It seems that Microsoft’s allowing users to create custom theme packs has made a lot of enthusiasts come out with their own combination. Add to that the highly useful Federated Search using which can be used search to website databases, there a lot of connectors & themes already doing rounds. The are 14 connectors in the pack, wherein I created 1 for searching the Microsoft Support & the MSDN database, amongst others:
Federated Search Sources:
Federated Search allows you to search for content on websites from right within Explorer itself. Creating a Federated Search add-on for a particular website is also a piece of cake.
The pack below contains Search Connectors for:
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Microsoft Support
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MSDN Database
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Twitter
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Youtube
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Wikipedia
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Flickr
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isohunt.com
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Deviantart
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Google Blog Search
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Google
- Yahoo
- Live.com
I created 2 connectors for my friends as well:
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WinVistaClub
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AskVG.com
NOTE: All connectors aren’t created by me.
To Create Search Connectors:
You can create your own Search Connectors by following these steps:
Name of your choice Create your own connectors sitename.com&num=10&format=rss”/> sitename.com&format=rss”/>
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Copy & paste the text in a text file.
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Replace the text in blue with the desired.
- Change the number of results by changing the value 10.
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Save the file & change the extension to .osdx
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You’re done.
Themes:
One feature that makes a come-back post Vista is themes.
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Paul Thurrot, created 5 theme packs:
Here are some themes I’ve created for Windows 7:
To Create Theme Packs:
Customize the highlighted areas in the image below as to what you want then right click on the Unsaved Theme and select Save theme for sharing. Screen shot:
~Enjoy
