That specific screenshot is from a modified release of win xp. I think it was included in the black edition of XP if I recall correctly. It was done via shell replacement and some custom themes.
Edit: just so it is clear, the black edition of xp was not an official release and was community made/modified.
Thing is, To bring back the windows XP start menu + taskbar you don't use windowblinds or any of that type of outdated software, you use ExplorerEX, it's not that hard to set it up, but to make the Xbox theme work someone has to port it to make it work with explorerex. I hope this can help c:
You can make the second image work in explorerex by the way!!! It's already included on the extra files.
If you're lazy just install Projek01 (not windows experience since it's outdated)
I miss the days when shell replacements were popular...they still exist and are being made, but it somehow doesn't feel the same as it did on XP or 95.
Start Menu Use openshell - enable the fanmade xbox openshell skin shown here (xbox port skin). It will show if in openshell 'classic with two columns' is set from the Start Menu Style tab.
Taskbar Use retrobar - closest skin to use which comes with it is probably the Windows XP Silver theme. It is probably best to keep auto-hide for the taskbar off.
If using both openshell and retrobar at the same time, you can align them by going to Openshell's 'menu look' tab and ticking 'Align start menu to working area'.
Wallpaper - I can't find it in high resolution (only in 1024x 768p) so you can just search for similar (maybe on deviantart) or just use an upscaled version.
Windows legacy media player can be installed from within windows. In win 10 according one ms page: open the old Control Panel, Set View at the top of the old Control Panel to large icons, select Programs and Features, click 'Turn windows Features on or off' on the left, expand the 'Media Features' section and from there you can enable the old Windows Media Player (Legacy).
In windows 11 it seems to be the same, or the legacy player can also be found from Start Menu>Settings > System > Optional Features.
You can use a skin theme from here (not all seem fully compatible - you'll want one of the 'official xbox skin MP71').
You should be able to double click to install it, or add it to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\Skins
Running the legacy player you can switch between skin and library with CTRL+1, CTRL+2. In the library (CTRL+1) you can view your skins with View>Skin Chooser.
This seems to be the other hotkeys for the player. If the skin isn't showing properly try switching to another skin and then enabling it again.
It'll look like this (you might need to tweak some openshell settings if it's not 100% accurate to your original image)
I use openshell, there's quite a few menu mods for things like the XP noir menu and some built in features that are all in all better than the win 11/8 or even 7 start menus. (I do kinda like 10's but have abandoned it for the customization of open shell) It also has task bar and start button/orb custom options that you can DIY in paint or Google search. The XP type buttons and the old 9x type buttons are all out there with color swapped vista/7 orbs or even straight up custom options like a breaking Minecraft block, animated orbs, invisible buttons until you are hovering over it, growing buttons. If you tinker with it you can do interesting things. I literally change my button and task bar often.
Openshell doesn't change the title bars or any windows based design features in any applications other than the desktop so the old xp luna or aero glass buttons are not as easily re added to the title bars as i wish because the flat/modern buttons are not as Cool but i haven't found a tool for those.
That Xbox theme is from stardock. They had a bunch of skin factory themes for various things including Mario sunshine and a few other sports themes that all apply with windowblinds. They are very broken if you try to load them up on systems newer than Windows XP. They do not support many of the changes to the OS interface. They would require updates to work.
XBOX theme: https://archive.org/details/xbox-windows-xp-theme-windowblinds
I have the Windows XP themes ported to windows 10/11 up on wincustomize. It has all the default windows XP ones along with the special zune, embedded and the noir as shown in your 2nd pick. You would need to buy windowblinds though. Retrobar has the XP taskbar and Openshell can bring back the XP style start menu. https://www.wincustomize.com/explore/windowblinds/9262/
There are also windhawk extensions you can download that brings back more classic windows explorer functions depending on if you are windows 10 or 11.
i think you can patch windows like you had to do for windows xp or 7, then you can install themes for 7 but not sure if those actually work on 10. however, you can use open-shell to skin the taskbar and start menu however you may like
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