1. New Features:

This release is a cumulative update to the previous two beta releases, 1.0.9.8 and 1.0.9.9.

1. Windows 9x Support!

• WinPaletter can now run on Windows 98 SE and Windows Me through dotnet48-win98 by @11EJDE11 and KernelEx.
• Windows 95 is not supported.

• Requires .NET Framework 4.8 (dotnet48-win98), KernelEx 4.5.2+, GDI+ (gdiplus_dnld.exe), an SSE2-capable CPU and 512 MB of RAM or more (1 GB+ with Windows 9x RAM Patches are recommended).
• Known limitations: random crashes, OutOfMemoryException, no network features (updates, Store, GitHub Manager), no Explorer restart or log off, no restore points, and MS Sans Serif cannot be displayed or edited correctly.
• Tip: apply one aspect at a time instead of a full theme.
• 📖 Setup guide

2. Application Improvements:

1. Icons Studio:

• Added drive icons (CD/DVD, floppy, and network drives) to the Drives tab. These are not new icons, but they are now remapped there #256.
• Fixed an issue where the reset buttons in the Drives tab did not reset the icons to their defaults.
• Improved form-opening responsiveness.

2. Miscellaneous:

• Updated dependencies and references.
• Slightly improved startup speed, though the difference is not noticeable.
• Application's UI: Dark mode fonts dialog picker (to make WinPaletter's UI more consistent with applied mode)

3. Bugs Fixes:

1. Fixed messy Windows Terminal bugs:

• Fixed settings not being saved at all.
• Fixed the new dynamic Background/Foreground settings for Windows Terminal causing WinPaletter to not open. #258
• Fixed the Terminal Preview config JSON file being saved as the stable JSON, causing misconfiguration.
• Fixed incorrect titlebar preview scheme (dark/light) in Windows Terminal.
• Improved simulation rendering.

2. Miscellaneous:

• Attempted a blind fix for the Windows Switcher (Alt+Tab) customizer crash. #260
• Attempted a blind fix for a crash when opening WinPaletter. After enough “Try continuing” presses it opened, but the window was fully black and unresponsive. #263
• Fixed parsing of LF-delimited theme color files. #265 by @dajiaohuang
• Fixed an inoperable, blank color picker form when DPI scaling is above 100%. #254 #257
• Fixed a freeze that could occur when forcing Windows to refresh accents through User32.UpdatePerUserSystemParameters and User32.SendMessage. #262 by @geneReeves, #255

1. New Features:

1. WinPaletter Vault:

Overview:

Vault serves as a fallback mechanism designed to re-apply the user's selected Windows accent and personalization settings whenever session-change events incorrectly reset them to default values.

Functionality:

It ensures visual preferences are consistently restored following Windows logon or unlock events.

Recommendation:

Users should enable this feature exclusively when experiencing applied accents reverting back to default during active session changes.

Bug Fixes:

Helps resolve GitHub issues (Certain WinPaletter classic colors do not remain after a lock screen) #247 and #231.

Accessibility:

In Settings → Theme Applying Behaviour → Vault. Quick links and controls are also accessible directly from the Windows Theme, Classic Colors, and Metrics & Fonts troubleshoots tabs.

Screenshot 1	Screenshot 2

2. System Restore Points Manager

System Restore Points UI Integration:

Added a form to manage system restore points created by WinPaletter directly within WinPaletter.

Restore Point Overview:

Displays a detailed list of restore points including name, sequence number, and creation date/time.

Create Restore Points:

Ability to manually create new system restore points with custom names.

Delete Functionality::

Either individual selected or all restore points created by WinPaletter.

Screenshot 3	Screenshot 4

3. Classic Colors

Minor design refresh

Screenshot 5	Screenshot 6

Fix visual bug: WindowFrame color controls tooltip borders

Screenshot 7

Troubleshooter Relocation:

The troubleshooter has been moved from Settings → Theme applying behavior → Classic Colors directly into the Classic Colors form for easier access. It updates HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\DefaultColors\Standard to resolve the Ctrl+Alt+Del color reset issue (addressing GitHub issues #247 and #231), which is also addressed by the WinPaletter Vault feature.

