DUDE®'S THEME PAGE (Optimized for 16-bit color or greater) "What's a theme and how the #$%@ do I use it?" I've received more than a few emails with this question. So here goes: a theme is a collection of icons, cursors, sounds, wallpaper, and (oftentimes) startup and shutdown screens which create a unique desktop environment. Windows 95 is a requirement. In addition, you'll also need either Microsoft Plus! or the shareware version of Plus!, Desktop Themes to make full use of themes. Also be sure to download cool sounds to customize your system from the Multimedia section of DUDE®'S Stuff Page. Please note: If you've installed any of the new Microsoft software products (especially Office 97) and are now having problems with Plus!, make sure to download the Plus! update (84 K) from Microsoft and put it in your Plus! folder, replacing the old Themes.exe. Now would be a good time for a BOOKMARK. What's Here? Coming Soon! Quantum Leap theme by DUDE® Ghostbusters theme by DUDE® Terminator 2: Judgment Day theme by DUDE® The Pandora Directive theme by DUDE® The Little Mermaid theme by DUDE® New York Yankees theme by DUDE® Jimmy Buffett theme by DUDE® JB Christmas Add-On pack by DUDE® and Chris McKay JB Startup/Shutdown screens by Kevin Axt JB Startup screens by Anthony Downing and DUDE® 12 Monkeys theme by DUDE® Two 12 Monkeys Recycle Bin icons by Frizz Schiegerl MS Plus! Theme Tools Added Disappear, desktop utility Theme Sites, Startup Screens, and more Added Dawson's Creek Theme site Quantum Leap Theme by DUDE® Coming soon! DUDE® is putting the finishing touches on the QL screen saver. The saver will feature a complete episode listing of all of Sam and Al's adventures in time. For now, check out the sample screenshots below. And keep leaping! Quantum Leap Startup Screen Quantum Leap Icons & Cursors Quantum Leap Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) COMING SOON! Ghostbusters Theme by DUDE® "If there's something strange / On your Win95 desktop / Who you gonna call? / DUDE® and the Ghostbusters!" Yes, with DUDE®'s GB theme you'll have Slimer as My Computer, the Ghostbusters logo on a computer screen for Network Neighborhood, and a happy and angry Sta-Puft marshmallow man for Recycle Bin Empty and Full, respectively. The Busy cursor by DUDE® is an animated GB logo with the "no" logo animated. The Wait cursor by DUDE® is a ghost trap capturing a ghost. There are two wallpapers included in the theme (each with its own *.theme file): the tiled paper features an embossed GB logo on a green slime background; the full-screen paper is one of the GB movie posters. System sounds are from the movie and include part of the famous theme song by Ray Parker Jr. In addition, you'll get three custom Startup and Shutdown screens. There's even a screen saver which will turn your screen to slime! Get slimed! Download the GB theme today! Ghostbusters Startup Screen Ghostbusters Icons & Cursors 2 Ghostbusters Wallpapers Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download the Ghostbusters theme NOW! (891 K) If you downloaded the Ghostbusters theme before February 13, 1998, get the new Empty Recycle Bin sound HERE. This new .wav file (Ray saying, "The light is green. The trap is clean.") is much more appropriate than the original file. Please note: if you prefer the original, the update is totally unnecessary. For all things Ghostbusters, visit Paul Rudoff's great GB web site, Spook Central. The site even has very cool pictures, sounds, etc. from deleted scenes! (Thanks for the Empty Recycle Bin sound and for letting me use two of your pics for the shutdown screens, Paul!) T2: Judgment Day Theme by DUDE® "I'll be back," said Arnold in The Terminator. Obviously he made good on his promise, returning in one of the best sci-fi/action flicks of all time, T2: Judgment Day. And here, in DUDE®'s T2 theme, he's back again. There are several T2 themes available on the Web, but I think you'll find that this one stands out as one of the better ones. Custom Startup and Shutdown screens (which have been omitted from previous T2 themes) are included. In addition, DUDE® has created two unique animated cursors: the Wait cursor is Arnold with blinking red eyes behind his shades; the Busy cursor has the words "SEARCH MODE" in red with a blinking cursor. High-quality desktop icons include Arnold's "I'm bad-to-the-bone" look for My Computer, a split Exoskeleton-Arnold for Recycle Bin Empty, an Exoskeleton with glaring red eyes for Recycle Bin Full, and a melting T-1000 for Network Neighborhood. System sounds are, of course, from the movie. The wallpaper is an Exoskeleton stalking humans in the (possible) future. There's even a screen saver from the point-of-view of a Terminator. "I'll be back...with more themes!" T2: Judgment Day Startup Screen T2: Judgment Day Icons & Cursors T2: