Paying Tribute to Adni18 and All of His Creations
The best of the best.
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 by bdsams | Discussion: WinCustomize News
When it comes to customizing Windows, there are those who install skins and then there are those who create them. Making a skin for WindowBlinds, a wallpaper for your desktop, or new Start button design takes not only time but serious talent.
This past week we became aware that one of the most talented contributors to the WinCustomize community, Adni18 (Nikos) has passed away. His contributions to this website and the broader community cannot be understated and I would go far enough to say that nearly everyone reading this post likely utilized one of his creations at some point.
The creative talents of Adni18, that you can view here, spanned several generations of Windows that reached all the way back to 2001. Below, I have pulled together a few of his most popular creation and a few timeless classics as well because the best way to remember someone, especially as talented as Adni18, is to appreciate his contributions to the community many of us hold so close to our hearts.
Vista Plus – With 1 million+ downloads, Vista Plus, a skin designed for modern versions of Windows but makes them look like Vista. This skin is a highly polished experience that pays tribute to a more creative time in the world of Windows. And based on how things are going, this style is returning in popularity and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it hit two million downloads.
Windows Zero – Another highly popular creation and one that I ran personally, Windows Zero is a clean and minimal expression for the desktop that has a feeling of airiness to it.
Windows X Icons – The first icon package shared with the world, all the way back in 2001. At 24 years old, the icon pack was the start of something special and thankfully many of us were here to be part of that small fragment of history.
Moon Shadow – Before dark themes were a popular trend, Moon Shadow set the standard for a darker side of Windows with a complete theme from top to taskbar.
Wolf – WindowsXP is where many found the community (myself included) and one of the unique things was customizing the boot screen. With a limited color palette available, Adni18 did some incredible work to make turning your PC on just a little bit more enjoyable.
These are only five examples of the thousands of creations Nikos provided to the community. There is really no easy way to truly express all of his creativity and dedication to making your Windows installation a more personalized experience as he spent thousands of hours not only making these creations, but refining them based on feedback.
As we mourn the loss of one of the most talented creators this community has ever seen, take a few minutes and install a skin, add a wallpaper to your collection or update your icons as this is what Nikos would have wanted – he will be missed dearly but his creations will live forever.
Reply #2 Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:09 PM
Words fail, but this loss of a friend and huge artistic talent which shaped this community will be felt by all for a long time to come. Brad, thanks for this post honoring adni18, Master skinner and great person, Nickolaos Adamamas, D.D.S.
Hopefully we'll be able to live up to his kind and generous friendship and his high set bar of artistic ability.
Reply #3 Wednesday, August 20, 2025 2:53 PM
I'm currently using A-CELESTIAL.
Will be going through my catalog for quite awhile.
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Reply #1 Wednesday, August 20, 2025 12:02 PM
His artwork is truly the best. I will always remember and miss him.