How to Make Windows 7 Look Like Windows XP Classic?

[propellen]

I've done the following changes:

1. Enabled classic theme
   • Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization -> Select "Windows Classic"
2. Disabled ClearType and optimized GUI performance
   • Right-click Computer\Properties\Advanced system settings\Advanced\Performance\Settings\Visual Effects -> select "Adjust for best performance"
3. Restored XP taskbar behavior
   • Right-click Taskbar\Properties\Taskbar\Taskbar Buttons -> Select "Use small icons" and select "Never combine"

However, I need help with:

1. How to make Tahoma the system wide font?
   • After completing step 2 Win 7 only partially restores Tahoma as the system font. It still utilize Segoe UI in ex. parts of the control panel.
2. How to disable Explorer's "breadcrumbs"?

Thanks!

[Marin85]

To your question 1: Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization\Window Color and Appearance -> Advanced Appearance Settings

As to your second question -> Disable Explorer Breadcrumbs in Windows Vista. I don´t know if that app will work with Windows 7, but it seems to be working with Vista. Well, there is only one way to find out

Hope this helps,

Marin

[propellen]

Marin85, thank you for your reply!

However, the solutions you are suggesting does not work. (I've tried both of them before posting this thread.)

1. Regarding Tahoma as system font
   • After completing the steps 1-3 above, all the items in Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization\Window Color\Window Color and Apperance\ says that Tahoma is the system font. However, the system still partially utilize Segoe UI. Steve [ http://steve.fsxtreme.com/blogs/2008/01 ... -on-vista/ ] created a script which replaces the Segoe UI entries in the registry with Tahoma. However, this is a shady solution because altough it creates a system utilizing only Tahoma, it disregards font size. This means that running this script on a Windows 7 classic theme will create a mix of Tahoma 8pt (achieved through step 2 above) and 9pt (achieved from the script), instead of like Windows XP (the preferable solution) which utilize Tahoma 8pt system wide.
2. Regarding disabling "breadcrumbs"
   • I've tried AveNoBreadCrumb by Andreas Verhoeven [ http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows- ... ows-vista/ ], but it does not work with Windows 7.
   • The obvious solution would be: Explorer\Tools\Folder Options\View\ -> check "Display the full path in the title bar (Classic theme only)", however this only enables path-display when using Alt-Tab, i.e. it does not disable the "breadcrumbs"

I need the Windows 7 classic theme 100% as slick as the Windows XP classic theme - pixel by pixel. So, please Windows 7 Classic theme users, answer my questions and share your secrets to make Windows 7's classic GUI as consistent and fine lined as XP classic!

[dr_st]

[*] Disabled ClearType and optimized GUI performance

Sounds like you want to make it look like Win98/2K, not XP Classic.

[propellen]

Sounds like you want to make it look like Win98/2K, not XP Classic.

Windows 98 != Windows 2000 ~ Windows XP Classic != Windows 7 Classic

If I'd wanted a fancy graphical user interface (GUI) I would have bought a Mac. Although I'm a happy Windows user, I only prefer the classic GUI. The classic GUI is often preferred by professionals because it offers a non-nonsense interface where all the lines are consistent and no edges are fading. This design enables the user to focus on the tasks rather than being distracted by fancy graphics, i.e. enhances productivity.

Windows 7 offers very little functionality advantages over Windows XP for me with the current computer setup (Thinkpad T60). The migration process, going from Windows XP to Windows 7, is only driven by the fact that XP will be phased out in the future. However, the migration process is restricted by the lack of consistency in the Windows 7 classic theme.

So, please Windows 7 Classic theme users, answer my questions and share your secrets to make Windows 7's classic GUI as consistent and fine lined as XP classic!

[dr_st]

My comment was just in reference to the particular Cleartype GUI functionality. I too use classic theme on ALL my XP/Vista machines, including classic start menu, BTW, but I do use Cleartype, because I find that it makes fonts look much nicer on LCDs.

Same about simple GUI effects such as transparent backgrounds of icon texts. I don't feel that these features somehow hinder productivity, and they are just as compatible with the classic GUI as with the new XP Luna / Vista Aero. So I don't understand why you would want to disable them...