Judgment Day Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download the T2: Judgment Day theme NOW! (1.33 MB) Want more of T2? Visit Patrik Lunning's excellent and professionally-created web site, Terminator 2 - Judgment Day, for pictures, sounds, and more. (Several of the sounds and images in the theme are from this site. Thanks, Patrik!) The Pandora Directive Theme by DUDE® You've played the game. Now bring the mystery of what really happened at Roswell direct to your desktop with The Pandora Directive theme by DUDE®! Tex Murphy himself makes an appearance as the My Computer icon, an alien autopsy is the focus of the Recycle Bin icons, and The Pandora Directive logo is the Network Neighborhood icon. Watch UFO's hover around your desktop with two animated cursors created by DUDE®. The Wait cursor features an arrow with a black and green UFO which first hovers, then zooms off into the distance. The Busy cursor is a larger version of the UFO hovering ominously. The wallpaper is a modified version of the game's box cover. System sounds include witticisms from Tex himself as well as other sounds from the game. The screen saver is an excellent saver created by Matthew Dean which features two UFO's flying around a dark, cloud-filled sky. DUDE® also provides custom Startup and Shutdown screens which will begin and end your Win95 session in alien mystery. We are not alone. The Pandora Directive Startup Screen The Pandora Directive Icons & Cursors The Pandora Directive Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download The Pandora Directive theme NOW! (943 K) The Pandora Directive pages at Access Software's site have some info and screen shots of the game. If you get stuck in the game, The Spoiler Centre has two walkthrus and some hints about getting the Mission Street ending. The Little Mermaid Theme by DUDE® For both children and adults of all ages, DUDE® has created a world under the sea in his Disney's The Little Mermaid theme! There's Ariel as the My Computer icon, King Triton as Network Neighborhood, Sebastian as Recycle Bin Empty, and Flounder as Recycle Bin Full. The two animated cursors were created exclusively for the theme by DUDE®: the Wait cursor is a dancing Sebastian holding onto the arrow cursor; the Busy cursor is Ariel swimming as bubbles float upwards. The wallpaper is a classic undersea image of Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder. System sounds are a combination of song and voice clips from the movie, including "Under the Sea" for Start Windows! To begin and end your Win95 session with The Little Mermaid, included are a custom Startup and two Shutdown screens by DUDE®. "Under da sea. Under da sea. Everything's better down where it's wetter, take it from DUDE®!" The Little Mermaid Startup Screen The Little Mermaid Icons & Cursors The Little Mermaid Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download The Little Mermaid theme NOW! (869 K)   Thank you for the gracious donation, Freya Davis! Thanks, Richard Baker, for the great contribution! f you love the story of Ariel too, visit the excellent new Little Mermaid pages at Disney's website. In addition to the fun you'll have at the site, you can also download a free screen saver and wallpapers. New York Yankees Theme by DUDE® The New York Yankees are the 1996 World Champions! Be a part of this winning season with the unofficial Yankees theme by DUDE®! Desktop icons include the classic Yankees logo, the American League logo and the 1996 World Series logo for Recycle Bin Empty and Full, respectively, and the MLB logo for Network Neighborhood. The Wait cursor is an animated bat and ball; the Busy cursor: a unique DUDE® creation of a ball being hit out of Yankee Stadium with the caption "HOLY COW!" following. The wallpaper is the onfield team celebration just after the Yankees won the 1996 World Series. System sounds are, overall, general baseball sounds, with the exception of Start and Exit Windows. Also included are a custom Startup screen (logo.sys) and two Shutdown screens (logow.sys & logos.sys) created by DUDE®. GO YANKEES!!! Please note: There are two theme files included in the zip file. The only difference in the second theme is the wallpaper, which is a tiled pattern of the NY logo on a pinstripe background. New York Yankees Startup Screen New York Yankees Icons & Cursors New York Yankees Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download the Yankees theme NOW! (520 K) Alternate Download Site(s): Download from Cornell U Thanks to my brother, Keith! If you're a true Yankees fan, drop by the official Yankees Website. Home of the 1996 World Champions, the site features a Java chat area, an online catalog of official Yankee merchandise, and movie clips of past and present Yankee glory. In addition, see my baseball section. Jimmy Buffett