Windows Aero

Aero is a transparent Windows visual style used from Milestone 5 Longhorn builds to Windows 7 (window transparency was removed in 8). The first known build to reference Aero is Windows Server 2008 build 4028, and the last build with Aero that has functional window transparency is Windows 8 build 8424 (fbl woa drop). In Windows Longhorn, Aero effects relied on the Desktop Compositing Engine (or Desktop Window Manager in newer builds), which only worked in a few builds such as 4038, 4039, 4042, 4066, and 4074.

In Windows Vista and 7, the theme relies on a WDDM driver due to the use of hardware acceleration. If hardware acceleration is not supported, the Windows Basic theme would instead be used. This requirement was dropped since at least Windows 8 build 7880 with the introduction of a software rendering fallback to the Desktop Window Manager. The theme is also available in server editions of Windows from Windows Server 2008 onwards.

Enabling Aero
No pre-reset builds of Longhorn contained the Aero theme. There is a very common misconception that Aero can be 'enabled' in pre-reset builds of Longhorn by renaming visual style files; renaming the files tricks the OS into assuming that the user has access to the private, unleaked Aero theme, and therefore enables various DCE/DWM effects. For example, renaming  to   in M5 and M6 builds will grant the user the Glass DCE window frame, but will retain much of the Plex visual style. For M7 builds, the Aero visual style may be re-created using the Jade visual style, although the process is not as simple as renaming  to.

Windows Longhorn build 4038 to build 4042 (Lab06_n)
First, install a compatible Direct3D driver and ensure it works via. While you can run  in   to enable the borders, they will be opaque. The User Experience Desktop Server checks for the existence of, if found, transparent Glass borders will be used instead of the opaque Metal border. In order to enable transparent borders, you need to go into  and copy the "Plex" folder ("Slate" for Lab06_n compile of build 4042). Paste back into the Themes folder and the new folder should automatically rename itself to "Plex - Copy" ("Slate - Copy" on the aforementioned build). Rename the pasted folder to "Aero" and rename the  file inside the folder to. After that, restart the Theming service (either running  and   or logging off and back on will work). At this point, you can run  again to enable the glass borders.

Windows Longhorn builds 4074 to 4082

 * Note: Much of the steps in this guide do not work on 64-bit builds since they only offer basic DWM functionality.

This is a guide on how to enable Aero theme in Longhorn build 4074 to 4082. It does not contain steps for patching system files such as  to enable other Aero UI/features.

Video Drivers and Theme Files
If using VMware Workstation version 7.1, an appropriate SVGA driver must be installed. To install the driver, go to the Device Manager, and under 'Graphics' click 'Update Driver' with the mounted or burned driver pack ISO (Device Manager is not fully functional in build 4081 and 4082 because  is missing. It is possible to port   from another build to the   directory in order to get it to work). Builds 4081 and 4082 require booting into VGA display mode after updating the driver, otherwise it will result in a  BSOD.

Builds 4081 and 4082 ship with an incomplete copy of DirectX 9, which can cause a black screen when DWM is enabled. The missing components can be obtained from the DirectX 9.0b or 9.0c installer for Windows XP. The installer itself will not work on Longhorn, but this can be bypassed by manually extracting the contents of dxnt.cab and installing all of the  files found within from their right-click menus (answer no to all overwrite prompts), and copying any remaining files from dxnt.cab into System32. Verify successful installation by running the Direct3D tests in  (it may complain about DirectShow not being registered, but the spinning 3D cube animation can still confirm DirectX is functional).

The Aero theme files should then be reconstructed. Aero theme files may be reconstructed based on Jade, and here is a reconstructed  file. Once you have a reconstructed, you then need to create a folder named   in the   directory, and place   inside the newly created   folder. Once that is done, go back to, make a copy of   and name it as. The last step is to modify the  file to load the reconstructed. Open  with Notepad and change   to , then replace all instances of 'Jade' with 'Aero' and save it.

The last step is to modify the Registry to allow the Aero theme to be applied. Open Registry Editor, browse to, create a   called   and set its value to   (or   in hexadecimal).

