Desktop ricing (And mobile, I guess?)

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Hellwalker

Hellwalker

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This is the place to discuss anything that's about desktop customization (And mobile but I don't have a lot of experience there). This is mainly aimed towards Linux users since we all know Linux is the desktop for customization (And because I'm a dirty Linux user). Also, the themes I mention in the OP are for Linux only.

I made a post in the Frutiger Aero and Y2K thread about how I miss Windows 7. While we can never go back to that time fully, there is a repository containing everything that makes KDE Plasma look like Windows 7 as much as possible. It's called AeroThemePlasma. There are some provided screenshots in the repository to show you how good it is.
Desktop:
desktop.png
Start Menu:
start_menu.png
Mixer:
mixer.png
Lockscreen:
lockscreen.png
This theme is very convincing. There are some more screenshots that showcase more Windows 7 staples like Aero Peek and Colorization. The repository also features a couple other forks of it that replicate other Windows releases that have that defining Windows Fruitger Aero look including:
Windows Vista:
vista.png
Longhorn and Windows Vista Beta 1 (These don't provide any screenshots so you'll have to see them for yourself). Keep in mind for these is that they're exclusively for Arch Linux and KDE Plasma (I learned that the hard way when installing KDE Plasma on my Linux Mint installation).
There are also other Windows replica themes out there for Windows 9x and Windows XP.
Ice2k.sys:
ice2k.png
xfce-winxp-tc:
xfcewin.png
Both of these themes are for XFCE. Another thing to note is that the themes I mentioned are still WIP's so expect bugs and the like. Also, I know it blasphemous to make Linux look like Windows but shut up. These themes are impressive as fuck.
 
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I remember ricing the everloving shit out of XP back in the day. RocketDock, all kinds of custom themes and addons to make it look like Vista since I was afraid of using those converter installers so I did it all manually, but nowadays I'm more inclined towards minimal ricing that's meant to be practical rather than fancy.
1741905898212.png

I use the BIB3 dark theme just so that Win32 elements are also dark. It's hard to find a decent dark Win10 theme and this one's the closest I could find. Ideally I'd use something that's just the Win10 theme modified to be dark, but all the custom Windows themes insist on making shit extra fancy to my dismay.
1741906095836.png
SilverAzide's Gadgets for Rainmeter with the Modernizer addon are my quick insight into what's going on with my system. Every bump in CPU, GPU, disk or network activity is right there on my second monitor. Extremely practical, if you have a second monitor I strongly suggest setting up something similar.
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Windhawk is meant for injecting code into processes to modify their behavior. In practice it allows you to customize a heapton of elements. Change the taskbar clock, make the windows snap to each other, swap imageres.dll on the fly without modifying system files to, for example, apply Win11 icons on Win10, replace text in processes and so on and so forth. Will probably get you a VAC ban but I don't play multiplayer games so I don't care. Also 7+ Taskbar Tweaker is a must. There are of course a few more tweakers that I've used like Chris Titus' WinUtil and WinAero Tweaker, just to dial the base in.

Honestly, I'm mostly done trying to visually rice every single piece of my UI, even if I could. I try to keep it to a bare minimum. It's not worth the hassle, and for what, a tiny bit of eye candy? Real ricing is when you find software that makes your work that much more efficient, or tweaks how your computer runs, like undervolting your GPU and adjusting the fan curves.

For example, I feel like I'm handicapped without Total Commander, I cannot accept any other file manager that's not an OFM derivative. I have trained myself to use them, and to use them well. Trying to fuck around in Windows Explorer or Dolphin or some other mouse oriented file manager is a waste of time. Another piece of software that's indispensable to me, Keypirinha. A keyboard launcher will completely replace your need for a start menu when you just hit a hotkey, roughly type what you want and hit enter. Not to mention extra features you can cram into one.

Once you train yourself to use software that's keyboard oriented you completely reinvent the way you use your computer, you become lightning fast in every day tasks. So really, instead of wasting hours on getting the perfect DE rice for a screenshot to upload for asspats, waste that time figuring out how you can make your workflow more efficient. If you find yourself repeating the same tasks in the command line every day, write an automation script for yourself to make it easier. If you feel like you have to move your hand between the mouse and keyboard way too often, learn the keyboard shortcuts to use it less, and if your software doesn't support a keyboard oriented workflow, find an alternative that does. That's the ricing you should actually pay attention to, not reliving the glory days of operating systems that under the hood were way better and leaner than whatever it is you're trying to skinwalk them as.
 
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PovertySprocket said:
Do they still make shit like Bonzi Buddy or Desktop Strippers?
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I haven't looked in on Bonzi in a while (homepage was bought/hijacked by memers) but he still ran on Windows 10 last time I checked.

I've never been into 'ricing', but I'm definitely a sucker for the Windows Vista/7 Aero aesthetic and have been beating my install of 10 into somewhat resembling it via OpenShell and WinAero Tweaker. It's far from perfect as Metro still infests nearly everything else, but it's kept me sane so far
1741913243917.png
 
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Slav Power said:
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Personally, I've never been interested in optimizing my "productivity" by becoming keyboard centric and doing every little action with hotkeys. As such, things like tiling-window environments don't appeal to me. I don't see the point in saving time by using a hotkey when that same action can be completed with just a couple of clicks. Using the mouse isn't that much of an inconvenience.
 