Theme by DUDE® Calling all Parrotheads! For your listening and Win95 enjoyment, DUDE® presents his brand new Jimmy Buffett desktop theme! The highlight of the theme is, of course, the various sound clips of Jimmy's music used for system sounds. Other sounds are a parrot squawk and a Jaws clip. In addition, the icons feature a palm tree (My Computer), an empty and full margarita glass (Recycle Bin), and a parrot with a margarita (Network Neighborhood). You'll be off to see the lizard with the animated Wait cursor and swimming with the sharks with DUDE®'S own Fins animated Busy cursor. The wallpaper features a collage of Buffett album covers, including two imports. The screen saver is the GuiToons saver with an animated shark and two Buffett logos. In addition, add a touch of the tropics to the default Win95 screens with a custom Startup screen (logo.sys) and two Shutdown screens (logow.sys & logos.sys). Phins up! Jimmy Buffett Startup Screen Jimmy Buffett Icons & Cursors Jimmy Buffett Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download the Jimmy Buffett theme NOW! (1.56 MB) Alternate Download Site(s): Download from Cornell U Thanks to my brother, Keith!   Thank you, Jeff Grossenbacher, for the cool donation! Thanks for sending the fiver, Tim Black! Much appreciation for the bill, Dan Handyside! Chris McKay did a "little Christmas tweaking" to DUDE®'s JB theme and the result is a collection of JB Christmas icons, cursors, and wallpaper! The wallpaper is the cover to Jimmy's Christmas Island CD. A preview of the icons and cursors can be viewed here. To download the Christmas Add-On pack (you should also get the original DUDE®'s JB theme), follow this link (121 K). Okay, okay. DUDE®'s JB Startup and Shutdown screens aren't the most creative in the world... Well, here's an alternative: download Kevin Axt's screens by following this link (174 K). A preview of the icons and cursors can be viewed here. Also be sure to stop by Kevin's cool "When the Coast is Clear" Jimmy Buffett Page. It seems that Parrotheads everywhere are making their own Startup screens for my theme! Anthony Downing had two great JB bitmaps and asked me to modify them to include animated bars at the bottom. You'll get a Son of a Son of a Sailor screen and a Parrothead Planet screen by downloading from this link (97 K). In addition, squawk on over to The Jimmy Buffett Parrot(t)head Page. Find details on Jimmy and the band, read the Coconut Telegraph online, and download images and sound clips of Jimmy! 12 Monkeys Theme by DUDE® Inspired by the brilliant time-travel film directed by Terry Gilliam, here is the unofficial 12 Monkeys theme created by DUDE®! Includes high-quality icons with the visages of James Cole (Bruce Willis), Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeline Stowe), Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), and all three characters together for Network Neighborhood. Cursors include unique animated Busy and Wait 12 Monkeys logos which flash. Of course, the wallpaper is the ominous logo on a black background. System sounds represent a wide variety of clips from the film. In addition, there is a free screen saver from the UIP 12 Monkeys site. Also included are a custom Startup screen (logo.sys) and two Shutdown screens (logow.sys & logos.sys) to complete the 12 Monkeys experience. Please note: the theme does not follow the comedic tone set by the character Jeffrey in the film. Although Jeffrey is featured in two of the system sounds as well as in several of the .wav's in the screensaver, the theme deals with the desperate situation befalling Cole in his attempt to save humanity from the deadly virus. ** 12 Monkeys ** Startup Screen ** 12 Monkeys ** Icons & Cursors ** 12 Monkeys ** Wallpaper Click the previews above for large-size images, a sampling of what awaits in the full theme! (Note: images are reduced color due to space limitations.) Download the 12 Monkeys theme NOW! (1.56 MB) Frizz Schiegerl (a fan of my 12 Monkeys theme) sent me two new Recycle Bin Empty and Full icons. He said that he had trouble telling when the Bin was full or empty so he made these two cool icons. They feature a silhouette of a monkey; empty has a flourescent green background, full is red. To download these great additional 12 Monkeys icons (you should also get DUDE®'s original theme), go here (5 K). MS Plus! Theme Tools  Download the Plus! Demo (981 K): If you haven't yet gotten a copy of MS Plus!, here's your chance to grab the FREE demo. Although it includes the Dangerous Creatures theme, the demo has none of the advanced features such as System Agent or DriveSpace3. In my opinion, Plus! should have been a basic component of Win95 anyway, but it's par for the course for Billy to expect people to shell out another 45 bucks... Hint: to use the Jimmy Buffett theme, for example, with the demo version of Plus!, simply right click on the on the *.theme file using the Plus! demo, select Apply Settings and then Demo Theme!  