The Wahyudiharto's Blog

KDE is my most favorite desktop manager on Linux. Since I ever used it up for the first time with Unix families several years ago, this desktop manager wouldn’t leaves behind over me. It’s strong characteristic GUI still easy to use. For me, this is the window manager mores closest similarity to Windows & much easiest to control all of the applications installed on the system. One of the several features I likes a lot is the existence of theme manager option included in KDE Control Center. With it, the users are feel free to change the interface such as desktop window graphical, the background picture, icons, kicker, panel behavior, login manager & lots of thing.

On a chance, I tried to keep on focused about re-changed the interface into a Windows XP style. For this purpose, I used my laptop installed with Fedora 7 (KDE 3.5.9). Thanks to kde-look.org for providing all the stuffs I needed to make it happen. Just for reference, the picture below is final result of my own modification.



First of all, download the XP likes window manager & set of XP icons from kde-look.org. Make them both installed from Appearance & Looks :: Window Manager & Appearance & Looks :: Icons in KDE Control Center. Also, applied the XP bliss background into desktop got from real Windows XP system. Here below is the result:



See that? The window interface are now similar to Windows XP likes, also the set of icons replaced the standard ones bringing the strong personality of XP style. Next, create your own imagination to re-make the taskbar panel into an intuitive XP taskbar likes with basic gradation blue color. Watch the picture below:



#1. Pager desktop no. 1
#2. Pager desktop no. 2
#3. KPowersave laptop battery monitor
#4. Bluetooth icon
#5. Sound meter controlling the embedded front laptop speaker & headset volume
#6. Task & system meter manager
#7. Wireless monitor
#8. Digital clock

Next to the login window interface. On a time, I got a XP likes GDM graphical from gnome-looks.org. Applied it from Start menu :: System :: Login Window. This will replace the default Fedora 7 login session interface:



The radical changes is about to replace the K panel with KBFX. KBFX Configurator Application is a kind of applet integrated to the kicker panel. It purposed to change the K menu button with any rectangular start menu image & themes set. Samples themes also available at kde-looks.org.



Remove the K panel from kicker after applied the KBFX themes & start menu picture. Here below is the changed result:



From this, now you have already a Linux with similar desktop in Windows XP style interface. The last step to replace the bootsplash animation picture is still pending since I couldn’t find the XP likes bootsplash yet. The bootsplash within Fedora is handled by rhgb (Red Hat Graphical Bootsplash) application. Some of external configurator are exist by now such as bootsplash or splashy. Even I had the Vista bootsplash package, but I seem not to like it. Do you have any reference?

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