Screenshot 8

New schemes:

High Contrast: Crimson Red, High Contrast: Solar Flare, High Contrast: Neon Orange, High Contrast: Retro Amber, High Contrast: Amber Terminal, High Contrast: Neon Yellow, High Contrast: Lemon Lime, High Contrast: Neon Green, High Contrast: Toxic Green, High Contrast: Terminal, High Contrast: Green Phosphor CRT, High Contrast: Neon, High Contrast: Cyberpunk, High Contrast: Arctic White, High Contrast: Electric Blue, High Contrast: Proton Purple, High Contrast: Neon Violet, High Contrast: Synthwave, High Contrast: Neon Pink, High Contrast: Magenta, High Contrast: Cherry Blossom, High Contrast: Plasma, High Contrast: Plasma Burst, High Contrast: Solarized, Volcanic Eruption 3D, Spice Market 3D, Autumn Forest 3D, Sahara Sunset Hybrid, Lemonade Stand Flat, Carnival Hybrid, Watermelon Fresh Flat, Fruit Basket Hybrid, Tropical Punch Hybrid, Sunset Boulevard Flat, Midnight Jazz 3D, Desert Mirage Flat, Golden Era 3D, Alien Biome Hybrid, Neon Tokyo Hybrid, Neon Synthwave 3D, Neon Noir, Electric Storm Hybrid, Bubblegum Pop 3D, Miami Vice Flat, Deep Space 3D, Ocean Sunset Hybrid, Frost Bite Flat, Mountain Mist Flat, Mermaid Lagoon Flat, Enchanted Forest 3D, Cyberpunk 2077 3D, Galactic Core Hybrid, Retro Arcade 3D, Cerulean Sky 3D, Crimson Flat, Forest Canopy Hybrid, Sunset Orange 3D, Lavender Mist Flat, Golden Hour Hybrid, Ocean Depth 3D, Mint Frost Flat, Berry Hybrid, Charcoal Smoke 3D, Peach Sorbet Flat, Slate Storm Hybrid, Emerald 3D, Amber Glow Flat, Plum Velvet Hybrid, Solarized Light, Ice Blue, Baby Blue, Arctic, Steel Blue, Denim, Summer Ocean, Winter Frost, Executive Navy, Midnight Blue, Ocean Depth, Deep Sea, Jade, Mint, Mint Cream, Sage Serenity, Fern, Forest Executive, Forest, Pine, Sage, Olive, and Hacker Green.

Screenshot 9	Screenshot 10

4. Windows Version redirection

Accessibility:

Settings → Theme Applying Behaviour

Aim:

This allows WinPaletter to apply customization rules based on a selected Windows edition profile. This is useful for Windows mods and transformations that make Windows 11/10 look and behave like older versions such as Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.

5. Settings new options:

- Limit update checks to once daily when WinPaletter is opened instead of checking every time WinPaletter is opened

- Automatically log in GitHub saved account when WinPaletter starts.

6. Windows XP LogonUI:

• Change logonUI.exe path for Windows XP

2. Application Improvements:

1. Winget Installation Support:

• Installing WinPaletter via Winget will no longer require the -l "unzip path" argument. Users will be able to simply run winget install Abdelrhman-AK.WinPaletter and use the alias winpaletter to launch the application directly (note that this feature will become available shortly after release, pending the Winget package upload).

2. Performance improvements:

2.1. Improve WallStudio memory usage and performance

Before	After

2.2. Making clicking "Load from Current Preferences" loads only the open aspect

And this is instead of loading a whole theme instance in memory, for lesser memory usage and better performance.

2.3. Exporting language JSON files is now significantly faster (almost immediate)

And this consumes less memory compared to the legacy method, which took over 10 seconds and had high memory usage.

Before	After

3. UI Improvements:

3.1. Native TaskDialog & Dark Mode: Fully implemented native TaskDialog support (removing the Ookii dependency) with complete dark mode integration, utilizing DarkTaskDialog-Native by @memoarfaa.

Before	After
	<im...

1. New Features:

1. WinPaletter GitHub Manager - Upload, manage and publish your themes to everyone!

• The GitHub Manager is a built-in feature in WinPaletter that allows you to manage your own themes directly from your GitHub account.
• It replaces the older, complex theme publishing workflow and makes managing and publishing themes significantly easier.
• Use it by your secondary GitHub account.
• You must read Wikis to fully understand how to use GitHub Manager. Click here for Wikis.

2. WinPaletter Store for Themes — New Experience

• The WinPaletter Store has been redesigned with a completely new experience (GitHub Manager), including a new Hybrid Sources mode (load Store from both online themes and your offline local themes, in one place).

• Further UI changes and improvements may be introduced in upcoming releases.

