I’m back. Thanksgiving was awesome. I ate enough turkey to feed Angola.

I’ve futzed around with Windows XP, and found that you can really tweak the heck out of the OS’s look-and-feel. Entire websites devoted to molding XP to an individual’s aesthetic sensibilities have surfaced in recent times. With a decent graphics package, some patience and a resource editor, you can give XP a facelift right down to the login screen.

Here are a few links of interest on the subject, in case you have more time on your hands than I do:

• VirtualPlastic is a site loaded with information on how to change Windows, both new and old, to suit your tastes. They have an excellent tutorial on how to change the XP Logon Screen.


• ThemeXP is a clearinghouse for all XP visual styles, login screens, and related wallpapers.


• deviantART is a site devoted to skinning any software that can be skinned, including Windows XP.


• Resource Hacker is a program that will allow you to edit Win32 resource files (such as loginui.exe)


• And finally, TGTSoft makes StyleXP and StyleBuilder XP, software that allows you to add custom styles to XP, as well as provide a visual way to edit the look-and-feel of XP.