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MikeD · Dec 19, 2003, 07:30 PM

I want to install Audio Hijack but it wants to install some APE thing. Is this safe? This would be the only 'haxie' going into my system. If anything, I can always uninstall it easily right?

Mike

chabig · Dec 19, 2003, 07:34 PM

I went with WireTap for the very reason you state. I don't trust haxies. However, if this is the only one you're going to use, it's probably OK. And yes, you can remove it if you want/need to.

Chris

gorickey · Dec 19, 2003, 08:10 PM

"Haxies" have NEVER caused a single issue for me on any of my systems (and I have a handful of them)...go for it...

Mr. Blur · Dec 19, 2003, 09:40 PM

i use audio hijack, fruit menu and silk....never had a problem at all when using the versions that are current for the latest version of os x...and as said, they are all easy to uninstall.

bmhome1 · Dec 20, 2003, 04:53 AM

My Panther got upgraded right on top of 10.2.6, modo-haxies and all in place (as a test from the usual drill of fresh formatting) and everything worked, with the few well-publicised updaters needed.

Not a single burp all through 10.3.1 and now 10.3.2 with all haxies and Shapeshifter running. That even recognized the update and suggested it download a bit of code automatically and that was it. Time to shelve the old notions of haxie's breaking things when an update's needed.

CharlesS · Dec 20, 2003, 06:43 AM

I've had people report really weird bugs in my programs which I was unable to reproduce, only to find out that the user had some haxies installed that were screwing with how my program works somehow, and when they removed them, it worked.

To me it seems like haxies bring back the "wonderful" stability of OS 9 and its extensions. Use at your own risk...

quadgrande · Dec 20, 2003, 07:31 AM

I evaluated ShapShifter which installed APE and the ShapeShifter application. After the trial period ended, my entire screen would periodically flash, turn red, and this huge message appeared stating I should purchase. It was obnoxious. It interrupted my work and took over my entire screen.

I uninstalled ShapeShifter, but the message continued to appear until I uninstalled APE as well. I had to do research, separately download and run the uninstaller for APE. APE had come with ShapeShifter, but remained after uninstallation.

The whole experience was annoying. But I can at least say their uninstallers work, and I never had any other issues while using the product.

Person Man · Dec 20, 2003, 08:10 AM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
To me it seems like haxies bring back the "wonderful" stability of OS 9 and its extensions. Use at your own risk...

Not entirely...

You can turn off APE (and even individual haxies) for those applications that conflict with it. That way, you don't have to give up the functionality they provide to other applications. You certainly couldn't do that with Extensions.

Arkham_c · Dec 20, 2003, 08:59 AM

I've seen a lot of users report obscure problems, and those problems ultimately were traced to haxies.

As a result, I don't recommend haxies to anyone.

osxisfun · Dec 20, 2003, 09:03 AM

i don't use haxies.

this time last year you would have heard the same "haxies don't do a thing"(harm) maybe they don't but a while ago they came out with ape 1.2 (or some number) and one of the "features" was that it was a 1/3 faster. that means it was slowing down my dual 867.

i then had a problem with one of the 3rd party haxies and deinstalled it and ape and things ran much better.....

maybe they don't do harm. maybe it does run as a separate app. but for me. my system feels better without them and when something crashes i have a lot fewer suspects to narrow it down to.

to each his own. your mileage may vary.

Axo1ot1 · Dec 20, 2003, 02:35 PM

haxies=teh devil

gorickey · Dec 20, 2003, 02:54 PM

Originally posted by Axo1ot1:
haxies=teh devil

Then, what does:

Unsanity LLC = ?

booboo · Dec 20, 2003, 04:24 PM

I never had any problem with the 2 haxies I own - WindowshadeX and FruirMenu - apart from the time waiting for a 10.3 version of FruitMenu.

I found these 2 indispensable, although I don't use Windowshade half as much since Expose.

I think Unsanity do great work. Keep it up guys!

nickm · Dec 21, 2003, 01:02 AM

Haxies rule. I've used a number of them and never had any problems. With 10.2, I always used Labels X and Metallifizer and they worked great for me.

Unsanity == GODS

CharlesS · Dec 21, 2003, 01:24 AM

Originally posted by nickm:
Unsanity == GODS

Only if they are those old Greek gods that were always bickering and causing weird sh�t to happen.