Differences between Aero and Jade
The public DWM theme, Jade differs from the private Aero theme in a few aspects. This section lists some technical information regarding the differences. If you wish to reconstruct the Aero theme yourself, you must have a good knowledge of the Longhorn theme format.

The private Aero theme turns DWM on automatically, when you apply it or when you log on. To allow the Jade theme to do the same thing, a  named   must be patched for its value to be. The private Aero theme contains a string under the theme documentation class called, which is used by the Theme Manager to make sure that the Aero theme may only be applied on Microsoft's demo machines. It contains the path name of a file on Microsoft's network share, which may only be accessed by Microsoft employees. The theme will apply if that file is accessible, otherwise an Access Denied error will be thrown. If the demo check passes, the Animated Preview Pane Aurora will also be enabled, but the demo check is ineffective due to some logical errors in its implementation. It is optional to have  added to the Jade theme, but if you would like your reconstruction of the Aero theme to be as close to Microsoft's private Aero theme as possible, you should add the   string   to the theme documentation. Needless to say, the private Aero theme contains Aero Glass resources such as transparent Glass window frames, but unfortunately they are currently unavailable. You may wish to replace those Jade resources with modified post-reset Aero Glass resources (it is recommended that you use RealAero resources). If you choose to replace  resources, do not forget to update those hard coded file sizes. The Animated Preview Pane Aurora  in the Jade theme is also outdated, which must be updated to the newest format in order for it render. Again, do not forget to change the hard coded file size.

MIL Effects
To enable Media Integration Layer (MIL) effects, merge the following entries into the registry:

To enable the animated Aero Stars effects, toggle the  DWORD to 1 in. Apply the Aero theme through the Control Panel to automatically enable DWM, in addition to enabling a translucent taskbar and sidebar interface.

DWM may fail to load if appropriate display drivers are not installed, which can lead to Aero Glass borders and Explorer not rendering properly if MIL effects are enabled.

Windows Longhorn builds 4088 to 4093
Builds within this range feature a Managed .NET rewrite of the Desktop Window Manager. This version would be abandoned after the reset, and would be replaced with a new native implementation that is largely different from the one used in builds prior to 4083. Unlike native implementations in both pre-reset and post-reset builds, this version can run even on Standard VGA Graphics Adapter driver.

The new implementation is found in the component package, and is called. Two XAML files,  and , are not present in the build and must be reconstructed in the same directory as. These were likely meant to be eventually included as BAMLs in the  file, had the managed DWM implementation not been ditched due to the development reset. An earlier version of the Jade theme (preferably the one found in build 4074) is required in order to allow DWM to work.

To enable DWM, create the file  in the directory   with the following contents: DwmDsk.xaml:

Create  with the following content: DwmWin.xaml:

DWM can then be activated by invoking  (with an arbitrary argument to allow it to run as a regular application rather than a service), or by dragging any file onto   in Explorer.

The rewrite was originally intended to be run as a Windows service. Due to issues that prevent the service from accessing the theme data, a different  file that does not rely on the theming service is instead required: DwmWin.xaml:

This produces a much simpler border design, but can run as a service, and will work without utilizing an earlier version of the Jade theme. To enable running as a service, import the following entries into the registry:

DWM can then be started by invoking  or through the Services MMC snap-in. It is not recommended to set the startup type to Automatic as various desktop functionalities may break as a result of DWM starting prematurely.

Once started, desktop composition can be disabled by pressing Ctrl, regardless of whether the Window Manager is running as an app or a service.

Windows Vista pre-Beta 2 builds
This is a guide to enable Windows Aero (i.e. Desktop Window Manager) from Windows Vista build 5212 to build 5284 in VMware Workstation and Player. It is recommended to use the version 11 (Workstation) or 7 (Player) or older, as newer versions starting from 12 have rendering problems in which the display would flicker and only active window or part of it will render properly. This is likely due to changes in display engine to support DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3.3.

Video Drivers
First, the SVGA driver pack must be used and installed via Device Manager. Any SVGA driver from VMware version 6.0-7.1 will work, however VMware 6.0 compatibility must be used on build 5231 due to the BSOD bug.

