Windows 7: Window appearance odd?

Hey guys.

I'm currently running a Windows7 HP 64bit. I updated from Vista64bit. My computer was only about a week old when I updated, so I just did the "upgrade" instead of doing a clean install.

Now, I made and ISO of the installer (I did the online student upgrade download) using vLite and did a clean install of Windows 7 in Virtual Box (just wanted to check to make sure the ISO I made actually worked [I plan on using it to do a clean install on a new Dell laptop]).

I've noticed an odd difference in appearance between Windows7 running in my Virtual Box and Windows 7 running "native". Check out this screen shot:



The active window (bottom left) is the window running in Virtual box (from a clean install). The window in the background (upper right) is the window of my real OS.

Notice that the min, restore and X buttons are separated (with some space between) in the virtual box window while the buttons in my real OS do not have any space between? What's that all about?

Key points:
Virtual box install was "clean" install (from an ISO made from an "upgrade" installer)
Real OS install was "upgrade" from Vista
Visual appearance is the only thing that seems different between them.

Thanks for any comments or feedback you might have!

Different themes maybe, or Aero working in one but not in the other?

Hey edude,

The difference between the two windows you show is simple; One is using the Windows Aero theme, and the other is on Windows Basic. I'm not sure if Aero is not supported in Virtual Box, or whether your installation simply defaulted to Windows Basic for some reason.


e: beaten

This is actually becoming stranger and stranger! I am using the United States theme in both my virtual windows7 and my real OS.

In my virtual box Windows 7, I went to "personalize" -> "window color" and this is the window I got!



Of course, this isn't right! When I go to "window color" in my real OS, I get this window:



ODD indeed!

Definatly Basic on you VM, and Aero on your PC,

When you say "Basic" you just mean a basic appearance theme, right? Could this be caused by my not dedicating enough memory to the VM for graphics? I'll try allocating some more.

A new question arises, now: am I at risk of having this problem when I do a clean install using the same ISO on my new laptop or do we think this is being caused by either lack of VM support or lack of sufficient video memory for the VM?

Thanks

Some VMs don't support Aero...
That's it no mystic

Ok. Just to settle this. I did a little research and it looks like it's confirmed that Sun VirtualBox does not support Aero because it does not support DirectX.

Solved.

Thanks everyone above.