Windows 7’s dynamic themes are quietly retired

Ron

Windows 7's dynamic themes are quietly retired

Themes are just one of the ways in which you can personalize the look of your copy of Windows, and back in Windows 7 Microsoft launch dynamic themes. These were largely the same as regular themes, but had one important difference — images would change on a cycle, giving you a more interesting and diverse desktop. But sadly, this is the case no more. Dynamic themes have been “retired”, although there has been no official announcement about it.

If you head over to the Microsoft website and try to download one of the dynamic themes — such as the Sky theme — you’ll find that it’s no longer available. The page doesn’t 404, but displays a message that reads:

“This theme has been retired. Please check out our list of similar themes below or visit the Windows themes gallery for our entire theme selection.”

In a statement made to WindowsObserver.com, Microsoft said “RSS themes were retired from Windows.com due to a need for efficiencies. Customers can maintain themes already downloaded to their PC but won’t receive new images.”

Will you mourn the demise of dynamic themes? Is there a third party tool that you might use instead?