It just gets on my nerves when stuff screws with my software and makes it unstable, and then I get blamed for it. It also bugs me when I spend time trying to figure out the cause of some problem and then it turns out the user has APE installed.

One of the reasons we moved to OS X was to get rid of extensions and other things that patch programs to make them do stuff they aren't intended to do.

dialo · Dec 21, 2003, 12:29 PM

So what are some examples of problems folks have had and which 'haxies' caused them?

york28 · Dec 21, 2003, 12:46 PM

I think haxies are awesome. I've bought 3.

I've yet to have a single problem with an app that doesn't like them, and if I did, it is possible to exclude applications from their effects.

I see it this way: if I pay the premium to buy a Mac, I'll be damned if I don't get to set it up exactly the way I like. Which means no aqua, no shadows, etc.

Until I see real evidence that haxies are screwing up my computer, I'll continue to use them. Heck, Apple's recent updates have fried more OSX installs than haxies probably ever will.

But like CharlesS said, to each his own. On a mission-critical computer maybe you shouldn't but it's really up to you.

Bluebomber21XX · Dec 21, 2003, 12:58 PM

I have yet to encounter a single issue from any haxie I have ever run. I use FruitMenu, WindowShadeX, Clear Dock, and Full Screen Safari.

As it has been said, though, to each his own.

barbarian · Dec 21, 2003, 01:16 PM

So what are some examples of problems folks have had and which 'haxies' caused them?

I own and use windowshade, audio hijack, and shape shifter.

The only problem I have encountered is with windowshade. After long use, it's minimize in place feature has a bug on my G5 that causes window ordering to get screwed up (the bug doesn't appear with standard windowshading). Fixing the bug is easy I just shut windowshade off and turn it back on again.

Anyway I can't imaging using OS X without windowshade. It is literally the first thing I install on new machines and it's the first thing people at work who have switched from OS 9 ask me about.

nickm · Dec 21, 2003, 01:45 PM

One of the reasons we moved to OS X was to get rid of extensions and other things that patch programs to make them do stuff they aren't intended to do.

I know this is going to make your blood boil, but this was always one of the greatest features of the classic Mac in my mind. I'm glad to see such functionality restored in OS X, especially since the method is so much safer than the previous way.

You keep talking about this one case where a haxie screwed up your app on a user's computer, but never say which one it was. So tell us, which was it?

JasonBourne · Dec 21, 2003, 02:58 PM

I installed the APE yesterday and everything is doing just fine. Until I launched the iTunes today and sync my iPod. The transfer rate is very slow that I could not stand it. So I decided to uninstall the APE and restart my computer. My iTunes is working just fine now. I will never install the APE again even if they gave me money.

ryaxnb · Dec 21, 2003, 03:26 PM

Haxies rule.

mcsjgs · Dec 21, 2003, 03:31 PM

No more haxies, no more hooks. No more users' dirty looks.

--An Administrator

fisherKing · Dec 21, 2003, 03:56 PM

i've never had any problems...
using shapeshifter & mightymouse, 10.3.2.

no problems, and like the functions these haxies provide.

i've more problems, say, with the mac os in general, yet will continue to use it.

just saying, use what you like, if there's a problem, you can try to fix it, or use something else.

to each his (or her) own!

CharlesS · Dec 21, 2003, 08:56 PM

Originally posted by nickm:
You keep talking about this one case where a haxie screwed up your app on a user's computer, but never say which one it was. So tell us, which was it?

I am at my parents' for the holidays, and am typing this on my Pismo. My G4, which contains my e-mail archive, is a six-hour drive away from here at the moment, so I'm afraid I can't search it to find the specific answer to your question. However, IIRC, the user had several of them installed, so it would be difficult to tell which it was even if I had access to that information at the moment.

I guess the thing to say is that if you must use haxies, please disable them and make sure the problem still occurs before sending bug reports to developers. Otherwise, it reduces the quality of the bug reports received and makes it harder for developers to fix actual problems.

Moonray · Dec 21, 2003, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by MikeD:
I want to install Audio Hijack but it wants to install some APE thing. Is this safe? This would be the only 'haxie' going into my system. If anything, I can always uninstall it easily right?

Mike

Maybe StreamRipperX will do what you want for free and without messing anything up.

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