Thank you michael for demoing my 8to7 project and mentioning the backend! it was great making it with dominic and i hope everyone testing it is having a good time. i have to clarify some stuff about the pack. The setup checks if your OS has updates to install to prevent people bricking their systems because they had an out of date version of 8 or 8.1 that happened before with the first release of the automatic setup. The taskbar jumplists being broken are an issue with 8.0 themes on 8.1 because of microsoft changing how they handled them. SIB silently fixes the issue that it was too late to find a solution to fix it for the open shell option. 7+TT is preinstalled on 8.1 for fixing the show desktop button size being too small compared to 7's one. The start screen color gets changed to a cyan color to be closely as possible to the login screen color used by 7 in RDP mode. The "Use Windows 7 File Copying dialog" option mentions that it will break metro applications installation because microsoft tried to stop people from modding windows and succeeded as normally shell32 can't be modified as it results in a bsod. but with some clever methods we got it to work with some caviats mentioned above. With the change of color for the start screen, the pack includes some tweaked live tiles for system apps (as an example: store and PC settings) to have a beta look instead of the RTM look.
My goodness, this has got to be the most well done system reskin / transformation pack / whatever you want to call it I've ever seen. If I were to ignore the "Aero Glass for Win8.1" text on the desktop and some inconsistencies (Some barely noticeable and some definitely apparent.) I would probably be convinced you were using Windows 7 the whole time.
you used to be able to be able to donate to the aero glass's dev to get rid of the watermark but hes stopped development and the site went down recently so its no longer posible
It would be interesting if Windows Media Center had a dedicated history/retrospective video in the future since it is one of Microsoft's most obscure programs. Your videos are always entertaining and keep up the great work! I am also quite excited for the video of that Windows 7 anime DVD you got several months back.
I remember finding a REALLY good and complete theme pack for Windows 8.1 that transformed it to 7 all the way back in 2018, but at some point the links were taken down and it was no longer accessible to download. I'm glad a similar (and better) project like this now exists :D I'm definitely trying it out on my portable Windows 8.1 installation today.
My first computer that I ever had was running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1, and I've daily driven almost every major version of Windows released since then at some point - except 8.x. So I keep forgetting it ever existed, lol XD Ironically, the only proper physical retail copy of Windows that I own is 8.1. In the early years I used to live in a time and place where pirating stuff was the norm, then I bought two laptops with OEM preinstalls of Vista and 7, respectively, and then when building a desktop I wanted to have a legit copy of Windows, and I found that copy of 8.1 for a good price - but it was the period of time when official free upgrades to 10 were a thing, and my plan was always to do that free upgrade on day 1.
Michael, This was a really good video to take a trip down memory lane with an older OS👍🏻. It was also REALLY GOOD to see Windows 7 again because I kind of liked that OS👍🏻.
Great work for both of you - @MichaelMJD & the Developer! However... Who needs this when almost nobody uses Win8 anymore? Would be great to see a similar solution for Win 10. The would be just awsome!!
7:45 the reason why the taskbar icons are bit off is because it uses the Windows 8.0 version of Windows 7 theme and it’s running on Windows 8.1 (Prior to the Video)
Speaking of Windows 7, there’s an ISO which is a build of 7 modified to look pretty much like Windows 9x, to the extent of changing the boot logo into classic Windows.
I use a program called "start is back" in my windows 8.1 system which is needed. But to see Widgets make a come back and remove unwanted features would be a huge plus for me doing this at some point.
What Windows 7 still makes so better imo is that it did not have major issues, Wallpaper Engine could just be run fine with the background staying animated with any prompt like Need administration permission. Nowadays we don't have that. I still very much dislike Windows 8, 10 and 11 but honestly using Windows 10 for many years I just ended up modifying it completely.
i used to use ex8to7, still have it somewhere. Great program, it didn't just replace explorer.exe windows 7 explorer, it used the whole windows 7 shell, which disabled metro apps as well as reduce memory usage... because it didn't load metro apps. All native, no bugs. Too bad it never worked for 8.1
Windows 8.1 support will also be extended for an additional three years. Technically the extended service is paid, but those updates will easily leak their way onto the internet just like the updates for Windows 7. This means that there will be security updates of some kind until 2026.
