Windows XP Hacks

Windows XP to Windows 2000: Retro is Cool

Don’t like those cute XP graphics? Here’s how to make Windows XP look more like Windows 2000.

Sometimes, no matter how much you tweak, you still don’t like what you see. After sampling the hacks in this chapter, I decided that I didn’t care for the cartoon-like graphical look of Windows XP (see Figure 2-25).

Figure 2-25. Windows XP desktop

Since XP is so customizable, it only took a few seconds to make my start menu and desktop look like the old standby Windows 2000.

First, let’s change that cluttered XP start menu (see Figure 2-26) to a classic Start menu.

Figure 2-26. Windows XP Start menu

Right click anywhere on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select Properties from the popup menu. Go to the top of the window and select the Start Menu tab. Click the button for Classic Start menu. While you’re in this tab you also have the option of customizing the Classic Start menu. Choose Customize to add or remove programs from your start menu, enable options such as drag and drop, or display Favorites. Hit OK and your start menu will now look like the one shown in Figure 2-27, just like Windows 2000.

Figure 2-27. The lean and mean Classic Start ...