I am very interested to hear Brad's take on this. I'm sure most of us here have seen his copy/paste lecture on OS X themes more than a couple of times, now that themes can be applied without replacing the system files people will be more willing to try it.
I'm sure most of us here have seen his copy/paste lecture on OS X themes more than a couple of times, now that themes can be applied without replacing the system files people will be more willing to try it.
This doesn't have the danger of replacing system files, possibly with bad permissions and resources.
But here's the thing: APE is probably just as bad. It loads itself into the memory of applications, and modifies application while they run. If the modifications are NOT what the application expects, you can easily run into trouble. Personally, I wouldn't let APE anywhere near important computers. That said, I think this is great. You are changing the actual style of the User Interface, not just a few bitmaps.
You won't have to read Brad's copy/paste themes lecture.
You WILL have to read Brad's copy/paste Haxies lecture
Yeah, but the problems that occur with Application Enhancers are almost always annoying little problems causing little to no real harm, and fixed by de-activating the module. The problems that could arise with themes in OS X the old way were not small annoyances, but actualy problems from the Finder crashing a lot to the HIToolBox framework 'self-destructing' to the inability for the machine to fully boot up. And fixing it often meant that best case scenario you could try to fix it in single user mode with the command line, worst case meant getting out the OS X install discs...
You WILL have to read Brad's copy/paste Haxies lecture
Yeah, but unlike the copy/paste theme lecture, in which he harps on the fact that critical system files are deleted and such, with haxies he doesn't have nearly as convincing an argument. If I remember correctly, basically Brad says that haxies have been buggy for him in the past so he doesn't use them. But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
If you are manipulating important data on a computer with APE installed, and the application you are manipulating the data with is disrupted by APE, that important data can be damaged or destroyed.
There is always potential for catastrophic effects on any computer, and APE increases that potential, just like themes do.
Is reinstalling Mac OS X better or worse than losing, for instance, a big digital video project or a sales database?
SS requires APE fundamentally. Trying to use SS without APE would be like trying to run an application without an operating system.
APE latches onto an application at launch time, allowing programs like SS to modify that application at run time. The only alternative is modifying the resources that the Mac frameworks and APIs use, which is how "traditional" Mac OS X themes work.
Yeah, but unlike the copy/paste theme lecture, in which he harps on the fact that critical system files are deleted and such, with haxies he doesn't have nearly as convincing an argument.
Right.
Quote:
If I remember correctly, basically Brad says that haxies have been buggy for him in the past so he doesn't use them.
Also right.
Quote:
But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
Right again.
I think my work here is done.
Seriously, though, this is a major boon to the theme community. APE definitely has its share of problems, but on the whole it isn't nearly as dangerous as hacking away in /System. Sort of. Latchng into apps like Classic Mac INITs, though, isn't the best practice either, but in cases like this, it would seem unavoidable. I may give this a try a bit later, but I definitely won't be shelling out $20 for it.
I'd rather have a one time change then constantly need to have APE running though. I was having weird problems in 10.2.6 that went away when I got rid of APE. Never had a single problem from Themes and I upgraded X multiple times forgetting to take off the Theme and the always stayed on and perfect. When I did the Combo 10.2.8 update to try to cure 10.2.8's ills Aqua came back and I haven't felt like re-applying a Theme but I'll stick with regular Themes.
Again, while APE might not have the potentially catastrophic consequences for your system, it does have potentially catastrophic consequences for your data. Not serious enough to deter use by power users (including myself), but I wouldn't let it anywhere near computers used for actual work.
I wasn't that impressed with the default themes (in fact I was kind of unimpressed) but now that ole Max has released a few good'ins, I am definitely going to use ShapeShifter every day.
So far my favorites are SmoothStripes (blue gloss) and Milk 2.0 (std. Milk). I'm using the latter right now and it is so easy on the eyes, and so elegant. Haven't tried it within the Adobe environment yet but so far I love it. Wierd though, how it changes Safari's metal into Milk, but won't change iTunes' metal. I guess the iApps are locked somehow to prevent their appearance from changing.
Wierd though, how it changes Safari's metal into Milk, but won't change iTunes' metal. I guess the iApps are locked somehow to prevent their appearance from changing.
iTunes doesn't use the system metal look... it has it's very own. So, while Safari actually makes calls to the system for the metal texture, iTunes just looks inside it's own resources.
iTunes doesn't use the system metal look... it has it's very own. So, while Safari actually makes calls to the system for the metal texture, iTunes just looks inside it's own resources.
