When the ZIP file download completes, you’ll need to extract the contents.
This will cause the files to be extracted into your Downloads directory.
Want to use the desktop interface instead of the command line?
Jordan Gloor / How-To Geek
Just open your file net web client and look for the downloaded ZIP file.
It should be named something like “Windows-10-3.2.1.zip”.
Double-click it to bring up the extraction dialog, which will look different depending on your distribution and DE.
Regardless, there should be a noticeable “Extract” button for you to click.
In our example, it’s in the top-left corner of the dialog.
Copy the directory, and with it in your clipboard, move back to your home folder.
At this point, you’ll need to make hidden files visible in your file web client.
you might usually find this setting in the View drop-down menu, as is the case in Nemo.
They’re available from the same project, but ina separate icons repository.
Again, download the ZIP file for the latest release and unzip it like you did the theme pack.
Copy the unzipped contents, and this time paste it into the .icons folder in your home directory.
On my system, the folder already existed, but you may have to create it yourself.
Then we need to choose the Windows 10 theme for every category available.
To get this ability in Cinnamon, I needed to click “Advanced parameters.”
Again, the interface will look different depending on precisely your distro and DE.
smack the button in each category to launch the options.
The finishing touch is of coursethe classic Windows 10 background.
There’s a large collection of the older oneson Imgur.
I wanted the lighter blue version of the glass pane one, which I foundat 4K Wallpapers.
We’re now looking a lot better, but some things are a bit off.
The taskbar in particular doesn’t look quite right.
Keep in mind these themes can only go so far in cloning Windows 10.
And I can also get the My Computer icon and others on my desktop.
If you right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Customize > Desktop configs.
Just toggle on the ones you want.
Now my Cinnamon desktop is looking pretty good.
In my experience, these tend to be hit-and-miss.
Icons may be missing.
In fact, they sometimes just download the same theme pack I showed you how to download manually.
So, when they work, community themes can be awesome.
Plus, this can work on desktop environments that don’t support GTK theming, like KDE Plasma.
hit the download button next to the one you want.
You may have to scroll to find it.
Select it and, if all went well, you’ve got your Windows 10 theme.
I added a classic Windows 10 background myself.
As you’re free to see, though, there are none of those recognizable icons.
At least on Cinnamon, you’ll have to manually install them, which I walked through above.
You may want to make the extra tweaks I outlined above too.
Why Clone Windows 10 With Linux?
For me, the unconventional interface some desktop environments bring is part of the appeal of switching to Linux.
There’s also the nostalgia factor.