God I remember when I was on windows 7 and I found a pack that turned my windows 7 into 8 and I remember that when 10 came out I did the same just cause I wanted the looks and all that
Try Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7) was built on the same framework as Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Embedded Standard used to be the reliable choice for many embedded projects. In January 2020, Microsoft ended support for Windows 7. However, that same month, Microsoft announced an Extended Security Update program that will deliver critical and important updates to Windows 7 with options until October 2023
Not sure if you know about this but you should try using a program called vmaudiofix in the Windows guest OS to fix audio issues in VMware (and even Virtualbox too I think!) it should work on OSes newer than windows 2000
By the way the right clicking the taskbar icons graphical glitches is a Windows 8.1 bug. It happens when you have internet connected during the after installation oobe. MS hasn't fixed it, but some update it installs causes this. For this reason I leave Windows 8.1 disconnected from internet until at the desktop and this solves it.
It definitely happens if you install 8.1 how I described, I ran into it a few years ago when re-installing an OS for someone and took me a few tries to figure out.
Btw in builds of windows 7 with media center you could set it as an app that handles exe files. Did that, had to reinstall my os. Most programs except control panel refused to open (opened windows media center instead)
I love this video very much. Maybe you can make more videos about your M1 Macbook Pro. I really want to see if it can run x86 OSes in QEMU virtual machines smoothly.
@MichaelMJD great video bro! Btw make a video discussing wrong or "fake" windows sounds, alot of those are featured in "all windows start/shutdown sounds" videos with millions of views! Interesting if you can take a look at this suggestion. Been watching yourr videos for 6 years! keep it up!!!
This is one of the main reasons I am still running the only legal version of windows I ever bought; windows 7 x64 Pro. It doesn't have the tablet os of win8 or the spyware os of win10 and 11. What it does have is the best UI they ever created. In fact it's hard to look at it and believe that ms was actually ever capable of making something that good. It's obvious they will never be able to make an os as good as win7 ever again.
what a coincidence I transformed windows 8 to windows 7 a few months ago. btw you can transform 8 to 7 by booting up bios and pressing F12 or something
I'm surprised you never heard of 7 taskbar tweaker, I've been using it for years & it's basically mandatory at this point since microsoft is too dense to add it's features themselves.
Have you ever tried to install windows media center for windows XP without using windows XP media center edition, can you do a video on that when you got the chance, please?
I'm one year late and I natively ran Windows 8.1 on modern hardware with modded drivers and from my testing this mod performs well enough and the startup sound doesn't scream for help
I installed it yet I regret it. I put a check on all settings and my laptop is stuck at black screen upon booting, I can navigate with the cursor but still it's broken. How do I fix it ?
Thank you michael for demoing my 8to7 project and mentioning the backend! it was great making it with dominic and i hope everyone testing it is having a good time. i have to clarify some stuff about the pack.
The setup checks if your OS has updates to install to prevent people bricking their systems because they had an out of date version of 8 or 8.1 that happened before with the first release of the automatic setup.
The taskbar jumplists being broken are an issue with 8.0 themes on 8.1 because of microsoft changing how they handled them. SIB silently fixes the issue that it was too late to find a solution to fix it for the open shell option.
7+TT is preinstalled on 8.1 for fixing the show desktop button size being too small compared to 7's one.
The start screen color gets changed to a cyan color to be closely as possible to the login screen color used by 7 in RDP mode.
The "Use Windows 7 File Copying dialog" option mentions that it will break metro applications installation because microsoft tried to stop people from modding windows and succeeded as normally shell32 can't be modified as it results in a bsod. but with some clever methods we got it to work with some caviats mentioned above.
With the change of color for the start screen, the pack includes some tweaked live tiles for system apps (as an example: store and PC settings) to have a beta look instead of the RTM look.
It's amazing :D would use it if I had 8
Can you make version for win 10?
This is the most amazing transformation pack I’ve ever seen. Amazing work.
Bro unblock me on discord, and ignore the spammer message, i am on windows 10 and i dont need that msstyles now
Works i instail it is so slow load transformation pack windows 7
This has to be one of the best transformation packs i have ever seen, it almost feels like i'm using Windows 7 again!
Literally just use Windows 7 again. LOL
@@FlyboyHelosim it's better anyway
@@FlyboyHelosim some computers only support 8 and newer
@@ImmortalChanger Which is better?
