Installing the "XP-Silver" theme in Ubuntu

Alas, the installation and activation instructions appear to not be
applicable to Ubuntu 11.10, which doesn't have the range of choices in
System > Preferences > Appearance that earlier versions did. I don't
know yet whether the function is hidden somewhere else, or if one
needs to install the Gnome Tweak Tool, or what one can do. I only
discovered this today and haven't seriously started researching the
matter.

Meanwhile, however, I've discovered that the Radiance theme in Ubuntu
11.10 looks very much like the "XP-Silver" theme except that
highlighting is orange (menu items, checkboxes, default pushbuttons,
etc) and the drop-down list boxes are as Hazel described. My (possibly
faulty) memory of the earlier version of the Radiance theme is that it
didn't have enough contrast, but on one of my laptops at least, the
contrast now looks fine. However, it looks a bit less like Windows or
Mac.

--Jean

Hi Jean,

Alas, the installation and activation instructions appear to not be
applicable to Ubuntu 11.10, which doesn't have the range of choices in
System > Preferences > Appearance that earlier versions did. I don't
know yet whether the function is hidden somewhere else, or if one
needs to install the Gnome Tweak Tool, or what one can do. I only
discovered this today and haven't seriously started researching the
matter.

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/things-to-tweak-after-installing-ubuntu.html

http://www.techdrivein.com/2011/09/top-10-gnome-shell-themes.html

The above two links are fun to explore. The first one explains, among
other things, how to install at "Advanced Settings" for themes. But
I'm fairly sure that it will not work with the XP Silver theme, which
is for Gnome 2.

Ubuntu now has Gnome 3 available. Personally, I found that Gnome 3 was
more fun than Unity.

BTW, XP Silver is also available on the LibreOffice Alfresco platform
at English > Documentation > Resources

HTH.

Thanks, David. I'll look into that "Advanced Settings" thing. When I
have time. <demented laughter />

I've now discovered another choice of theme in the Appearance dialog
for Ubuntu 11.10: Adwaita, which has blue highlighting in menus but
otherwise looks almost identical to our XP-Silver theme. Did I just
miss it before, or has it magically shown up since I last looked?

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
I really like the Radiance theme in oranges and reds. It seems to be available on a lot of different distros but not at all in Windows without considerable work. Silver is good and seems more familiar cross-platform-wise.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Tom,
If you have Ubuntu 11.10, have a look in the Appearance dialog for the
Adwaita theme, which has blue highlighting in menus but
otherwise looks almost identical to our XP-Silver theme. It also looks
very similar to one of the standard Mac themes.

I'll post a sample on the wiki when I get a chance (may not be that soon).

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
I only tried the 11.10 in a VM as a LiveCd. I liked Unity for kiosks or for our public access machines or even most of the office workers but i agree about Gnome being much easier for even slightly skilled users.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

This is the first time I've used Unity; didn't liked the 11.04
iteration. I'm not sure whether I'll stick with Unity or revert to
"Classic" Gnome, assuming that option is still available. Must confess
I'm not spending much time on Linux these days, having switched to a
Mac for day-to-day work.

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
I am going to try to stay with Unity on the VM install if i can. It's not easy to work out how to do things except open Firefox and LibO.

Ok, i installed 11.10 (on the VM) and opened "Appearances" but only get 4 themes.
Ambience = dark
Radiance = nice orange, feels light and airy
high contrast = fairly unpleasant
high contrast inverse = also unpleasant

If i have success downloading and dropping the Xp-silver them i will get back to you.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

It's possible that the Adwaita theme appeared on the theme list when I
installed the Gnome Tweak Tool, without my doing anything else. I
certainly didn't install it deliberately or knowingly, and I don't
think it was there when I first opened "Appearances".

Heh, heh. I wonder if it will still be there when I next start Ubuntu
and take a look. I hope to find time to do that sometime today.

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
I found it! I dunno where i found it as i installed a ton of stuff. I can't believe Mac has anything like this. It looks very Win98. Very flat boring colour. I like rich green or golds, or silver.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi Tom,

I found it! I dunno where i found it as i installed a ton of stuff. I can't believe Mac has anything like this. It looks very Win98. Very flat boring colour. I like rich green or golds, or silver.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Mac has 2 themes only by design (at least on all versions up to Snow Leopard, can't speak for Lion). That's how Apple works. Give the user little choice and make it extremely difficult and/or impossible to change from those choices. It also means you get a homogenous user experience (whether you like it or not, but Apple couldn't care less)

Alex

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahh, many people like Freedom from Choice and hate voting at elections and stuff and then just quietly grumble about the state of the world today.
regards from
Tom :slight_smile: