Windows XP visual styles

Visual styles are a set of visual customizations of the graphical user interface for Windows XP and later. They are designed by Microsoft and are compatible with all Windows XP editions except for the Starter edition. Since Windows XP, themes also includes the choice of visual styles as well.

Compared to the previous "Windows Classic" style used in Windows 95 to Windows Me (as well as the Desktop Themes applet in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95, Windows 98 (as well as Microsoft Plus! 98) and Windows Me), the new visual styles of Windows XP have a greater emphasis on the graphical appeal of the operating system, using saturated colors and bitmaps throughout the interface, with rounded corners for windows.

By default, "Luna" is preinstalled on Windows XP Home Edition and Professional, while "Royale" is preinstalled on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 and "Embedded" is preinstalled on Windows Embedded Standard 2009 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009. In addition to the preinstalled visual styles, Microsoft has released additional ones for download, such as "Zune". "Luna", "Royale", "Zune" and "Embedded" in particular are codenames of the official visual styles made by Microsoft for Windows XP. Third parties and individuals have also released their own visual styles, however these require modifications of core Windows components to work, a practice that is not officially endorsed by Microsoft.

Some visual styles were developed by Microsoft as placeholders before unveiling the official visual styles, which were used in beta versions of Windows. These include "Watercolor", "Mallard", "Plex", "Slate" and "Jade".

The visual styles API was substantially expanded in Windows Vista and later. Nevertheless, the API remained heavily under-documented.

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