Enabling Aero

 * 1) After installing the drivers, open  . If you're running build 5048 to 5231.2, browse to   (if the DWM key does not exist, create it). If you're running build 5259 to 5284, then browse to   instead (create the DWM key if it's not there).
 * 2) Create a DWORD key named  (UseMachineCheck for 5259-5284) and set its value to 0. Log off and back on and Aero should automatically be enabled.

Optional Keys
You can also use these DWORDs in the DWM key you created to get various effects.

Bugs and quirks

 * Since these builds use LDDM instead of the WDDM used in newer builds, Vista drivers will not work. Windows XP drivers are required to enable Aero in these builds.
 * Aero is not known to work on builds 5098 and 5112 outside of real hardware due to 5098/5112's DWM requiring LDDM drivers. However, if one were to replace  in either builds with a patched   made by LucasB, it is possible to use DWM with XPDM drivers.
 * Aero is also not known to work on builds 5308.6 to 5356 outside of real hardware.
 * On both compiles of build 5231, DWM will crash with ForceSoftwareD3D set to 1, even if Blur or Glass is set to 0.
 * On builds 5259-5284, if ForceSoftwareD3D is set to 1, DWM borders will be invisible.
 * When Aero is enabled on build 5098, build 5112, build 5212, and build 5215, the borders become transparent, but the taskbar doesn't.
 * Before build 5259, there is a bug that causes Aero animations to lag. It is possible to work-around this by ending and restarting the  process.
 * Flip3D is activated via the Windows Key + Spacebar in build 5212, build 5215 and build 5219, rather than Windows Key + Tab in later builds.
 * The Vista WDDM driver can be installed starting from Beta 2 to RC1 builds (tested on 5384 and 5600) with a replaced msvcrt.dll from an RC2 or RTM build, but this results in triggering a license error.

Aero in Windows 8/8.1
Early builds of Windows 8 use the same Aero theme as Windows 7. It was later modified to have a bigger, centered title bar caption in build 7814, then a smaller close button on dialogs in build 7880 (which also no longer requires a WDDM driver to be installed, as the DWM can now run in software-rendering mode), and remained the same until Windows 8 Developer Preview, which now has sharp corners instead of rounded in most elements.

In Windows 8 build 8102, it's possible to enable the glass effects in the Aero Lite theme (referred to as Windows Basic) by running.

While Windows 8 build 8432 and later builds (including the RTM and Windows 8.1) removed the glass effects, it is possible to get it back, though not fully functional as it was more of a bug than a workaround. There's two methods to do so:


 * Method 1 (resulting in the Aero Lite theme): Right click the desktop and open up Personalization. Select any of the high contrast themes to apply it. Once applied, click on Window color to open it up. Leave the page open and minimize it. Open a separate personalization window and apply the theme you used before applying high contrast and close out of the personalization window you just opened. Go back to the other personalization window that you minimized and click save changes to save the high contrast colors. To disable, reselect your current theme or change the desktop background or the color of your taskbar and window borders. This also works on Windows 10 as well, but it changes the Aero theme to Aero Lite (except for applets like volume control). The same bug can also be used to enable transparency when using the Aero Lite theme on Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Release Preview, albeit being more stable with full colorization.
 * Method 2 (using the default theme):
 * 1) Press Win+R, type , then hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
 * 2) Navigate to   and change the value   to 2.
 * 3) Open Task Manager, in the "Process" tab, end Desktop Window Manager.

Bugs and quirks

 * In Windows 8 build 8102, the lower half of the window background of some applications which expands the glass border into the window (e.g. Desktop Gadget Gallery, Windows Mobility Center or Mozilla Firefox) do not render correctly and instead have a gray square.
 * In Windows 8 build 8432 and later, if the "glass" effects were enabled using a bug described above, a broken "glass" effect will be enabled that results in the border to draw contents of menu, icons, or other window above it to itself. Moving or resizing the window will also leave the trails of the title bar and cursor. Maximizing the windows will temporarily clear out those.