• → Learn more about new WinPaletter Store

3. WallStudio — Generate a Full Theme from an Image

• WallStudio is a new built-in feature that creates a complete WinPaletter theme from any image you choose. Select a wallpaper, photo, or artwork, and WallStudio will analyze it, extract dominant and complementary colors, then generate a full Windows theme based on that palette.
• Everything runs locally — no internet, no cloud, no external AI. Fully offline, fast, and under your control.
• → Learn more about WallStudio

4. Palette Generator — Redesigned and Improved

• → Learn more about the Palette Generator

5. New Effects in Palette Generator and WallStudio

A wide set of visual effects is now available to further refine generated palettes:

• Example in Palette Generator:

No effect	2016 Effect

• Example in WallStudio:

No effect	Hot	Cool	Hot + Cool

6. New WinPaletter Application Theme Schemes (80+ themes)

A massive collection of new built-in UI theme schemes:

Platform-inspired:
Default Dark, Default Light, AMOLED, Extreme White, Discord Dark, Discord Light, Edge Dark, Edge Light, Firefox Dark, GitHub Dark, GitHub Light, KDE Breeze Dark, KDE Breeze Light, LinkedIn Light, macOS Dark, macOS Light, Notion Dark, Notion Light, Reddit Dark, Reddit Light, Slack Dark, Spotify Dark, Steam Dark, Telegram Dark, Telegram Light, Twitch Dark, Twitter Dark, Twitter Light, Ubuntu, Visual Studio Dark, Visual Studio Light, WhatsApp Dark, WhatsApp Light, Windows 11 Dark, Windows ...

New features:

1. Animated Aero cursors from Windows Vista and 7, now fully customizable!

• This scheme recreates the look and feel of the classic Windows Vista\7 Aero cursors and allows you to customize their colors freely.
• For best results, change the animation speed to 20 by selecting the cursor, navigating to Busy rotating part, and then adjusting Animation speed.
• It’s recommended to use bright colors for the Busy background, as dark colors may cause accessibility issues.

2. Lock Screen Image Change Support (Windows 10/11)

• Lock screen image management has been extended to include Windows 10 and Windows 11.

2. Application Improvements:

1. Cursor schemes layout changed for better accessibility.

2. Log Viewer Removal

• The built-in Log Viewer has been removed.
• Log files can now be opened directly with text editors, providing more flexibility for inspecting, searching, and analyzing logs. This change also simplifies maintenance and reduces overhead.

3. Application log settings

A new settings section has been introduced, allowing users to control logging preferences — such as enabling/disabling registry.

4. Registry read/write enhancements (for developers only)

• Registry operations have been refined, which is useful for developers who have forked WinPaletter and work with the registry.

5. UI and General Enhancements

• Several small UI adjustments have been made to improve overall visual consistency.

6. Updated used dependencies.

3. Bugs fixes:

1- Fixed an issue where the log file remained in use after switching user accounts, preventing proper logging or cleanup.
2- Resolved a bug where attempting to log into a local account without a password triggered the Windows Credential UI dialog unnecessarily.
3- Fixed an issue where applying color effects resulted in all cursor files being replaced with the same cursor type as the selected cursor, instead of individually recolored versions.
4- Resolved a bug where the “Global” checkbox in Color Effects had no effect, causing all cursors to be recolored even when the option was not selected.
5- Corrected a problem with the WinPaletter Store Search functionality where results were not being filtering correctly.
6- Fixed an inconsistency in the Windows 10 Start Button vector color preview.
7- Fixed multiple UI layout bugs affecting Cursors Studio and the Wallpapers form, including control misalignment and inconsistent resizing behavior.
8- Resolved flickering issues in Mica title bars that occurred when the window gained or lost focus.
9- Fixed an issue that prevented Acrylic blur effects from rendering on WinPaletter forms running under Windows 10 systems.
10- Fixed a bug where message boxes did not display dark title bars when Dark Mode was enabled, leading to inconsistent appearance across dialogs.
11- Fixed missing color on extended title bars when the user enabled “Show accent color on title bars” in Windows 11 personalization settings.

Compare source code with:

Critical fix for Windows 10 – All windows and tabs become unusable due to an incorrect DWM drop-effect mechanism in Windows 10. Now it is fixed.

Bug fix: Some preview panels contained two unnecessary navigation buttons, which have now been removed.

Compare source code with:

New features:

1. Colors effects

• You can now change the color by applying a conversion effect.
• You can invoke this in one of three ways: by clicking a color item and navigating to the tabs, by opening the color item’s context menu, or by pressing the Color Effects button in the Aspect form (this option changes all colors at once).

