How to change the look of NetBeans.
   

NetBeans 6.0 or higher

To change the look of NetBeans you have to edit the netbeans.conf file. You can find this file in the XXX/netbeans/etc folder where XXX stands for the relative path of your NetBeans installation. Open this file in a text editor and change the following line 
netbeans_default_options="-J-client -J-Xss2m -J-Xms32m -J-XX:PermSize=32m -J-Dapple.laf.useScreenMenuBar=true -J-Dapple.awt.graphics.UseQuartz=true -J-Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -J-Dsun.zip.disableMemoryMapping=true"

to 
netbeans_default_options="-J-client -J-Xss2m -J-Xms32m -J-XX:PermSize=32m -J-Dapple.laf.useScreenMenuBar=true -J-Dapple.awt.graphics.UseQuartz=true -J-Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -J-Dsun.zip.disableMemoryMapping=true --laf com.jtattoo.plaf.texture.TextureLookAndFeel --fontsize 12"

Copy the JTattoo.jar file into the XXX/netbeans/platform/lib folder.


NetBeans 4.0 / 5.0

To change the look of NetBeans you have to edit the netbeans.conf file. You can find this file in the XXX/netbeans/etc folder where XXX stands for the relative path of your NetBeans installation. Open this file in a text editor and change the following line 
netbeans_default_options="-J-Xms32m -J-Xmx128m -J-XX:PermSize=32m -J-XX:MaxPermSize=96m -J-Xverify:none"

to 
netbeans_default_options="-J-Xms32m -J-Xmx128m -J-XX:PermSize=32m -J-XX:MaxPermSize=96m -J-Xverify:none -laf com.jtattoo.plaf.smart.SmartLookAndFeel"

Copy the JTattoo.jar file into the XXX/netbeans/platform5/lib folder.


NetBeans before 4.0

To change the look of NetBeans you have to edit the ide.cfg file. You can find this file in the XXX/netbeans/bin folder where XXX stands for the relative path of your NetBeans installation. Open this file in a text editor and change respectively insert the following line 
-ui com.jtattoo.plaf.aluminium.AluminiumLookAndFeel

Copy the JTattoo.jar file into the XXX/netbeans/lib folder.

Next time you start NetBeans you will be suprised.