@@pessoaanonima6345 There's always ways...
My goodness, this has got to be the most well done system reskin / transformation pack / whatever you want to call it I've ever seen. If I were to ignore the "Aero Glass for Win8.1" text on the desktop and some inconsistencies (Some barely noticeable and some definitely apparent.) I would probably be convinced you were using Windows 7 the whole time.
you used to be able to be able to donate to the aero glass's dev to get rid of the watermark but hes stopped development and the site went down recently so its no longer posible
@@gehenna14 there are cracked versions
@@_eesports show me
@@gehenna14 i have cracked versions for win8-win10 1909 lmk if you want em
Yes
I used this a week ago and found almost no bugs using this. Props to the creators, what an amazing project to have
Wow this is really cool, wish it was that easy for Windows 10, I love how windows vista and 7 look like
@DevAesthetic startisback / startallback
@@prebenjaeger /yo mama
It would be interesting if Windows Media Center had a dedicated history/retrospective video in the future since it is one of Microsoft's most obscure programs.
Your videos are always entertaining and keep up the great work! I am also quite excited for the video of that Windows 7 anime DVD you got several months back.
Exactly.
This a great way to get Windows Media Center for those who didn't purchase the media center upgrade that was only available for limited time.
Yeah, but I actually used Windows Media Center to watch TV, it was better than the software provided by the TV card manufacturer.
Yeah!
@@tricountyretail992 I also host just the Media Center install files as well on my site.
I remember finding a REALLY good and complete theme pack for Windows 8.1 that transformed it to 7 all the way back in 2018, but at some point the links were taken down and it was no longer accessible to download. I'm glad a similar (and better) project like this now exists :D
I'm definitely trying it out on my portable Windows 8.1 installation today.
My first computer that I ever had was running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1, and I've daily driven almost every major version of Windows released since then at some point - except 8.x. So I keep forgetting it ever existed, lol XD
Ironically, the only proper physical retail copy of Windows that I own is 8.1. In the early years I used to live in a time and place where pirating stuff was the norm, then I bought two laptops with OEM preinstalls of Vista and 7, respectively, and then when building a desktop I wanted to have a legit copy of Windows, and I found that copy of 8.1 for a good price - but it was the period of time when official free upgrades to 10 were a thing, and my plan was always to do that free upgrade on day 1.
Should I upgrade to win 11? I am not a fan of the icons' position in the taskbar and idk if would be worth.
@@realstormdancer if toy do upgrade you can return that to the original position, well, if that is your only gripe.
@@realstormdancer Use Start11, it wil give you back everything that's missing. And I've managed to get Explorer to work like in Win 10.
This is awesome. Wish it could do the same from Windows 11 to 7.
Michael,
This was a really good video to take a trip down memory lane with an older
OS👍🏻. It was also REALLY GOOD to see Windows 7 again because I kind of liked that OS👍🏻.
I know the person who made this very well. The two guys who made it are very friendly and help with issues regarding the program!
I used this for a while back when it was on an older version! Honestly hands down my favourite transformation pack
Love your videos, keep up the good work!
Wow, this pack looks so well!
That's actually very cool. Definitely going to use it on my old Win 8 PC.
Hey Micheal. I love your videos and you are truly awesome. Also thanks for this awesome content.
:)
Great work for both of you - @MichaelMJD & the Developer! However... Who needs this when almost nobody uses Win8 anymore? Would be great to see a similar solution for Win 10. The would be just awsome!!
For someone like me who still installs Windows 8.1 on VERY budget rigs, this is a very nice mod for people who still prefer the UI from Windows 7
I’m still confused on why Michael has only 300k subscribers. He really deserves more attention, truly my favourite tech man
Michael needs 500k or better yet, a million subs
people dont prefer “follow along” experience and unless presenter in on the actual video, yt algorism does not favor.
Awesome video, Michael!
Thanks!
It clearly shows that the transformations are improving
We need this for Windows 11/10.
Yeah
there is a version for 10, not sure if it works on 11
I love how the most viewed moment, is the one where the windows sound starts to freak out
7:45
the reason why the taskbar icons are bit off is because it uses the Windows 8.0 version of Windows 7 theme and it’s running on Windows 8.1 (Prior to the Video)
Speaking of Windows 7, there’s an ISO which is a build of 7 modified to look pretty much like Windows 9x, to the extent of changing the boot logo into classic Windows.
what's the project name?
