After recently installing Windows XP (yes, I caved in), I've been looking for a suitable theme to replace the default 'Luna' theme.
The default 'Luna' theme has come under much scrutiny. "It looks like a Pizza Hut placemat", etc etc. However, when compared to many of the themes out there, it comes out looking quite good.
Sometimes it makes me wonder if these Interface/Skin creators actually use their own themes? Some of them have flaws which jump out to me like a big red nose.
The 'Luna' theme is actually usable -- a feature other themes lack.
For instance, I downloaded one theme which looked fine and all.. But radio buttons (the round ones that only let you pick one of the options) looked *exactly* like check boxes. Now, doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of them?
Example 2: Many many many themes make buttons and titlebars look nice and pretty, but most of them severely neglect the taskbar. In this day and age of multitasking, the taskbar is probably your best friend. Some themes themes just select the wrong colours for the taskbar, which makes it very confusing -- which window is the one thats in the foreground again? I've even come across one theme that made the text on the buttons unreadable because it it blended into the background colour!
Then there's the other themes out there which are simply blatant rips of 'Luna'. Thats right. They take Luna, change a couple of colours, and call it a brand spanking new theme. Shameful.
While I couldnt design an interface to save my life (take realmtech.net for an example), I still feel the need to bring this to people's attention.
On a side note, I haven't yet found a suitable theme to use...