine that installs a system wide
hook to intercept paint calls and injects skin data. It will take
longer to do that than to un classic. But fear not, on a modern
computer, you shouldn't notice the difference.
So to sum up what we have so far, uxtheme.dll in Windows XP is
Microsoft's bundled skinning engine that can applies .msstyles. A
svchost.exe pocess runs to manage the skin.
The advantage of .msstyles running via uxtheme is that because the
included skin (Luna) uses it, it should have a high degree of
compatibility. Hence, other .msstyles should be relatively compatible.
It also has the advantage of being free if you find a good uxtheme
patcher.
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