List of Windows visual styles
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Visual styles are sets of bitmaps and other graphics used to modify the Windows user interface, which was introduced in Windows XP. They are more advanced compared to the regular color scheme applied on top of the classic theme, which were used prior to Windows XP. Due to the inclusion of a desktop compositor, the behavior and effects of visual styles changed significantly in the Windows Longhorn and Windows Vista operating systems. They are self-contained in .msstyle files, which can contain several variants of a visual style. The visual style engine is implemented in uxtheme.dll.
| Name | Appears in | Finalized? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watercolor | Windows XP (pre-releases only) | No | Also known as Business or Professional. Included in Windows XP build 2223 to 2419. |
| Sample Test Visual Style | Windows XP (pre-releases only) | No | Internally known as Mallard. Included in Windows XP build 2410 - 2419. |
| Candy | Windows XP (source tree) | No | Found in the leaked Windows XP source tree. Not included in any known builds. |
| Luna | Windows XP | Yes | Shipped in Blue, Olive Green, Silver variants (internally called Blue, Homestead and Metallic, respectively). |
| Royale | Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Windows Embedded 2009 |
Yes | Variants of this theme include the unfinished Noir variant, the Zune theme and the Embedded theme from Windows Embedded 2009. |
| Plex | Windows Vista (pre-reset builds only) | No | Included in M3 - M6 builds, Placeholder for Aero. |
| Slate | Windows Vista (pre-reset builds only) | No | Included in M7 builds. |
| Jade | Windows Vista (pre-reset builds only) | No | Included in M7 builds. |
| Windows Basic | Windows Vista - present | Yes | Can't be enabled under normal circumstances since Windows 8. |
| Windows Aero | Windows Vista - present | Yes | Aero Glass removed in Windows 8. |
| Aero Lite | Windows 8 - present | Yes | Used to implement the high contrast mode. |