@@chrimakesthings its called the Minecraft 1.19 Wild update
Anything that recreates the look of 9x or NT4 is good in my book.
@@chrimakesthings Windows 7 Classic Edition iirc
@@prirority He was talking about the windows 7 mod name, not the minecraft update.
I use a program called "start is back" in my windows 8.1 system which is needed. But to see Widgets make a come back and remove unwanted features would be a huge plus for me doing this at some point.
Best video in the hole world good job man :)
What Windows 7 still makes so better imo is that it did not have major issues, Wallpaper Engine could just be run fine with the background staying animated with any prompt like Need administration permission. Nowadays we don't have that. I still very much dislike Windows 8, 10 and 11 but honestly using Windows 10 for many years I just ended up modifying it completely.
Now we need a good 10 to 7 one
Since support for Windows 8.1 will end in January of next year, it should have its own retrospective video.
I rate this transformation pack a 10/10! Its very accurate tho!
I wish you could enable the aero look from windows 8 release preview. That was the best windows UI never released.
YOU'RE IN LUCK!
Install Win8To8RP today by the literal same creator as this pack.
i used to use ex8to7, still have it somewhere. Great program, it didn't just replace explorer.exe windows 7 explorer, it used the whole windows 7 shell, which disabled metro apps as well as reduce memory usage... because it didn't load metro apps. All native, no bugs. Too bad it never worked for 8.1
Good Job Michael!
We need these kinds of things to become popular again. Let's get Windows 11 to Mac!
seeshhh
I have seen this before by another yter. These are awesome!
Windows 8.1 support will also be extended for an additional three years. Technically the extended service is paid, but those updates will easily leak their way onto the internet just like the updates for Windows 7. This means that there will be security updates of some kind until 2026.
God I remember when I was on windows 7 and I found a pack that turned my windows 7 into 8 and I remember that when 10 came out I did the same just cause I wanted the looks and all that
Now we just need a Win10to7. Would be sweet.
Try Windows Embedded Standard 7,
Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7)
was built on the same framework as Windows 7 Ultimate,
Windows 7 Embedded Standard used to be the reliable
choice for many embedded projects.
In January 2020, Microsoft ended support for Windows 7.
However, that same month, Microsoft announced an
Extended Security Update program that will deliver
critical and important updates to Windows 7
with options until October 2023
If only this was a thing when I was using Windows 8.1 on a dual core AMD APU around ten years ago. Time flies
Not sure if you know about this but you should try using a program called vmaudiofix in the Windows guest OS to fix audio issues in VMware (and even Virtualbox too I think!) it should work on OSes newer than windows 2000
By the way the right clicking the taskbar icons graphical glitches is a Windows 8.1 bug. It happens when you have internet connected during the after installation oobe. MS hasn't fixed it, but some update it installs causes this. For this reason I leave Windows 8.1 disconnected from internet until at the desktop and this solves it.
Nah, it's just a bug SIB+ fixes, caused by using a Windows 8.0 theme in 8.1, though you were right on it being an 8.1 bug at least.
It definitely happens if you install 8.1 how I described, I ran into it a few years ago when re-installing an OS for someone and took me a few tries to figure out.
Check out Windows XP, Vista and 7 Delta Edition. They aim to restore beta features on release versions of Windows.
Sounds fun
Wow! What about the Win2000-style windows theme that was prerelease in XP (before it went all Looney Tunes)?
@@whophd Watercolor is in Delta... and it brought friends.
Having the updated tech of 8.1 and having a nostalgic look of 7 is my wet dream
as soon as i saw this video i went to download it straight away!
6:02 I have the same problem with VMware and when I stared it up on full volume in my class once everyone looked at me like wth 😂
Would really like a follow up vid with Windows10 into Windows7 :D
I used to open Media Center just for the intro lol. It was indeed cool.
I wish there was a win10 to XP transformation pack
Nice transformation pack.
win 10 needs this asap
I'm so used to deviantArt being known for other things I completely forgot that there are users who make stuff like this, heh. XD
the windows 7 startup sound was CRAZY
When a review to Win10to7 from the internet archive I think its a really good iso to look at.
the random distorted startup sound im dying- 💀💀
Btw in builds of windows 7 with media center you could set it as an app that handles exe files.
