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Penumbra 8 - Windows 8(.1) visual style
By Scope10
276 Favourites197 Comments117K Views
This visual style will no longer be updated.
Works on Windows 8 and 8.1. (Does not work on Windows 7)
This visual style is made to have no accent color, only black, grey and white.
The music player in the preview image is AIMP with Ladient ( fav.me/d6e0oqk )
Based on Gray 2014 by ezio ( fav.me/d6x6ssl )
& Gray8-final by gsw953onDA ( fav.me/d5navyx )
Credit to these guys since they did most of the work.
__________________________________________________________
Before you install
- Make a restore point.
- Follow this tutorial just in case anything goes wrong:
www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutor…
- Install Open Sans (included in the download)
How to install
- Apply the UxStyle Patch: uxstyle.com/
- Disable ribbon UI: fav.me/d4xt4f0
- Copy the content of the Visual Style folder to C:WindowsResourcesThemes
- Right click your desktop > Personalize and click Penumbra 8 under Installed Themes
- Done
For the previewed statusbar use Classic Shell
www.classicshell.net/
Make your window borders smaller
winaero.com/comment.php?commen…
Important note
ONE can cause installation problems such as installs being stuck at "creating shortcuts" and also other explorer related problems. If you are hindered by these problems, uninstall the ONE shell extension.
Known problem
- Start menu right click in Windows 8.1.
__________________________________________________________
10/11/2014
- Fixed low quality notification arrow when taskbar is on the sides
- Changed a bunch of color in the explorer window
- Changed 'None' icon
- Small changes to all button types
- Changed color on dropdown menu
- Changed colors of pop-up menu
- Changed colors of Monthcal
- Bunch of other small changes and fixes
30/06/2014
- Added OldNewExplorer (ONE) to the download
- Added new wallpapers, removed old ones
- Skinned copy window
- Made general colors a bit lighter
- Changed tooltip and tooltip balloon
- Made different between disabled/grayed and normal text more noticeable
- Slight change to the scrollbar
- Fixed change icon view menu
- Other small fixes and changes
30/03/2014
- Changed colors of the explorer window
- Changed font rendering to Cleartype-natural
- Made overall font color a bit darker
- Changed colors right-click menu
- Made taskbar notifications more noticeable
- Made button colors lighter (incl. radio and checkbox)
- Added purple wallpaper
- A bunch of other small changes
26/01/2014
- Changed the blue taskmanager colors
- Changed some of the icons when dragging files/folder in explorer
- Taskbar notifications should show now
- Other small changes
31/12/2013
- Added Penumbra 8 W
This fixes some problems with dark background of searchboxes, urlbars and microsoft Word.
This is however in exchange that some other parts of the VS will appear white.
24/12/2013
- Used Gray 2014 as new base. It should fix* most if not all problems that were present in Windows 8.1
- Slightly changed caption buttons
- Changed scrollbar arrows.
- Other small changes
03/12/2013
- Changed taskband list item background and close button
- Changed background of the box when selecting filetype
- Changed background on desktop icons
- Changed editbox border
- Changed Close button on tool windows
- Fixed Vertical progress bar
- Fixed pin list icons for Windows 8.1, but it isn't properly styled yet
- Other small changes and fixes
16/11/2013
- Removed white dot from search bar
- Made text in the control panel readable
- Changed progress bar
- Changed list tab item
15/11/2013
- Initial Release beta
__________________________________________________________
* = Set color intensity all the way to the left ( a.pomf.se/lyutdm.png )
Please read the comments before asking about a problem.
Suggestions are welcome.
Works on Windows 8 and 8.1. (Does not work on Windows 7)
This visual style is made to have no accent color, only black, grey and white.
The music player in the preview image is AIMP with Ladient ( fav.me/d6e0oqk )
Based on Gray 2014 by ezio ( fav.me/d6x6ssl )
& Gray8-final by gsw953onDA ( fav.me/d5navyx )
Credit to these guys since they did most of the work.
__________________________________________________________
Before you install
- Make a restore point.
- Follow this tutorial just in case anything goes wrong:
www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutor…
- Install Open Sans (included in the download)
How to install
- Apply the UxStyle Patch: uxstyle.com/
- Disable ribbon UI: fav.me/d4xt4f0
- Copy the content of the Visual Style folder to C:WindowsResourcesThemes
- Right click your desktop > Personalize and click Penumbra 8 under Installed Themes
- Done
For the previewed statusbar use Classic Shell
www.classicshell.net/
Make your window borders smaller
winaero.com/comment.php?commen…
Important note
ONE can cause installation problems such as installs being stuck at "creating shortcuts" and also other explorer related problems. If you are hindered by these problems, uninstall the ONE shell extension.
Known problem
- Start menu right click in Windows 8.1.
__________________________________________________________
10/11/2014
- Fixed low quality notification arrow when taskbar is on the sides
- Changed a bunch of color in the explorer window
- Changed 'None' icon
- Small changes to all button types
- Changed color on dropdown menu
- Changed colors of pop-up menu
- Changed colors of Monthcal
- Bunch of other small changes and fixes
30/06/2014
- Added OldNewExplorer (ONE) to the download
- Added new wallpapers, removed old ones
- Skinned copy window
- Made general colors a bit lighter
- Changed tooltip and tooltip balloon
- Made different between disabled/grayed and normal text more noticeable
- Slight change to the scrollbar
- Fixed change icon view menu
- Other small fixes and changes
30/03/2014
- Changed colors of the explorer window
- Changed font rendering to Cleartype-natural
- Made overall font color a bit darker
- Changed colors right-click menu
- Made taskbar notifications more noticeable
- Made button colors lighter (incl. radio and checkbox)
- Added purple wallpaper
- A bunch of other small changes
26/01/2014
- Changed the blue taskmanager colors
- Changed some of the icons when dragging files/folder in explorer
- Taskbar notifications should show now
- Other small changes
31/12/2013
- Added Penumbra 8 W
This fixes some problems with dark background of searchboxes, urlbars and microsoft Word.
This is however in exchange that some other parts of the VS will appear white.
24/12/2013
- Used Gray 2014 as new base. It should fix* most if not all problems that were present in Windows 8.1
- Slightly changed caption buttons
- Changed scrollbar arrows.
- Other small changes
03/12/2013
- Changed taskband list item background and close button
- Changed background of the box when selecting filetype
- Changed background on desktop icons
- Changed editbox border
- Changed Close button on tool windows
- Fixed Vertical progress bar
- Fixed pin list icons for Windows 8.1, but it isn't properly styled yet
- Other small changes and fixes
16/11/2013
- Removed white dot from search bar
- Made text in the control panel readable
- Changed progress bar
- Changed list tab item
15/11/2013
- Initial Release beta
__________________________________________________________
* = Set color intensity all the way to the left ( a.pomf.se/lyutdm.png )
Please read the comments before asking about a problem.
Suggestions are welcome.
Published:
Comments189
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The only way I know of is by using a modified shell32.dll file that has the white control panel images changed to a black. Some other Windows 8 dark themes include this in their download. I never bothered with it as it's a manual process of changing a system file that can, if done incorrectly, make your system unstable.