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Does anyone know how to get the metro UI widgets on linux?
On Windows there is Omnimo 10. While it is definitely lacking in some features, it is good enough for me + I am too lazy to research a better one to use on windows. While I guess that I could use wine to run it on linux, I was wondering if there are any alternatives that run natively.
 
Anyone use anything like KLWP? I got into it a loooong while ago, don't mess around with it much anymore.
 
I just use whatever comes with windows. I don't even screw with the colors. I haven't used a screen saver since around 2015-2016. Even then it was only because I wanted to. I just let my screen go black these days after about 15 minutes of inactivity.
 
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I used to use LiteStep ~25 years ago, but ditched it when I realised what a time sink customising it was. These days I'm pretty happy with Windows dark mode, Flow Launcher and tweaks using Chris Titus' WinUtil.
 
One big problem with ricing your system to look like Windows 7/XP/98/whatever to relive the nostalgia is that you will have an inconsistent experience, period. No matter if you try to do it under modern Windows or Linux, sooner or later you're bound to use some software that's hardcoded to either use a modern UI or a piece of UI that clashes with your desired theme. Libraries like Qt do a great job at adapting to your native theme on multiple platforms, but does the rest of the program based on it can do the same?

The more you try to meticulously rice your system to be a perfect carbon copy of your desired look, the more time you'll waste fruitlessly trying to achieve that perfect result, because otherwise it'll constantly bug you. It's really better to say "fuck it" and just use whatever that it is that came with the OS by default, or something that's less intrusive.
Ryei said:
I don't see the point in saving time by using a hotkey when that same action can be completed with just a couple of clicks.
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It's because a) the software that you use needs to be keyboard oriented and b) you have to put in the effort to know the keybinds by heart, where you don't think about what you press.

Clicking is slow and imprecise. Keyboard-to-mouse travel time aside, you have to focus on how you move your hand so that the cursor lands on what it is that you want to select, this is inherently slow. In case of keyboard shortcuts, you don't have to focus at all, you just know what it is that you have to essentially "type" to do what you want to do, and since you already have the muscle memory required for touch typing, you do it without even thinking about it. Unless of course you're one of those people that has to look at their keyboard as they type then yes you will prefer mouse oriented controls.

For example Total Commander. I have witnessed first hand someone using it with a mouse, which to me makes it pointless. Total Commander's greatest strength is in the keyboard navigation. I have used it for maybe a decade and I have more or less mastered the keyboard navigation, and added certain custom keyboard oriented elements, such as the Start menu options, directory menu options, and custom keyboard shortcuts, sometimes for custom functions. I don't have to think about what it is that I want to do, I just do it and I do it so fast that you wouldn't be able to tell what I even did. The best part is that the basic keyboard layout is more or less the same in all orthodox file managers, so if I SSH into a Linux machine, I just fire up mc and I'm already way more efficient than I would otherwise be when using the command line or even something like Dolphin.

Basically, once you have the muscle memory for touch typing, doing something doesn't rely on your brain going "okay, grab mouse, move here, click here, then here", it relies on your brain going "okay type Alt+Space TC Enter Ctrl+D RD Enter" and you've done something that'd take you maybe five seconds in GUI mouse navigation in less than a second. Then the more little keyboard shortcuts you learn, the more those time savings compound, and the more efficient you get. You don't even have to fuck around with tiling window managers to get more efficient in window management, relying on Alt+Tab more than you do on the taskbar is already a major step-up.
 
When the current version of SteamOS is available for public consumption, I'm hoping that I can rice it up to look like Windows 7. I know that's not gonna happen for a long ass time, but it's whatever lol.

As for the Ross (Accursed Farms) video, while I generally agree the UI for Windows has gotten worse, and it can definitely be better, I kind of I don't like how he was dismissing Windows Vista + 7 as being "too noisy" over the transparency effect that the OS is known for. The design itself is fairly simple and pleasing to the eyes, and I feel like that particular design was the peak of Windows. It gets even better when you have a more darker Desktop background, or even opt in to customize the colors & themes of Windows 7. It makes it a lot nicer to look at.

One theme that I did use back in the day (when my only computer was a shitty laptop) was this one here:
1741993584247.png
According to the website I found, it was called "Dark Agility Blue". But regardless it looked really nice and was generally good to use.

I think one legitimate criticism I would have with Windows 7's UI is the fact that its responsiveness was pretty lackluster. I recall it being really annoying to deal with during the early days, especially when clicking on programs. But otherwise, the general design got the job done and was fairly pleasing to look at. And no offense to Ross, but the stuff he had on his desktop felt like a poor man's Mac OS. At least he acknowledged that it's a situation where you can't really please everyone, but you can aim for something people can use to customize. And I did like that one program he showed off with the mouse gestures. I might actually use that someday.
 
This was mine last summer when I was using Linux. Pretty retarded, basically tried to make it look like an old version of RHEL (5 i think?) using MATE and finding old themes online.
I just use IoT LTSC now.
1000002088.png
Here's my phone, has GrapheneOS.
Screenshot_20250301-134342.png
 
ngl I was hoping this was about putting whatever the phone equivalent of stupid big racing spoilers on a shitbox subcompact was
 
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