How to activate and deactivate the Windows Vista Aero Theme

by Derek Coleman.
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Works on Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate

If you ask Microsoft, the whole Aero thing (the look and the features) is a key benefit of Vista. Indeed, those glassy surfaces and see-through window edges are, in large part, where Vista got its name and its breathless marketing slogan ("Bring clarity to your world").

But there's certain to be someone, somewhere, who doesn't care for the new lookand Microsoft rarely takes a step forward without offering a step back to those who want it. You can not only change Vista's color scheme, you can also completely turn off the Aero look and features, if you so desire.

Tip: Aero Glass uses up some of your PC's horsepower, 24 hours a day. Changing your scheme from Aero to Basic (or simply turning off transparency) can give your computer a speed boost, because it no longer has to compute and draw fuzzy images of whatever is behind your window title bars.

Microsoft figures that's not something you'll want to do often, so the controls are a bit buried. But here they are, just in case you're a believer in opaque window edges:

  1. Right-click a blank spot on the desktop. From the shortcut menu, choose Personalize.

    The Personalization control panel opens.

  2. Click the first link, "Window Color and Appearance."

    If you've been using the Aero design, you now arrive at the dialog box where you can choose a different accent color for your windows, or adjust (or turn off) the degree of window-edge transparency, which will make your PC slightly faster.


  3. Click "Open classic appearance properties..." at the bottom of the window.

    The Appearance Settings dialog box opens.

  4. In the Color Scheme list, click the Windows design look you prefer: Windows Vista Aero, Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, or Windows Classic.

    With each click, you see a sample at the top of the dialog box.

  5. Once you find a design you like, click OK.

    The screen flickers, thunder rolls somewhere, and your screen changes.

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