Windows 7 and the Classic Theme "Rainy Day"

Call me old fashioned, but if GUI components are tacked on after thoughts I figure I may as well use the underlying forethoughts. So, although I've probably spent a total of two minutes using Windows 7 on my iMac's Boot Camp partition (to use Samsung and Acer phone flashing utilities, thanks Android) the "revolutionary" (by Microsoft standards of mediocrity) Aero interface compositing engine thing just looked annoying in conjunction with the 15 year old bits of Windows 7. So I go to the Classic Theme. But where is Slate? Egg Plant? Lavender? Desert? Slate? But most importantly, what the fuck have Microsoft done with their best classic theme ever, Rainy Day? Is this some cynical ploy to guide you towards Aero and it's annoying annoyingness, to focus you on the lipstick instead of the pig? The polish instead of the turd? Well one man's polish is another man's "for fuck's sake turn this crap off NOW".

Classic. Theme. Calm. But I've been using Rainy Day on Windows pretty much day-in day-out for 10 years (day job, see) and either I'm conditioned to it, or it's the best theme ever. Especially when I found those Amiga cursors to complete the retro feel of an OS past its prime.

I could go on and on and on about how Microsoft .theme packages just don't seem compatible between OS releases, but instead I'll tell you just how much work I went through to get Rainy Day back on Windows 7 where it belongs for the next 10 years.

Okay, so I still have access to XP. If only there was a way to export the theme from XP and import it to 7. Nope, for all Microsoft's talk of "life without walls" you just realise that walls keep the fucking roof up you dickheads.

Enter Jasmin's 3D Color Changer (3DCC). It runs on XP. Turns out it runs on 7 too. So now I can export from XP and import on 7, no thanks to Microsoft, but thanks to a small piece of (seemingly discontinued) donationware and the fact that after 10 years not a lot has changed with Windows except exception handling to guide you towards Microsoft's corporate lipstick. Yes, I first used 3DCC 10 years ago on Windows2000.

So anyone else pining for a simple ungarish Windows theme, I present to you my Windows 7 Classic Rain Amiga theme with FCUK variant (both mute sounds, both incorporate the old Amiga style cursors). Because I'm too lazy to upload individual files I just zipped who load of crap up for your downloading displeasure. Click here to download (862K). Use at your own risk, I can't help it if you're stupid, but I will assert that all files are virus free but without warranty or any comeback - it's the internet, dig?

Click the pic to revel and admire in Rainy Day in all it's glory (yeah, I tweaked the title bar, so suck it down) and relive the days when Blackcomb and Longhorn were almost exciting.