Color picker	Context menu	Effects for all colors

• List of initially implemented effects:

2. Windows Theme Aspect

• Merged Windows Colors and Visual Styles into a new refreshed aspect called Windows Theme.
• More organized and easier to navigate with tabs.
• Rebranded and redesigned Windows logos (refreshed designs in various aspects).

3. Windows 8 Support

• Added full support for Windows 8 (Build 9200).

4. Wallpaper Aspect

• Simplified layout for quicker and easier usage.
• Reduced memory usage in the Wallpaper Aspect preview, making it much faster than before.

5. Cursors Studio Aspect

• Redesigned layout with clearer separation of options into tabs (Background, Border, Busy Circles, Shadow).
• New options: Border thickness and Animation speed.
• Cursor size rendering above 32px now uses a new scaling method → avoids overlapping between loading circles and the cursor shape itself.
• Added option to customize all cursors at once.

6. Command Prompt & PowerShell Aspect

• Improved layout with a cleaner, modern design.
• Added list box to Color Table group for syncing colors from Windows Terminal stable/preview color schemes.
• Drag-and-drop from the table into track bars is now supported.
• Fixed raster font rendering issues.
• Added live preview of color changes directly in a real Command Prompt instance.

7. Newly implemented context menu for colors:

• It is now redesigned with a familiar layout to avoid ambiguity and includes effects for quick actions.
• You can copy and paste colors into other applications—such as a HEX color in Paint.NET—from WinPaletter.

2. Application Improvements:

1. Added ability to delete Windows Terminal schemes/themes directly.

2. Removed SecureUxTheme installer wrapper (previously caused login-loop issues on Windows). Use the official SecureUxTheme installer instead #235.

3. Split LogonUI configurations so each Windows version now maintains its own configuration.

   • Example: Windows 10 no longer shares LogonUI settings with Windows 11.

4. Registry entries for Alarm and Ringtone sounds are no longer applied to unsupported systems (Windows 7 and below). Same applies to Windows XP’s NetMeeting and Speech Recognition (Vista and later only).

5. Added a notice: In Windows Switcher, the Classic NT scheme may cause the switcher to become invisible in Windows 11 24H2+. This behavior is intentional and comes from Microsoft’s implementation.

6. Improved Gaussian blur algorithm, resulting in better performance and lower memory usage.

7. Enhanced bitmap processing in previews (blurring, HSL, etc.).

8. Refined the layout of the palette extractor (Image + Color).

9. Minor improvements to the application’s light mode.

10. New colors formats (CSS, etc.).

11. Restored support for default Windows Terminal color schemes (e.g., Campbell, etc.).

• These schemes are no longer shipped by default in the JSON but WinPaletter can still load them.
• With addition of new schemes implemented by Microsoft.

12. Improved drag-and-drop functionality for color items—both between color items and between a color item and a tab—with an added label indicating the action that will occur when Ctrl, Alt, or Shift is held.

13. Dependencies

• Removed: ImageProcessor and ColorThiefDotNet (Implemented new and better methods inside WinPaletter's core.)
• Others are updated.

3. Bug Fixes

1. Fixed: Colors not being applied to the password box on the lock screen. #236
2. Fixed: Windows Terminal error when attempting to rename a scheme/theme.
3. Fixed: Incorrect label color in **Windows Switcher Classic NT previ...

WinPaletter is back!

This return release concentrates on cleaning up legacy issues and providing a better-honed experience. While significant new features are not anticipated, the goal is to place the project in a stable, workable condition.

New features:

1. System restore points

• Windows System Restore Points are snapshots of your system files and settings at a specific moment in time. They allow you to revert your system back to a previous, stable state if something goes wrong—without affecting your personal files. This feature is especially useful before making system-level changes, like installing drivers, updates, or customization tools.

• WinPaletter supports the creation of System Restore Points directly from within the app. Before applying any visual changes, you can create a restore point to ensure you have a safety net in case you need to undo the modifications. WinPaletter makes this process easy and integrated, helping you protect your system while you customize its appearance.

• You can also take a system restorepoint before applying a single aspect, by doing this:
  

2. New aspect: Accessibility

It consists of High Contrast (was formerly in Classic Colors) and Color Filters (was formely in Windows Effects)

3. Logging system:

WinPaletter Log for diagnostics. It is accessible in main form toolbar.