Did that, had to reinstall my os. Most programs except control panel refused to open (opened windows media center instead)
Well that's one amusing way to kill your installation. :P
You can change what opens with what thru control panel. No need to reinstall
@@deadchannel991 it only has basic options. Btw actually i could've used command prompt to reset it.
I love this video very much. Maybe you can make more videos about your M1 Macbook Pro. I really want to see if it can run x86 OSes in QEMU virtual machines smoothly.
Seems pretty great 👍🤠
Someone should make an iso file with this transformation, i'd definitely install it!
5:45 I had this audio issue with virtualbox but managed to fix the problem by setting the virtual machine to the right amount of bits
This video was recorded on my birthday on July 13, just when I turned 18!
@MichaelMJD great video bro! Btw make a video discussing wrong or "fake" windows sounds, alot of those are featured in "all windows start/shutdown sounds" videos with millions of views! Interesting if you can take a look at this suggestion. Been watching yourr videos for 6 years! keep it up!!!
Windows 8/8.1 feels like a weird fever dream.
This is one of the main reasons I am still running the only legal version of windows I ever bought; windows 7 x64 Pro. It doesn't have the tablet os of win8 or the spyware os of win10 and 11. What it does have is the best UI they ever created. In fact it's hard to look at it and believe that ms was actually ever capable of making something that good. It's obvious they will never be able to make an os as good as win7 ever again.
5:46 I think that something happened with your vm, at the login screen the loading circle lagged alot.
Great Video! 👍👍
A relic from a kinder past.
Yes, and how do you restore the shiny glass on your user icon with Open Shell??
It probably used the “Win7like combo revC” skin in open shell
what a coincidence I transformed windows 8 to windows 7 a few months ago. btw you can transform 8 to 7 by booting up bios and pressing F12 or something
I'm surprised you never heard of 7 taskbar tweaker, I've been using it for years & it's basically mandatory at this point since microsoft is too dense to add it's features themselves.
I've heard about 7TT Like 0.0.1 Percent
Thanks for video.
How about to find transformation pack for Windows 10 to looks like Windows 7 or Windows 2000?
It's fantastic
this feels like an old MJD video, not one from 2022
I’m starting to notice that windows 8 is actually a reskin of 7
Have you ever tried to install windows media center for windows XP without using windows XP media center edition, can you do a video on that when you got the chance, please?
3:29 for more info windows 8.0 or 8.0 mobile is just windows 8
It's named 8.0 here to make it more obvious it ain't for the whole Windows 8 release family, but rather just 8.0.
I broke Windows 8.1 and Fixed it so I could take a look at this masterpiece.
I just realised that wallpaper is a little bit macOS Ventura, but pointy not swishy
Is there a Windows 11 version, or does this also work on Windows 11?
I'm one year late and I natively ran Windows 8.1 on modern hardware with modded drivers and from my testing this mod performs well enough and the startup sound doesn't scream for help
I installed it yet I regret it. I put a check on all settings and my laptop is stuck at black screen upon booting, I can navigate with the cursor but still it's broken. How do I fix it ?
This is neat!!
Thanks bro ,good luck
Nice job. Michael.
I ran out of storage mid-"tranformation" and now I can't boot in to windows. The installation process is very interesting indeed
hey Michael , is this Windows 8.1 installation related to that tweet that you made the other day
We all need windows 7 transforming pack to Win10/11..my only wish for win 12 old windows xp.vista.7 themes back!
5:44 uh oh- (watch out!! it seems a little feisty.)
7:55 That almost sounds like NT4 starting up
Time to put this on my Windows custom
@Michael MJD When are you going to do that OS-tan video about the Girl with blue hair Nanami Madobe?
5:45
Windows_7_startup_sound.exe is not responding
(That made me laugh)
looks soo close. what about transformation pack for win10 ?
man i wish stuff like this could be done in windows 10
Bro i can actually try this in VMware, ty!
I did use open shell back in the day
I still use Windows 8.1 on my MacBook Pro. Why not?
woah first time seeing an aero glass mod thats actually an exact replica of windows 7
What display resolution are you on