Realizm

All this software lies about "ThemeXP", "Stardock" for changing the look of Windows XP.. but these cost money, and they do what seems to me could be customized settings of windows XP. When changing the appearance of XP in the Display control panel, you can only select one color for the various parts of a window, yet XP clearly shows somewhat of a gradient color change throughout.


The above software can change all this, add new colors, looks.. but is there a way that this all can be done for free? Without some 3rd party software, save maybe a graphics application for making new icons, etc? I just want to make my Own color gradient look thinger instead of the space / green themes available...