Application improvement:

1. User Profiles Switching:

• Switching to a user profile protected by a password now uses the Windows Security (Credentials) dialog for better security, instead of WinPaletter's own password prompt.

• Opening WinPaletter will no longer show a list of users; it will directly target the user who launched WinPaletter (mimicking Windows 10/11 login behavior). If you want to switch to another user in the current session, do so from the main form. (This method slightly improves startup speed, but you likely won’t notice the difference.)

• The option to continue without a password has been removed to avoid conflicts between two users (the target user and the user who opened WinPaletter).

2. Other improvements:

• The .NET Framework dependency has been upgraded from version 4.7.2 to 4.8, which is now required (not a problem to any user.)
• The "What's New" form has been removed (the GitHub releases page is a better alternative).
• Bug and crash report system redesigned, now includes the ability to save theme files.
• Added "Plus! 95 For Kids" CD schemes for classic colors, metrics, and fonts.
• Rescue tools renamed to SOS, with command line options: WinPaletter -f or WinPaletter --SOS.
• SOS mode will automatically activate when WinPaletter is opened in safe mode.
• When you download a theme from WinPaletter store, there is a check list of aspects will be edited. In this dialog, a button called "Proceed with all selected" is removed and replaced by two buttons "Check all" and "Uncheck all" to eliminate ambiguity.

• Improved default Windows themes; now all aspects will be restored correctly.
• Significant speed improvements in languages and the Language Editor.
• Startup speed has been slightly optimized.
• WinPaletter Store massive speed improvements.
• The "Save as theme" feature now recommends a filename based on the theme name instead of an empty string.
• Minor memory usage optimizations.
• Help button is placed into tab context menu
• UI minor refresh

Bugs fixes:

• Fixed store items not being downloaded and listed.
• Fixed an issue where pressing "Apply" in the Lighthouse at sunset theme store and then returning to the Windows previewer in the store caused an exception error.
• Fixed an issue where the store previewer did not show the wallpaper of a downloaded theme pack the first time in the current session, but displayed it correctly on subsequent attempts.
• Fixed an issue where the taskbar and Start menu showed a clipped, blurred portion of a different wallpaper if the theme had a wallpaper different from the current one.
• Skipping listing the WsiAccount user as it is part of system users.
• Closing the theme applying process form when Explorer is already killed now correctly restores Explorer.
• The Windows Effects alert dialog is now brought to the top. Previously, it was hidden behind the applying form, causing confusion that the applying process was not working.
• Fixed the magnifier with high DPI settings not centering correctly on the cursor position in classic colors.
• Fixed an issue where applying Classic Colors reset the cursors.
• Fixed icon label preview by correcting the shadow algorithm.
• Fixed exception errors when deleting store cache and logs in Settings > Storage Details.
• Fixed store classic colors preview that had incorrect fore colors.
• Fixed: closing Icons studio with drives tab selected threw an exception error.

Compare source code with:

A new update is pushed, as I am trying to finalize WinPaletter and fix issues as much as I can.

New feature: High contrast mode (a part of Classic Colors aspect) #40

It is introduced in a new tab in classic colors tabs. It is supported in Windows 8 and higher not lower. More instructions are written in their part in the application.

Application improvement:

Applying Windows 10 and 11 colors won't require a system logoff and logon, colors and preferences will be applied instantely, and fully applied after an explorer restart.

Bugs fixes:

• Fix WinPaletter Store showing areo lite scheme on preview when the theme is not using aero lite in Windows 11 and 10.
• Fixed black rectangle that is shown instead of aero glass effect in tabs in Windows Vista and 7.
• Icons and Visual Styles were not included in store items check, now they are fixed.
• Changing metrics and fonts scheme from the schemes list disabled the aspect, now it is fixed.
• Fix issue of loading Windows 11/10 colors with alpha channels equal 0 (completely transparent) while they should be opaque (255).
• Fix exception error that might occur on opening WinPaletter (control or object is in use elsewhere). If it happens again, you can safely ignore this error.
• Fix context menu of 9th color item in Windows 11/10 colors not opening.

Compare source code with:

Critical update

This update is pushed to fix an exception error that occurs when changing the cursor size, when the source is a file and not rendered by WinPaletter #230.

Compare source code with:

Critical update

This update is pushed to fix an exception error occured on substituting font Segoe UI and opening back WinPaletter #228 #229.

Application improvements:

• Change cursors sizes as you like in Windows 10 and higher #227.

Bugs fixes

• Wrong wiki (help) URL for cursors is fixed.

Compare source code with: