HOWTO: make MX look more like Windows 7

[JayM]

I've just worked out a solution to make MX-19 look more "Redmondesque". It will probably work with MX-18.3 too. It only involves theming. A few people have been asking for something like this, so...

Download the following to a folder in Home (best to create a new one):

Grub Theme: https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1112066/ (follow the link in the comments on the Files page)*
GTK Theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/content/show. ... ent=106601
Icon Theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1215836/
Plymouth theme: https://www.pling.com/p/1000041 (follow the link in the comments on the Files page)*
Wallpaper: https://www.deviantart.com/mucksponge/a ... -160313476
Xfwm theme: https://www.xfce-look.org/p/1013537/
*(Gnome-look and pling no longer have those two files available but the authors of them have elected to host them elsewhere and gave the new links within a comment down below on those two web pages. Copy them and paste and go in a browser tab.)

Right-click on all file archives and select Extract Here

Perform the following actions:

MX Tools/MX Tweak: move panel to bottom, change compositor to Compton, change to double-click in Thunar and on desktop.

Open a root Thunar and copy/paste grub theme "Aero" to /boot/grub/themes and to /usr/share/themes, paste plymouth theme "7" to /usr/share/plymouth/themes, paste GTK theme "Win7.basic.01" and Xfwm theme "Royale" to /usr/share/themes, paste icon theme "Windows-XP" to /usr/share/icons, paste wallpaper "windows_7_logoless_wallpaper_by_mucksponge_d2ng2o4-pre.jpg" to /usr/share/backgrounds.

MX Tools/MX Package Installer: install mx-icons-start and oxygencursors from Stable repo tab. Uninstall desktop-defaults-xfce-mx-desktop to prevent the default desktop in /etc/skel (for new user accounts) from being overwritten with the MX-19 defaults.

Set the above as your defaults (MX Tools/MX Boot Options for grub/plymouth themes (Aero and 7 respectively), Settings/Appearance for GTK and icon themes (Win7.basic.01 and Windows-XP), Settings/Mouse and Touchpad for Oxygen Steel mouse cursor theme, Settings/Window Manager for the Royale theme.)

Whisker Menu: right-click, select Properties. Click on the black MX icon then browse to /usr/local/share/icons/start-menu and select mx-icons-start-LogoBlue2, Click on Behavior and select "Postion search entry next to panel button" and "Position commands next to search entry". Optional: on Appearance tab select "Show generic application names" so instead of Thunar it shows File Manager, etc. Probably more helpful for people migrating from Windows 7 to help them find some things easier as the application names are closer to those in Windows.

Edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf as root. Change background to /usr/share/backgrounds/windows_7_logoless_wallpaper_by_mucksponge_d2ng2o4-pre.jpg, change theme-name to Win7.basic.01, change icon-theme-name to Windows-XP.

Edit /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme, change Inherits= from DMZ Black to oxy-steel to set your mouse cursor globally in the system.

Panel Preferences: remove Orage clock and add Clock instead (due to background transparency issue with Orage), add Show Desktop, change Workspace Switcher properties to use two rows, change Windows Updater icons from Wireframe to Classic.

Disable MX USB Unmounter in Session and Startup/Autostart Applications as its icon doesn't display in this theme (users can unmount USBs in Thunar.)

(Optional, for laptops/notebooks/netbooks): Run Accessories/Touchpad Indicator, right-click on its tray icon and go to preferences, set it to autostart, disable touchpad when typing and when mouse is plugged in, and change its theme to the darker one of the two so its icon is visible.

Right-click on Power Manager in notification area and disable System Tray Icon as it's not visible with this theme. Access it in Settings/Power Manager instead.

Restart and enjoy your Windows-looking MX! Screenshots here.

[imschmeg]

Why stop at Win 7? It is after all the 25th anniversary year of Win95...

[JayM]

Bceause no one's asked how to make MX look like Windows 95.

We have a few newbies coming to MX from Windows 7 now that it's at end of life. No one's coming from a Win95 system that I know of as it's been obsolete and unsupported for years.

[Fibogacci]

Thank you, it will be useful, especially for attracting newbies

[JayM]

I made a respin using these themes etc.: viewtopic.php?f=100&p=552511#p552511

[Cristobal]

Great!

I tried a few weeks ago to make MX look like Win10 (for a guest account in case I lent my laptop), with a theme by "Boomerang", but the result was so so.

[Oli]

Respect!

Coming from Windows 7 I liked the look and feel of MX spontaneously but nevertheless this hits the beginners nerve.
BTW: my wife is coming from MacOS and Thunar looked familiar to her at first go.

[JayM]

I've tried to change the look. The feel is still going to be MX-19/Xfce though. So there will still be a learning curve, but having MX at least look a little bit more familiar to them may help soothe people's nerves a bit while they're struggling with learning a new OS. That was my goal.

[jeffreyC]

Great!

I tried a few weeks ago to make MX look like Win10 (for a guest account in case I lent my laptop), with a theme by "Boomerang", but the result was so so.

Kali Linux, which uses Xfce now, has a theme which looks like W10 and a script to change to and from that.
Run a live ISO and swipe the theme, script and configs to use on MX. It is based directly on Debian so should be easy.

[asqwerth]

Kali might be based on Debian Testing, though. Not sure if the gtk theme it uses is compatible with Buster, so that will need to be checked.

But yes, it might be possible to crib the icons and theme set for W10.


However, I find the idea of the script a little too dramatic, to be honest. **Mission Impossible or James Bond music starts playing**

"Say you are working in a public place, hacking away, and you might not want the distinctive Kali dragon for everyone to see and wonder what it is you are doing. So, we made a little script that will change your Kali theme to look like a default Windows installation. That way, you can work a bit more incognito. After you are done and in a more private place, run the script again and you switch back to your Kali theme. Like magic!"

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/s ... indows-10/


Right.