Themes were always one of the elements that Windows really lacked diversity in. Microsoft did only release a handful of official themes for Windows XP and Windows Vista which resulted in a thriving third party community that created and distributed themes and applications. The main problem with this approach was that system files had to be manipulated so that third party themes could be installed on the computer system.

Microsoft’s support philosophy, at least in regards to themes, seems to have changed a lot with the release of Windows 7. This can be attributed partially to the build in options to create basic theme. A process that is much faster and doable for users of all experience levels.

It can however be also attributed to a change in strategy as Microsoft seems to have realized that customers want to be able to alter the appearance of their operating system.

Many third party themepacks for Windows 7 have already been released and Microsoft itself is releasing new themepacks regularly.

The latest addition are four new themepacks for Windows 7 that can be downloaded and installed from the Microsoft website.

There is a christmas theme, two animal themes (cats and dogs) and a summit theme. All in the expected quality.

What’s your opinion on Microsoft’s job theme-wise so far?