[Preciousss]

I think that "post pix of your dock" thread got me thinking about all this. I want to add all of those cute icons and other things (dock skins) but am slightly concerned about altering my system on that level.

For the dock skins at least, I've read about people having some serious problems. Is it really "safe" whatever that means to do this kind of stuff? Obviously many people out there are doing it, but at what cost (if any)?

Are there any particular utililties I should avoid (CandyBar, Skin a Dock, etc.)? Anything I should keep in mind when doing this sort of thing?

Oh yeah, I have a 1GHz TiBook, 10.2.5, 1GB RAM.

Thanks

[jessejlt]

I think practicing some common sence computing will save you a lot of trouble. Backup your data, preferences, and important anything. After that, have fun with your system, after all, you spent a lot of money on it and you would like it to fit your personality. If in doing so, you botch something irreperably, just format, and reinstitute your backups. Yes it's a pain in the ass, but whether or not it's worth it is directly dependent on you. Nobody here is going to say, "Yes, jacking with your system is safe.", nor will they say that it is not, simply because nobody knows. This isn't a black and white area, indeed it's dependent on many different variables and rendered nearly impossible to conclude a result.
Backup your data, customize, have fun...after all, it's your system.
jesse ;-)

[Sage]

If you decide to install themes, by all means download AquaFix... it has saved my @**, and many other peoples' @**** a number of times.

[fireside]

you should check out the GUI Customization forum for some tips and stuff

[TheDisaster]

Some are worse than others. Some haxies and tools are fine, like TinkerTool, which just provides access to things you could do in the system but there isn't an OS X GUI option for it. Themes can be safe for your system, but it's kind of like "if it works out ok it's safe, if not, it wasn't". Themes and Skin A Dock basically just put modified images where OS X looks for the ones it uses. Both are usually ok, I've only run into about two problems because of themes, and both were really because of something I did, that I knew I shouldn't have done. Candy Bar just replaces the default icons that Mac OS X will use with the ones you choose. Most of these are completely safe in theory, the real problem with most of them is any problems that cold occur while applying them.

[DigitalEl]

Definitely visit the GUI Customization forum mentioned above by Fireside.

CandyBar... Pretty darn safe and an awesome icon-changing tool. Use it!

Theme Changer... Not exactly polished, but it works well for me. I had a theme-related problem once (something about SystemUI Server files), but it was a problem with the theme itself and not the Theme Changer application. Use it!

Skin-a-Dock... I've never used this and can't say anything about it one way or the other.

Aqua-Fix, mentioned above by Sage... Um, yeah! Use it!

Themes... And this is important. Make sure you use themes from top-notch developers (Max and Swiz are two fo the best). And always use current themes, designed for your particular iteration of OS X (i.e.: 10.2.x). Using a theme designed for an older version of OS X on a more recent version can introduce all kinds of problems. Most themes, when you download them, will say just which version of the OS they are for. And not to slight any other hard-working themers out there, but I make it a policy to just stick with Max and Swiz's stuff.

Lastly, if you like their stuff (or that of any shareware developer), shoot them some cash through PayPal. I don't have the talent to develop anything, but I know it's hard work and very time-consuming.

My ten cents!