Introduction
At a first glance, you may dismiss SIRO as a theme which isn’t close enough to the Aqua theme to suit you. However, given a closer look the theme really grows on you and the combination of subtle greys and the turquoise blue highlighting combines to create a uniquely compelling effect. SIRO is, as many themes are, ported across from the original created for Max OSX. An added plus for SIRO is that it is currently available as both a Windowblinds theme, and an MsStyle. Whether it’s a theme which you will you will use for months to come is a decision you’ll have to make for yourself. Read on for the rest of the review…

First Impressions
To be perfectly honest, the first impressions I had of SIRO were fairly negative. I didn’t think it was a theme I could see myself using for any length of time, and I didn’t like the ‘fluorescent’ turquoise highlighting colours. However, after using it for a couple of hours, the theme really started to grow on me. I found that the colours I thought at first were a little tacky changed completely to look stylish, and almost contemporary.

The grey metallic colour looks fairly plain, but the subtle highlighting of various elements (underneath the tabs and start menu etc) seemed to look as though an element lit up when you clicked on it. It’s a strange effect, but it works really well.

Usability
I have no complaints whatsoever with SIRO’s usability. I primarily used the WindowBlinds version when testing the theme, and everything worked flawlessly. The start menu looks excellent, and the colours contrast each other very well to make everything easy to read. I particularly like the highlighting underneath the Apple logo on the start menu when clicked.

The taskbar is a simple, slightly glossy affair, and looks excellent. The system tray expand/collapse also works fine. The Shell Style also looks excellent, and fits in very well with the rest of the theme. The same maximise/minimise buttons are used. One very minor complaint I have with the maximise/minimise buttons in general throughout the theme is that it is not possible to tell them apart, and because they are quite small, you may find yourself clicking the wrong buttons at first.

One aspect of the theme that I really like is the scrollbars (shown in the header image). I think these look stunning, and the combination of the turquoise and grey is great. The same can be said for the progress bar (with WindowBlinds) when copying/moving files etc, which uses a very similar effect.

Extras
Notable extras with the MsStyle include the LucidaGrande font included in the package, as well as the Shell Style which comes with the theme. The WindowBlinds version comes with two different variations, a standard theme with a line under the titlebar, and a ‘Finder’ version, with no line (this could be used as a per application theme for explorer.exe). There are, however, lots of skins on the internet relating to this theme. One notable skin is CRNI’s ObjectBar theme (http://free-st.htnet.hr/crni/).

Conclusion
I went from being very sceptical about SIRO, to thinking it is one of the best themes available. The subtlety of the various highlighting aspects, and the simple combination of colours is very pleasing to the eye. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting a simple theme, who doesn’t want to have their eye’s bombarded with too many colours. A welcome change from the standard Aqua themes around.

WindowBlinds
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MsStyle
Download @ DeviantArt

Credits:
DSKY - Original author of the SIRO Guikit (http://homepage.mac.com/dsky/guikit.html).
Bzeitler - SIRO ported to WindowBlinds by bzeitler.
Megumi - SIRO ported to MS Visual Style by Megumi