Hi, I’m Jennifer, the site manager for the Windows Personalization Gallery. I maintain and update the gallery (as well as the rest of the Downloads section), and produce new personalization content. One of the main things I do is manage and create Windows 7 themes. My regular blog posts about the gallery and themes will keep you up to date on what’s new. (By the way, themes are collections of pictures, window colors, and sounds designed to personalize your Windows 7 desktop. With a Windows 7 theme, you can apply a new look and feel to your desktop with a single click.)
Now let me introduce the Personalization Gallery! It’s filled with themes and many other things, including desktop backgrounds, gadgets, and tips on how to set personalization settings that you can use to spiff up your Windows desktop. It’s available in 36 languages and 58 markets. Most of the downloads on the gallery are the same no matter where you live, but some are unique to specific places. You can find the full list of markets here.
As of late October there are almost 115 themes and about 80 wallpapers on the gallery, and I’m adding new ones all the time. I also keep an eye on your comments for ideas on new themes and wallpapers. Some of the Windows 7 themes I’ve published recently because of suggestions you’ve submitted include Wolves, Horses, Lightning, and an anime-style theme called Girls Rock… Check them out!
We get lots of requests for seasonal and holiday themes, so of course I wanted to create a theme for Halloween – my favorite holiday! This hauntingly eerie new theme evokes classic black-and-white horror films, “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, and any time you’ve been alone at night and heard the sound of a creaking floor-board or the crack of a twig, and whirled around to find that… no one is there. My favorite thing about this theme is the sound-scheme. I was lucky enough to get the producer of the original Windows 7 sound-schemes to produce a new scheme of sounds based on the style of music used in classic horror films like Dracula, Frankenstein, and Phantom of the Opera. It even includes the distinctive, ghostly sound of a real theremin (a very unusual instrument featured on many movie and TV soundtracks that’s played without being touched). So, with this theme every time you get a new email, you might feel a little chill run up your spine. Get the Halloween theme now!
Wondering how to get these themes? It’s really easy to get to the gallery right from inside Windows 7. Just right-click the desktop and choose Personalize from the menu.
This brings up Personalization in Control Panel.
Then click Get more themes online – that takes you right to the themes page of the Personalization Gallery.
In addition to Windows 7 themes, the gallery also has wallpapers, desktop and Sideshow gadgets, and tips on how to tailor Windows to reflect your personality or mood.
I’m really excited about some of the new things we’ve got planned… I can’t tell you everything yet, but we’re working on a couple of great new themes in partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, as well as more seasonal, artistic, and sports-related themes. For now, feast your eyes on the Halo Reach and Gears of War 3 themes we recently released. So, I hope you’ll keep coming back to the gallery to see the new themes and desktop backgrounds we have in store for you!