Description: Some more Win3x goodness for those that are looking for a little nostalgia. Includes various themes using the classic Win3 widgets and for those that remember, the All3D plugin style. More themes are on the way. Note that the theme is mostly designed for Xfce4 but may work in other environments. Included are GTK2, GTK3 and XFWM4 themes.
To install: download and extract Win3xE.tar.gz into your themes directory.
--------Notes (GTK3, GTK2, QT):---------- ** Please install the redmond95 gtk theme engine for the gtk2 version to work properly, it is usually included in the gtk-engines package. ** ** For qt5 apps to match the theme you can install qt5ct and qt5-styleplugins and then select gtk2 theme in qt5ct. ** - Make sure to set the environment variable QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME="qt5ct" for qt5 apps to use the theme.** **To disable GTK3 apps from hiding unfocused scrollbars, set the environment variable GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING to 0 for example "export GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING=0"
-------Known issues: -------- *There are some issues with this theme and LibreOffice. Right now it's kind of a disaster so I recommend to use the environment variable SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN="gtk" in the meantime until I can fix the issues.
------Theme builder-------- To use the custom theme builder: Download and extract "Win3xEThemeBuilder.tar.gz". From a terminal cd into the directory and run ./gen_theme.sh. Your custom theme will then be compiled and installed after running through the prompts. You do not need to install the theme prior to using the theme builder.
**You will need to install imagemagick for all features of the theme builder to work.** **The script installs the themes in the home directory of the user who runs the script so you can just run it as a normal user no need for sudo or root.
After you have created your custom theme the script saves a copy of the theme config file so you may use it to regenerate your theme anytime a new version of Win3xE or the theme builder is released. To regenerate your theme or change the widget style without having to go through the whole prompt again, you can run "./gen_theme.sh -r theme.conf".
-----Extras------- extras.tar.gz Includes my "Program Manager" pcmanfm script and my custom firefox themes.
*Program Manager script: You will need to install pcmanfm to use the script. The script looks for application icons in the /usr/share/application directory to populate the Program Manager folders and uses pcmanfm to view the folders. After installing pcmanfm you will also want to check the option "Don't ask options on launch executable file" under Edit > Preferences > General otherwise it will ask for a confirmation each time you open one of the shortcuts. To install, extract the extras archive and extract the prog_man.tar.gz archive. Run install.sh as root or using sudo as a user. View the README.txt inside the archive for more details.Last changelog:
1.4
-Fixed drag and drop for GTK3 treeview items. (Issue: drag and drop items show up as black text on a black background. Affects all Win3xE GTK3 themes.)
Theme builder: Updated build files for all styles to reflect the above fix.
10Hya, I love this theme but it has a few problems with it. May be able to fix them to deliver a further update but I may just need a few quick fixes really, nothing major.
As far as customizing the two last options (toolbars and tabs customization) goes for Desktop Environements like Cinnamon, it reverts only to defaults (does not provide options to change their FG nor BG colors) from actual Windows 3.11fWg which is a bit sad as Win3D borders don't fix very neatly either with my custom theming border wise.
10Thank you so much!
I was having trouble with the Chicago 95 theme (black screen, probably caused because I dont have the correct GTK 3 version)
This is the superior alternative in my opinion
Once again, thank you so much
Thanks. I just finished my first theme and wanted to automate the color schemes. This theme builder looks like the right tool. Would you have any pointers or a resource to get started?
It helps to design as many elements as possible using CSS instead of using image files to make manipulation easier. My theme builder for the Redmond97 theme might be easier to use as an example as I built that theme from the ground up with a theme builder in mind.
If you download the extras package you'll see an archive called chrome.ttar.gz. This is tthe firefox theme I made to emulate the classic IE look. You can use the install instructions here: https://github.com/matthewmx86/Redmond-Firefox
Also with the latest firefox updates you'll most likely need to enable the userchrome css and disable the new "megabar" that was recently added to firefox 75.
https://winaero.com/blog/enable-loading-userchrome-css-usercontent-css-firefox/
https://winaero.com/blog/restore-classic-address-bar-in-firefox-75/
Drag and drop is totally black in file-roller. That does not happen in Greybird theme for example or in others themes. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PQkV3y5aBax6sJz_pCq0ay9CWkApeG6K?usp=sharing
Yea didn't notice it until I was building my Redmond97 theme and just happened to be using Archive Manager and noticed it was some of the code from this theme causing it.
