Unfortunately, some assembly is required. One hack site lists the items that worked for them, specifically a GTK theme, an icon set, a cursor, and some other items.

You can see a screenshot of their work below. It’s not a perfect match; the sidebar is there, a familiar Vista theme is present, but the familiar Linux top menu bar also exists as well as, oddly enough, a MacOS-like dock.

Still, it does show the magnificent power of Linux to be dressed up in many, many highly personalised ways which can suit anybody’s manner of working or preferences for a user interface.

Meanwhile, UbuntuGeek tackle it also, focusing specifically on Ubuntu and explaining how to give it the makeover. They provide clear step by step instructions as they lead you through obtaining an appropriate font, an Aero-like GNOME theme and an icon set.

You are then walked through modifying GNOME’s panels as well as implement a Start button and locate wallpaper.

For those who have a different view on Ubuntu, the Xubuntu Blog lead you through this same objective for Xubuntu which uses the lesser-known, but still very popular, Xfce desktop manager.

The end result is very impressive, including Vista’s flipped Windows-Tab method of switching through running apps. Be aware, the steps listed aren’t necessarily for the inexperienced because there are some config file modifications required within a text editor. But then, if you’re using Xubuntu you most likely aren’t a novice anyway.

So that’s that! You can see Linux is remarkably versatile and offers no end of flexibility to adjust your operating environment. You might have any of a number of reasons to dress up Linux like MacOS, Windows XP, Windows Vista or something entirely different.

The reason I’ve put forth here is to aid others in transitioning to Linux and I believe that’s a worthy objective in its own right.