Maybe the following patcher will work better: www.syssel.net/hoefs/software_….
Before you install it, switch back to the default Windows theme (aero), uninstall UxStyle and reboot your PC.
Before you install it, switch back to the default Windows theme (aero), uninstall UxStyle and reboot your PC.

Hello!
This is a long shot since this has not been updated in ages.
I was wondering if you could implement the task manager colors from your windows 10 version of this skin into this one? (Could i just copy files out of the windows 10 version?)
Also i found 2 bugs
When right clicking things like file explorer the menu is purple at one part
How do I fix the yellow bit where the title is?
Otherwise fantastic work!

Yes, I could change the task manager colors in an update. They do look pretty bad in Penumbra 8.
The right click bug you're referring to sounds strange. Could you take a screenshot of it? I might need to install a Windows 8 virtual machine to fix it (I only have Windows 10 machines).
The yellow bit from the title sound like a theme colorization problem. Again, could you clarify the problem with a screenshot? I will see if I can find a solution or fix.
I hope they are not problems that occurred because of a Windows update because that could complicate things.
The right click bug you're referring to sounds strange. Could you take a screenshot of it? I might need to install a Windows 8 virtual machine to fix it (I only have Windows 10 machines).
The yellow bit from the title sound like a theme colorization problem. Again, could you clarify the problem with a screenshot? I will see if I can find a solution or fix.
I hope they are not problems that occurred because of a Windows update because that could complicate things.

That has to do with the way UxStyle and other alternatives patch your system in order for you to use third party visual styles like Penumbra 8.
If you look at the FAQ of one of the UxStyle patchers (for example, see www.syssel.net/hoefs/software_… ), it will explain the problem. You basically have to temporarily switch back to the default visual style before you uninstall a program and restart your PC. Once properly booted, you can switch back to Penumbra 8 or any other visual style.
If you look at the FAQ of one of the UxStyle patchers (for example, see www.syssel.net/hoefs/software_… ), it will explain the problem. You basically have to temporarily switch back to the default visual style before you uninstall a program and restart your PC. Once properly booted, you can switch back to Penumbra 8 or any other visual style.
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