Download Desktop Themes (85 K): If you don't want to spring for the full version of MS Plus!, download this shareware program which gives you theme capability. The program itself is actually better than the Microsoft version. There are several features not available in Plus!, including the ability to install themes and turn on/off window animation. At $15, it's a bargain. Highly recommended!  Download Microangelo 2.1 (640 K): In order to create themes with professional looks and flair, get the essential tool for designing desktop icons and animated cursors: Microangelo. This great tool can create 256-color icons up to 64x64 and import bitmaps. In addition, you can browse existing icon libraries and set almost every cursor in Win95 to your own choices. Drop by the Microangelo Homepage for detailed explanations of each of the five separate programs contained within the shareware version. Highly recommended!  Download WinZip 6.3 (692 K): In order to unzip the majority of Plus! themes available on the WWW, you will need a utility capable of handling long file names. The shareware zip program of choice is WinZip. Visit the WinZip Homepage for more info.  Download Disappear (4 K): Sometimes the color of the desktop may interfere with a great-looking wallpaper. To make the background of the desktop icon names transparent, download this cool little utility. You'll still see the names, of course, but the background will be gone! Theme Sites, Startup Screens, and more  The Theme Doctor: The doctor is in! The Theme Doctor, that is, with his theme site featuring reviews of themes! See what you're getting into before you download. You won't simply find "4 stars" ratings; the Doc reviews each theme in terms of its high and low points in an honest and straight-forward manner. All themes have feature JPEG's of the wallpaper image, file size, and links to the creator's homepage (if known). Highly recommended!  DreamTheme: Billed as the "original theme review page," Dream Theme has reviews from several different people, including the Web Master, Isak Bergdahl. Similiar to the Theme Doctor (above), the site offers honest opinions of themes and doesn't hold back when a theme is below par (for example, DUDE®'s Little Mermaid wallpaper...). As far as theme sites go, this is one of the best! Highly recommended!  Desktop Heaven: Now from its new home and redesigned. I can't say I'm thrilled about the new look: an odd little TV screen for previews and non-resizable frames... It may look cool, but it's not very functional. However, the most valuable aspect of this excellent theme site is the number of alternate download sites for the themes. For example, DUDE®'s 12 Monkeys Theme is available from four sites! Recommended, but I preferred the old look.  XRX Animated Boot Logo Collection: Had enough cloud gazing? If you're tired of seeing Bill Gates' happy logo and clouds every time you start Win95, try this great site for replacement animated startup screens. There are 100's of FREE animated logo.sys files here, some very professionally done. In addition, find two great utilities: one, for both creating your own animated logos and for viewing logo.sys files without rebooting; and two, an excellent tool for adding a scrolling bar to any suitably-sized bitmap. You'll even find very detailed instructions on creating your own logo screens from scratch. Highly recommended!  Windows 95 Theme Collection: DUDE® almost gave this site a "Highly recommended!" simply because of the sheer number of themes available. However, quantity doesn't necessarily mean quality and this theme site is lacking. Although you'll find many, many themes here, there are no wallpaper previews and only a bare-minimum of a description (half of the themes are even lacking descriptions though). However, one plus is that, unlike most theme sites, there are a number of adult themes here.  Dierk's List of Animated Cursors: A HUGE (137 MB) collection of 6,600 animated cursors for virtually any desktop theme you can conceive of. The selections are mostly FREEware and have brief descriptions as well. You'll also find cursor and animated gif utilities. Billed as "the largest cursor collection on the Internet," Dierk certainly delivers!  Dawson's Creek Desktop Enhancements: If you like the TV show Dawson's Creek, drop by this excellent site for all things concerning the show, including themes, wallpapers, a screen saver, and a variety of icon packs. You can even get replacement calculators for Windows featuring the cast of Dawson's Creek! The site is well done by an enthusiastic fan of the show. Drop by! Total visitors since 11/4/96: © 1998, DUDE® (a.k.a. Kevin Kannenberg)