In the pre-release versions of Windows 8, users could set different colors for window borders and the taskbar. For some reasons, Microsoft has removed this nice feature from the final RTM build (9200), and now users can’t have two different colors for the taskbar and window borders.
On Wednesday of last week, we showed you how to set different colors for the taskbar and window borders in Windows 8 by tweaking default settings in Windows Registry. The only downside of the workaround is that it automatically assigns white color to window borders and users can’t change this to a different color.
For users who want to set two different custom colors to both window borders and the taskbar, we have a smart workaround. We are going to use a free tool named Taskbar Color Effects. With the help of this tool, you can set your favorite color to the taskbar as well as window borders.
For instance, you can set blue color to window borders and read to the taskbar. Yes, it’s the same tool that we have used in our how to set custom image as taskbar background in Windows 8 guide.
Here is how to use Taskbar Color Effects tool:
Step 1: Download Taskbar Color Effects zip file, extract the file to get a folder named Taskbar Color Effects. The tool was developed for Windows 7 but works fine on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8 versions.
Step 2: Open up the folder, right-click on Taskbar Color Effects executable, click Run as administrator to open the program with admin privileges.
Step 3: If you can’t see the tool in the taskbar, double-click on the Taskbar Color Effects icon in the system tray.
Step 4: Select a custom color for your taskbar and then click Save button. You are done!
Please note that closing Taskbar Color Effects will make the custom color disappear from the taskbar. So, don’t close the program unless you want to have same color for both taskbar and window borders.
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