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Windows 8 (Metro) apps provide some limited themability via css. You can change fonts, background colors etc.. I'm wondering if there is also a system wide themeing capability, like there was in Windows XP (via uxtheme.dll and .msstyles files)? So if in a couple of years, when Metro no longer looks modern, one could change the style of all apps, and give all buttons rounded corners for example. Or make everything look like the Holo theme (Android), or LCARS (the UI the computers use in Star Trek), to name some crazy examples.

Note I'm not looking for an official, documented capability - I'm pretty sure that doesn't exist. I'm wondering if there is anything I could hook into as a developer, like what uxtheme patching and Visual Style resource editing does for classic windows apps.

jdm
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It does not exist, and in my opinion i's for the best: windows 8-style apps (previously known as metro) often have a very intricate design, where every button has a precise position to the pixel. It takes a lot of work to make all the parts click and look beautiful, and make sure any flyer (like the navigation bar for instance) does not cover any very important control (button or piece of information).

If someone not creating the app had the capability to change its theme, there is no way the layout remains the intended one, and even less that the application stay beautiful.

Contrast with windows xp styles: you could change very few things in reality: some standards icons, the color of a few bars. it was possible because these elements were outside the design of the application (usually on top). For a metro app, design is far more intricate, and most elements templatable in windows xp are not even there (they fall in the "chrome" category of the "more content, less chrome" design guideline from microsoft).

If you have windows 8 installed, browse through the application store and test some apps. Then think again how it would be possible for a theme to apply to all the apps you just tryed at the same time. You will realize it's simply not feasible.

Falanwe
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  • Hmm, I was under the impression that it's almost the opposite - Metro apps are design-by-intent and quite limited in their options, as opposed to tradional interfaces where you can place everything with pixel-accurracy. Kind of disappointing if it's still like that... – jdm Aug 20 '12 at 17:51
  • @jdm : try some apps! Personnally, I recommend Cocktail Flow and Natural Space. Both are very beautifully designed (I installed both, even if I'm not interested at all in their content ^^), respect the metro style chart, but have design identity of their own. There are a few other in the store that show what can be accomplished if the devs and designers don't go with the default template without even tweaking it. – Falanwe Aug 21 '12 at 00:00