"file-roller" it is indeed a more pretentious software. Look here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UFsh1CntlGeuWV9hoT4-ctFiEkvbasHN?usp=sharing Perhaps one day you could contribute to that. A color generator would be amazing. Advantage for "raleigh" theme is the maximum possible speed for loading.
Oh yea I know those issues quite well :). I still wake up after having nightmares trying to fix those types of things in my themes. I still haven't figured out the Libreoffice issues yet. You should try out my Redmond2K theme here: https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1314137/ it's pretty close to the Raleigh theme I still need to make a GTK2 theme for it and it's still in the early stages.
Ratings & Comments
31 Comments
10 An excellent theme!
10 Hya, I love this theme but it has a few problems with it. May be able to fix them to deliver a further update but I may just need a few quick fixes really, nothing major. As far as customizing the two last options (toolbars and tabs customization) goes for Desktop Environements like Cinnamon, it reverts only to defaults (does not provide options to change their FG nor BG colors) from actual Windows 3.11fWg which is a bit sad as Win3D borders don't fix very neatly either with my custom theming border wise.
10 10 the best
10 Thank you so much! I was having trouble with the Chicago 95 theme (black screen, probably caused because I dont have the correct GTK 3 version) This is the superior alternative in my opinion Once again, thank you so much
Great theme/builder! How do you remove the 3D effect on toolbar buttons like in Cinnamon3D?
If you select the "All3D" option when using the theme builder it will remove the 3D buttons from most toolbars. Hope this helps.
Thanks. I just finished my first theme and wanted to automate the color schemes. This theme builder looks like the right tool. Would you have any pointers or a resource to get started?
It helps to design as many elements as possible using CSS instead of using image files to make manipulation easier. My theme builder for the Redmond97 theme might be easier to use as an example as I built that theme from the ground up with a theme builder in mind.
how do I make firefox look like that in the screenshot?
If you download the extras package you'll see an archive called chrome.ttar.gz. This is tthe firefox theme I made to emulate the classic IE look. You can use the install instructions here: https://github.com/matthewmx86/Redmond-Firefox
Also with the latest firefox updates you'll most likely need to enable the userchrome css and disable the new "megabar" that was recently added to firefox 75. https://winaero.com/blog/enable-loading-userchrome-css-usercontent-css-firefox/ https://winaero.com/blog/restore-classic-address-bar-in-firefox-75/
Ive searched around and cent find it, where can i find the win3.1 icon pack used in the screenshots?
Drag and drop is totally black in file-roller. That does not happen in Greybird theme for example or in others themes. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PQkV3y5aBax6sJz_pCq0ay9CWkApeG6K?usp=sharing
Should be fixed in the latest update (ver 1.4). It took some time to track this one down it was driving me crazy.
So this problem was known?
Yea didn't notice it until I was building my Redmond97 theme and just happened to be using Archive Manager and noticed it was some of the code from this theme causing it.
"file-roller" it is indeed a more pretentious software. Look here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UFsh1CntlGeuWV9hoT4-ctFiEkvbasHN?usp=sharing Perhaps one day you could contribute to that. A color generator would be amazing. Advantage for "raleigh" theme is the maximum possible speed for loading.
Oh yea I know those issues quite well :). I still wake up after having nightmares trying to fix those types of things in my themes. I still haven't figured out the Libreoffice issues yet. You should try out my Redmond2K theme here: https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1314137/ it's pretty close to the Raleigh theme I still need to make a GTK2 theme for it and it's still in the early stages.
Just noticed it a day or two ago just never got around to fixing it until now.
10 10 the best
Win3xE Win95 has the white font on the white background. :)
In GTK3 of course.
Should be fixed in the 1.0 release. It looks like all the 3D styles were affected.
9 9 excellent
10 10 the best