Are you tired of the brushed metal and pinstripes?

Marvin · March 5, 2006 5:04PM

I was too. At first it was OK but Apple overdid it in Tiger IMO. The Finder and Safari just became plain annoying. So I looked for a solution and I mainly came across things like shapeshifter but I didn't want to hack the system and make it slower or unstable. I just wanted a different look.

Then I saw Apple's Mail program in Tiger and I just thought that's how Apple should have done it in the first place. Elegant, stylish and not too in-your-face.

I then found this great application:

http://gui.interacto.net/

It just replaces some texture files once and backs those up so you can revert back again. It makes everything look like the Mail app and gets rid of all the pinstripes in favour of a nice gradient.

It also replaces the Dashboard cheese holes for a smooth gradient so if you like that, you may not want to install this.

There is an installer for itunes separately but it made my music list disappear (not deleted, just hidden) so I uninstalled it. Others have said it works ok but since itunes has an acceptable gradient anyway, I just left it.

whyatt thrash · March 5, 2006 8:03PM

Looks nice, but it breaks BBEdit, So it's back to Iridium for me.

xool · March 5, 2006 8:10PM

There's a screenshot of BBEdit with the uno theme, so how does it break the app?

Also, while i like the theme, why is the menubar darkened? This is a case of fixing something that wasn't broken.

Anywhooo, I might download the theme. First time I've actually been interested in doing this in X.

whyatt thrash · March 5, 2006 9:23PM

If you choose to show line numbers in BBEdit, the gradient will repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Pretty fugly.

placebo · March 5, 2006 9:31PM

Just install Shapeshifter and have fun with hundreds of such themes, and better.

icfireball · March 6, 2006 9:06AM

The menu bar on Uno is to dim

xool · March 6, 2006 11:59AM

Looks like there's a version of Uno with the standard menu bar for those who prefer things the way they are.

Marvin · March 6, 2006 2:48PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Placebo

Just install Shapeshifter and have fun with hundreds of such themes, and better.

Shapeshifter uses resources though and isn't free.

I use BBEdit too and it does mess up the line number margin but I just live with it. I didn't use Iridium before because it used to require Shapeshifter. Does it work ok with BBEdit?

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/27637

placebo · March 6, 2006 3:25PM

I really don't think it uses resources. It writes over the theme .rsrc files when you change themes, but then isn't active or required to be open.

whyatt thrash · March 6, 2006 3:40PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Marvin

I use BBEdit too and it does mess up the line number margin but I just live with it. I didn't use Iridium before because it used to require Shapeshifter. Does it work ok with BBEdit?

Iridium comes with a standalone installer. It works fine with BBedit, I havent found an application yet that breaks with Iridium.

whyatt thrash · March 6, 2006 3:44PM

Just as Uno, Iridium also replaces the Dashboard metal cheeseholes with a gradient, which I don't like. A little terminal hax0rn3ss later everything's just the way I like it.

Marvin · March 6, 2006 7:30PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Placebo

I really don't think it uses resources. It writes over the theme .rsrc files when you change themes, but then isn't active or required to be open.

I just went with what lost of people have been saying:

http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=13335

I've seen other software using APE and I've seen it cause instability. Even if Shapeshifter isn't running, check if APE is and what it's doing.

I think I'll go with Iridium over Uno to fix the BBEdit thing then.

tensdanny38 · March 6, 2006 11:37PM

I hope they start using the black theme seen in iMovie and iPhoto 6.

spyder · March 7, 2006 3:23AM

Shapeshifter pretty much crashes my machine at least 3 times a day.

I wish Apple would just drop the brushed metal and stick with the Spotlight show all theme. Or at least have an option that says "Brushed Metal" and one that says "Universal Aqua" or some crap. It wouldn't be that hard. Im tired of this mix and match shit.

dontconfuse · March 7, 2006 7:27AM

glad to see such thing, i'll go and grap it.

aquatic · March 7, 2006 1:42PM

I'm tired of the mix and match too. Sure perhaps it's great they keep experimenting...but there are like 10 very different looks in OS X now. Unified, Aqua, Aqua Glass, Metal, Smooth Metal, Wood (Garageband), "Black" (the new Front Row, iPhoto 6, iMovie etc), etc.

SO they should at LEAST standardize on ONE or TWO like Aqua/Metal for every rev. For example if they decided they didn't like Aqua, they should have made EVERYTHING in Tiger either Unified or Metal. It is really starting to look sloppy. Aqua/Metal made sense, the iThing metaphor with Metal. But now it just looks...bad. And Apple isn't known for their stuff looking bad! It's confusing and ugly. It reminds me of Windows. That's...bad.

I personally have always hated metal, hated Aqua until the Panther or Tiger "version" of Aqua, and I hate Unified and the "Black" and "Wood" stuff. But a standard is better than no standard, as they say.

And yes perhaps they should have a simple checkbox in Prefs that Aquafies everything. Mail, Safari, everything. Unified, Wood, Metal, etc. It's actually pretty simple, at least for the Metal, it just turns off the "textured window" in that nib thing or whatever.

Ugh. I used to like Kaliedoscope. But I like others have found APE to just cause problems. I refuse to use it if there is even a hint of instability. I got used to stability with OS X. Once you get used to stability you just can't go back.

Are you tired of the brushed metal and pinstripes?

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