After installing this I can conclude that there are no negatives to running this program. Well, the only negative is that you are modifying the original system files to support the new images. Using these new files causes these files to have different checksums than the ones Windows is used to, so Windows will probably complain at one point or another.

Whats not to like about this program?
The main feature this program boasts is its ability to replace all those remnants from the Win98/ME/2K days to make Windows XP completely XPize'd. There are a few icons here and there that sometimes you never noticed that are obviously from the pre-XP days and had never gotten the XP update. The most noticable was in the IE internet options...many pictures in there needed udpating.

Other major icons/pictures which XPize fixes include (but is not limited to):
The Windows bluetooth icon
The Windows program shortcut arrow (on icons)
The image of the monitor in the desktop properties wallpaper and screensaver tabs
The Windows default cursors
Icons for command prompt shortcuts and batch files (and a host of other icons as well)
Several entries in the control panel

Hell, it even went so far as to provide new icons for Real Media and Quicktime media files...amazing.


After reading the program description I figured that was all XPize did. Well it does the XP-ize process with icons and images...and then some.

If you havent done so already, XPize can help you replace your uxtheme.dll file so you can install unauthorized XP themes...
It comes bundled with the free Royale MStheme from Microsoft, TabSwitchXP Pro (a program which alters your alt-tab window in ways which windows-diehards believe XP should have done it), skins for some popular programs (eMule and WinRAR at the time of this review), as well as the ability to provide new Boot, Logon, Shutdown and Logoff screens. Then theres some wallpaper and screensaver...nice stuff. And you can opt to change fonts all to Tahoma (the default XP font which some XP apps still havent adopted, like MSCalc).

The best part of it all? You can easily uninstall everything you did.

well, actually thats not the best. THe best is that they give you the option to pull an nLite job on your XP cd, allowing you to put the modified, XP-ized system files on a Windows CD...amazing. My trust in the program isnt far enough to go ahead and do a windows install with it...so I will stick with the manual install.


Great software...
Personally, based on the nature of the software, I think that this is one software title that you absolutely must have...and should be one of the first you install with windows. All it does is replace images and icons with better looking ones....there is no program which runs in the background (assuming you choose not to install TabSwitchXP Pro).

Its free...what more can you ask for?

Well actually I would like to ask for some more XP-ized images.
Heres a few I have found so far which need some XP-izing.
In the Windows power settings...accessed in the Screen Savers tab...there are a couple images in the Power Meter tab which are their old ugly selves...win98 days or something.
For wireless connections, if you goto properties on the connection and go into the Wireless Networks tab, I think the preferred networks icons need XP-izing. They are too small to tell though.
In Computer Management...well...you dont need to look too far in this window to see what needs XP-izing.
In the sharing tab on the properties for any file or folder, the icon for each user needs XP-izing.
The Doctor Watson exe files need XP-izing.

And it would be nice to see XP style folders in regedit...however that might be asking too much given the nature of regedit.

What's not to like about this program? It transforms the tired XP interface and gives it a sleek, modern look.I really like the free themes. I wouldn't worry about it using too many resources. I notice only the slightest lag in every day use, and it may even be my imagination. My computer and graphics are moderately fast, so I can't guarantee it will not slow down an older computer. It installs and uninstalls cleanly, so try it without worry.

I tried version 3.2 first. The only immediate change I noticed after installing it was that the white arrows on desktop shortcuts turned green. Not an improvement.

It wouldn't let me do anything else so I unistalled and tried my luck at version 4. Not much more luck. This version was a beta so half of it didn't even work. It slowed down my computer and again, made few visible changes. The shutdown dialogue box was an improvement for the Royale theme, but that alone was not a good enough reason to keep XPize installed.

Don't waste your time with this. It had almost no visual enhancement, which it promised, and then messed up my Royale theme after I unistalled.