With that said, I too feel that with Win7 MS went clearly in the direction of moving totally away from the oldschool classic GUI. Besides the inconsistencies you mention, there is also a matter of not being able to select classic start menu (although a third-party utility exists that does that), and a few others which escape me at the moment.

I don't currently have Win7 running on any of my computers, but looking at it and even playing with it a bit, I came to the conclusion, that it doesn't make sense to adopt Win7 and staying with the classic GUI. You will just be crippling yourself intentionally too much, and losing some of the nicer new GUI features. Win7 Aero has some advantages not present in Vista Aero, which to me was just eye-candy, and nothing more. So Vista would be the last Windows OS on which I would run the classic GUI or advise that anyone does so.

But that's just opinion. I wish you luck in "classifying" Win7 and would happily learn the tricks to do so.

[visionviper]

If I'd wanted a fancy graphical user interface (GUI) I would have bought a Mac. Although I'm a happy Windows user, I only prefer the classic GUI. The classic GUI is often preferred by professionals because it offers a non-nonsense interface where all the lines are consistent and no edges are fading. This design enables the user to focus on the tasks rather than being distracted by fancy graphics, i.e. enhances productivity.

I agree. The new Aero GUI is only for people who actually use their operating systems, not professionals who would do without an operating system if they could.

I think you will find that Aero does a lot of things that will help your productivity. Like grouping windows from the same application next to each other on the task bar. I also use the "Peek" functionality when I am trying to track a couple things at once. instead of having to switch windows all the time I can just let the cursor sit on the item in the taskbar and just take a quick glance to see how it is doing.

Just give Aero a chance before you go all retro.

[mattbiernat]

i go all retro here for simple reason that I actually really liked the 95-2000 theme. and also my X300 screen is too crappy to handle all those areo colors. maybe if I install 7 on T60p i will give it a try.

[propellen]

Just give Aero a chance before you go all retro.

It's a known fact that Microsoft's Achilles heal is design. They are struggling to create GUI which is appealing to the masses.

I can't understand how it's possible, in 2009 and with years of customers feedback, to create a GUI like Aero. I personally think it looks like it's has been sketched by a kid - [ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... xample.png ].

I would love to attend a meeting with the Microsoft GUI design engineers. Where do they get their inspiration from? They are clearly disregarding the world wide established norms and information of good design.

[dr_st]

It's a good thing you are not letting your personal narrow opinions on design interfere with the "world wide established norms".

[propellen]

- Good design is innovative
- Good design makes a product useful
- Good design is aesthetic
- Good design helps us to understand a product
- Good design is unobtrusive
- Good design is honest
- Good design is long-lasting
- Good design is consequent to the last detail
- Good design is concerned with the environment
- Good design is as little design as possible

[bill bolton]

I can't understand.....

Obvioulsy it wasn't designed for your needs then.

For me its fine.

Cheers.

Bill B.

[propellen]

Obvioulsy it wasn't designed for your needs then.

You are correct. Hence the reason for creating this thread.

The Windows classic GUI satisfies more "good design" criteria than Aero.

[bill bolton]

The Windows classic GUI satisfies more "good design" criteria than Aero.

Whatever it may be, its certainly not good design by any measure

Cheers,

Bill B.

[zhenya]

Clearly the OP can do as he likes, and maybe I shouldn't even post in this thread if I can't help him, but I do take exception to the idea that Classic allows the user to be more 'productive' than 7. With Vista, I largely would have agreed, but with 7 there are a number of refinements (some of them available starting in Vista) that, in my opinion, significantly increase productivity. For example:

- Search is now well integrated into the start menu. This means that typically the fastest way to launch a program or open a file even if I well know where the file is located is to tap the Windows key and start typing. Typically within 3-4 letters it will have found the program or file you are looking for. Tap Enter to open the file or start the program. I can't imagine why you'd want to remove this functionality.

- Those 'breadcrumbs' in Windows Explorer allow you to quickly move between levels of the hierarcy - much more quickly and precisely than an 'up' or 'back' button alone.