Is the metal in QT Player faux-metal? QT looks SO COOl in Panther.
Comments
(for people who like to live life on the edge, anyway)
Barto
Originally posted by iBrowse
I'm sure most of us here have seen his copy/paste lecture on OS X themes more than a couple of times, now that themes can be applied without replacing the system files people will be more willing to try it.
This doesn't have the danger of replacing system files, possibly with bad permissions and resources.
But here's the thing: APE is probably just as bad. It loads itself into the memory of applications, and modifies application while they run. If the modifications are NOT what the application expects, you can easily run into trouble. Personally, I wouldn't let APE anywhere near important computers. That said, I think this is great. You are changing the actual style of the User Interface, not just a few bitmaps.
You won't have to read Brad's copy/paste themes lecture.
You WILL have to read Brad's copy/paste Haxies lecture
Barto
I just run ClearDock, and ICeCoffEE, the latter of which is simply the cat's meow.
SS looks pretty neat, for those who want it. Definitely seems safer than the alternative.
Originally posted by Hobbes
I don't know, in my limited experience using APEs, I've encountered very few (if any) problems. Certainly my system has been stable.
Many people who run "ordinary" themes don't experience problems either. As with almost everything, YMMV.
Originally posted by Barto
You WILL have to read Brad's copy/paste Haxies lecture
Yeah, but unlike the copy/paste theme lecture, in which he harps on the fact that critical system files are deleted and such, with haxies he doesn't have nearly as convincing an argument. If I remember correctly, basically Brad says that haxies have been buggy for him in the past so he doesn't use them. But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
If you are manipulating important data on a computer with APE installed, and the application you are manipulating the data with is disrupted by APE, that important data can be damaged or destroyed.
There is always potential for catastrophic effects on any computer, and APE increases that potential, just like themes do.
Is reinstalling Mac OS X better or worse than losing, for instance, a big digital video project or a sales database?
Barto
Originally posted by Hobbes
I don't know, in my limited experience using APEs, I've encountered very few (if any) problems. Certainly my system has been stable.
I just run ClearDock, and ICeCoffEE, the latter of which is simply the cat's meow.
SS looks pretty neat, for those who want it. Definitely seems safer than the alternative.
Yeah. Back in 10.2, I had my system maxed out with Silk, FruitMenu, WindowShade, and a theme applied with Themer.
why is APE needed for SS to be used?
SS sounds very tempting [just to try out, even though I like Panther's implementation of Aqua], but I don't want to lose any stability (APE) ....
APE latches onto an application at launch time, allowing programs like SS to modify that application at run time. The only alternative is modifying the resources that the Mac frameworks and APIs use, which is how "traditional" Mac OS X themes work.
Barto
http://homepage.mac.com/max_08/
Everyone. Download. Now.
Barto
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Yeah, but unlike the copy/paste theme lecture, in which he harps on the fact that critical system files are deleted and such, with haxies he doesn't have nearly as convincing an argument.
Right.
If I remember correctly, basically Brad says that haxies have been buggy for him in the past so he doesn't use them.
Also right.
But they don't have the potentially catastrophic effects that old theme-changing applications had.
Right again.
I think my work here is done.
Seriously, though, this is a major boon to the theme community. APE definitely has its share of problems, but on the whole it isn't nearly as dangerous as hacking away in /System. Sort of. Latchng into apps like Classic Mac INITs, though, isn't the best practice either, but in cases like this, it would seem unavoidable. I may give this a try a bit later, but I definitely won't be shelling out $20 for it.
Aluminum IS great!
] http://screenshots.haque.net/screens...a/?&maxDisp=40
Barto
So far my favorites are SmoothStripes (blue gloss) and Milk 2.0 (std. Milk). I'm using the latter right now and it is so easy on the eyes, and so elegant. Haven't tried it within the Adobe environment yet but so far I love it. Wierd though, how it changes Safari's metal into Milk, but won't change iTunes' metal. I guess the iApps are locked somehow to prevent their appearance from changing.
Originally posted by Moogs
Wierd though, how it changes Safari's metal into Milk, but won't change iTunes' metal. I guess the iApps are locked somehow to prevent their appearance from changing.
iTunes doesn't use the system metal look... it has it's very own. So, while Safari actually makes calls to the system for the metal texture, iTunes just looks inside it's own resources.
Originally posted by bauman
iTunes doesn't use the system metal look... it has it's very own. So, while Safari actually makes calls to the system for the metal texture, iTunes just looks inside it's own resources.
Is the metal in QT Player faux-metal? QT looks SO COOl in Panther.