A friend of mine uses the Windows Vista transformation pack.
This makes everything from icons to boot screen resemble Vista.
http://www.jcxp.net/vtp/
What I am am after however is basically the normal XP with just the taskbar and start menu changed. Googling Royal noir gets you a Micorsoft theme that is slightly black but not totally black. I also don't like them to be too glass looking. It's over used.
Kryogenik, it would be great to see your theme, thanks.