- Aero Peek allows you to take a look at what another program is doing, without actually having to change windows. The thumbnail is updated in real time allowing you to see what is going on in that window. On the same token, Alt-Tab is much improved by not just giving a generic icon, but giving a real thumbnail view and actually bringing the entire window into focus as you tab through them. I always considered alt-tab in XP to be a bit of a joke if you had more than a couple of windows open. It's now a viable method of window switching.

- A programs icon doubles as a status bar for file transfers, downloads, etc. obviating the need to keep a separate status window visible or to constantly check in on a status window.

- The task menu is hugely improved. In classic XP, you were either stuck having all icons visible, or selective ones, and if the latter, you were stuck chasing down the icon you wanted in the 2 seconds it gave you before collapsing them again. The view in 7 makes it much easier to find the target icon, and does a much better job of hiding them, and giving the user control over whether they are bothered by that icon again.

- In general, I find that with the new UI it is easier to focus on the task at hand - background notifications are far less intrusive than in Classic mode. Where in XP I could never stand having multiple windows combined on the task bar, because it made finding the window you wanted so difficult, I find that in 7 this is a huge improvement, as it allows me to focus on what I'm doing, and things like new emails or new chats are far less intrusive - yet the tools are there allowing me to check on them instantly if I like.

Now I realize that some of these features may still be available in Classic mode in 7, but many of them are not. I myself have been holding on to classic XP for quite some time - but I've given 7 a chance and found that - even as someone who uses Macs at home and PCs for work - Microsoft has come up with a darn good UI for 7.

[Marin85]

Those 'breadcrumbs' in Windows Explorer allow you to quickly move between levels of the hierarcy - much more quickly and precisely than an 'up' or 'back' button alone.

I have to disagree here. If you open a folder that has some long path (I have many of this kind), even with widescreen and WUXGA resolution, even maximized, you may not see the full path , so you can´t go up as many levels as you want that easily. The other funny thing about this is, if you click/select the folder path, it becomes shorter than the breadcumbed version... So, all in all, in folders with long location paths I need more time to navigate to somewhere else than if there was this up-level button. To be honest, I found the lack of up-level button very disappointing in Vista and Windows 7.

Additionally, there is a little quirk of Windows 7 about some hidden folders like AppData. This latter is crucial in Windows 7 as it contains important program settings and files, so it is hidden by default. The funny thing about it is, if you type its location (since you know where it is) and it is hidden, windows explorer tells you there isn´t such a folder. This is NOT the case with hidden folders you have created. So, the only way to access this folder is to un-hide it and then navigate to it. I keep asking myself, what is the point of this. If the user already knows the exact path of that folder and is capable of writing it in explorer, then maybe he doesn´t need to be saved from himself (that is what M$ has always been trying to do, right?)...

The thumbnail is updated in real time allowing you to see what is going on in that window.

Unfortunately, there are still many programs out there that don´t get their window previews updated in real time if the windows are minimized to taskbar. Same goes for Alt + Tab. I hope they will fix this anytime soon. What Windows really lacks IMHO, is something like expose in OS-X. The fancy 3D flip is as good as useless... That´s why I use a third-party program windows exposé, but it can easily get dog-slow if you have several windows opened (and then the question is of course what is the point of it if you can´t really use it with say 7-8 windows).

As for your other points, I completely agree! I think the ideal GUI would be some mixture between the classic and the aero design

BTW, has anyone noticed that the windows aero effects get much more easily tired than with the beta versions? With the beta versions of Windows 7 I have never experienced any hiccups in the aero effects even with like 10-12 folders/programs opened. Now, with the finished version, if I open same but only 6-7 folders/programs, the aero effects often have some performance issues... Interestingly, same happens if I just let Windows on idle for like 20 minutes with those windows opened. (Memory leak?)

Just my 0.02$

Marin

EDIT: I changed the post in accordance with the remarks below made by zhenya and visionviper about the real-time previews of programs in the taskbar.

[zhenya]

I have to disagree here. If you open a folder that has some long path (I have many of this kind), even with widescreen and WUXGA resolution, even maximized, you may not see the full path , so you can´t go up as many levels as you want that easily. The other funny thing about this is, if you click/select the folder path, it becomes shorter than the breadcumbed version... So, all in all, in folders with long location paths I need more time to navigate to somewhere else than if there was this up-level button. To be honest, I found the lack of up-level button very disappointing in Vista and Windows 7.

Yes, I suppose that is true - I don't have that many long folder paths, so it is not a problem I run into. In any case, can't you just click at the end of the path, and it will show you the 'classic' path - making navigation the same as in XP, etc? In regards to the 'up' button, would it not be redundant because the next level 'up' breadcrumb is always visible?

Except for the minimized windows. Windows previews get updated in real time only if the windows are not minimized to taskbar. Same goes for the real-time updating in Alt + Tab preview. I hope they will fix this anytime soon. What Windows really lacks IMHO, is something like expose in OS-X. The fancy 3D flip is as good as useless... That´s why I use a third-party program windows exposé, but it can easily get dog-slow if you have several windows opened (and then the question is of course what is the point of it if you can´t really use it with say 7-8 windows).

Yes, there are still some quirks in what is shown in real-time. Even worse, for some reason when I have multiple excel documents open - the preview shows a blank icon for both of them. The promise is there, however, and I am hopeful that over time these bugs in the previews will be worked out and we get real-time view of any open program, regardless of its state.

I totally agree about expose, and I have tried every 3rd party Windows expose app I can find, and none of them have been acceptable. It's the best gui element OSX, imho. I do actually think the Windows 7 task bar is significantly better than the OSX dock, however.

BTW, has anyone noticed that the windows aero effects get much more easily tired than with the beta versions? With the beta versions of Windows 7 I have never experienced any hiccups in the aero effects even with like 10-12 folders/programs opened. Now, with the finished version, if I open same but only 6-7 folders/programs, the aero effects often have some performance issues... Interestingly, same happens if I just let Windows on idle for like 20 minutes with those windows opened. (Memory leak?)

Just my 0.02$

Marin

Yes, I am having some occasional trouble with Aero locking up. It is more prevalent in my docking station with an older ATI video card, but it is unfortunately also sometimes present when undocked.

[visionviper]

Except for the minimized windows. Windows previews get updated in real time only if the windows are not minimized to taskbar.

I can tell you for a fact this is not true for all applications and it comes down to the application's developers to support it.

[Marin85]

I can tell you for a fact this is not true for all applications and it comes down to the application's developers to support it.

I believe I have quite a bunch of applications installed under Windows 7 and I don´t remember seeing any of them getting their window previews updated in real time when their windows are minimized to taskbar. So, it would be interesting for me if you could provide some examples (even if those programs are currently only in beta stage). Thanks

Marin

[zhenya]

The only one I have found so far is Windows Media Player. It's good to know the capability is there though.

[Marin85]

The only one I have found so far is Windows Media Player. It's good to know the capability is there though.

Yes, you are right! I haven´t noticed that as I don´t use WMP (I hadn´t even set it up) Well, in that case, at least we know it is just a matter of time till most programs support aeropeek in its full functionality.

I can tell you for a fact this is not true for all applications and it comes down to the application's developers to support it.

That explains why some programs don´t have any previews in the taskbar (e.g. winamp).

[visionviper]

That explains why some programs don´t have any previews in the taskbar (e.g. winamp).

Yeah -- I have been wanting to see a new version of Winamp that supports these kinds of features. It would be nice if it had the control buttons, the track name/artist and a progress bar. Maybe soon

[Marin85]

Quite an old thread, so right to the point, winamp v5.572 is now out and has support for Windows 7 including (still no real-time) taskbar previews

[propellen]

To whom it might concern:
My harsh Aero critics above was based on a Windows 7 experience without the proper sets of drivers (I'm embarrassed to say it.)

With the correct sets of drivers, acquired through Windows Update and Lenovo System Update, I made the migration, from XP to 7, official. Now I'm running Windows 7 with Aero on my T60. And I must say, I'm impressed ^^ It's very slick, responsive and intuitive.

Apple: Sorry, you won't get me as a costumer after all ^^
Microsoft: Well done!