The default Windows Server 2008 R2 desktop environment differs from the Windows 7 look and feel with a more basic desktop. To enhance the user experience without over utilising Aero features that would compromise bandwidth utilisation the following Custom Visual Effects can be enabled:
- Smooth edges of screen fonts
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
This will replace the square Start button with the Orb used in Windows 7.
Install the Desktop Experience feature:
servermanagercmd.exe -install Desktop-Experience
Restart the server
Set the Themes service to Automatic and start the service:
sc config Themes start= auto
sc start Themes
Add the following registry entries to the user profile:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"DragFullWindows"="0"
"DragHeight"="4"
"DragWidth"="4"
"FontSmoothing"="2"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"UserPreferencesMask"=hex:90,12,03,80,10,00,00,00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"MinAnimate"="0"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VisualEffects]
"VisualFXSetting"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ListviewAlphaSelect"=dword:00000000
"ListviewShadow"=dword:00000000
"TaskbarAnimations"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance]
"NewCurrent"=""
"Current"=""
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]
"ThemeActive"="1"
"DllName"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
74,00,25,00,5c,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,5c,\
00,54,00,68,00,65,00,6d,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,41,00,65,00,72,00,6f,00,5c,00,\
41,00,65,00,72,00,6f,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,73,00,74,00,79,00,6c,00,65,00,73,\
00,00,00
As per CTX124407 the following registry entries may also be required for seamless applications:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager]
"ColorName"="NormalColor"
"SizeName"="NormalSize"
(courtesy Jeremy Saunders)