This isn't an XML question (which is the purpose of this newsgroup),
perhaps you were confusing XML with "XLS", the file format used in
Excel.

OK so now you're here : If you go to the icons you're unhappy with,
Right-Click on each one (use the right rather than left mouse mutton
to click the icon), and choose the Properties menu item

Now, go to Shortcut tab, then Change Icon...

See if any of the several icons shown are more appropriate for your
vision. If none of them are, you may wish to select from the "Old"
icons package. You'll have to browse to it though :

With the Change Icon screen active,  click Browse.

Now go to the folder C:/Windows/System32 and (slowly) scroll through
the files until you reach one called "moricons.dll"

Click that and you'll be presented with a large list of 16-colour
icons. Right at the *very end* of that list on the right, are
16-colour icons for Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access

If all else fails, try looking in windows Help & Support menu on your
PC, for "accessibility" and especially High Contrast. You can access
those display options from the Control Panel in XP, under
"Accessibilty Options" then the Display tab, to select High Contrast
and one of the colour schemes.

Cheers - Neil


On Thu, 2 Nov 2006 14:43:02 -0800, unhappycamper
<unhappycamper@d...> wrote:

>In Office 97 the Desktop and Toolbar icons for WORD and EXCEL are brightly 
>colored and sharp.  
>
>In Office 2003 the Desktop and Toolbar icons' colors are soft and pastel and 
>the icon images have a matte finish (having little or no contrast).
>
>Since there are now 37 of us that use Office 2003 that are over 55 and our 
>vision is not what it was when we were 18, it would be nice to have icons and 
>other visual artifacts in Office that are easy to discern.  (Or did I miss 
>the point that this is really an eye test?)
>
>So, are there options and/or settings that I can use to get Office 2003, and 
>ONLY Office 2003, Desktop and Toolbar icons more brightly colored and sharper?
------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2006
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs