"The theme file formats are not public; Microsoft retains the design control for themes, to allow a consistent user interface and ensure design continuity. A theme developer's kit will not be available with Windows XP."
-- Microsoft

Fortunately, the theme API has been flushed out and now anyone can make a full-blown theme. Themes can consist of many different components ("visual style" window settings, wallpapers, sounds, screensavers, icons, cursors, even Windows Media Player skins), but we currently focus on the visual styles and wallpapers. We also host XP login screens.

The only tool specifically designed for developing visual styles is by TGT Soft and is released as a beta. Check out TGT Soft's download page. You will need both StyleBuilder and Style XP to develop themes. To create a skin manually download ResHacker and start off with an existing .msstyles file.

To see how to make a boot screen, check out this page.

Once you've made a visual style, login, or wallpaper, please submit it as a .zip file using our submission guidelines. We will add the submission to our site immediately after it has been approved.