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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > GUI Customization > What are your current and favorite themes?

What are your current and favorite themes?
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Apr 22, 2003, 10:56 PM
 
I'm currently rockin' the latest version of Watercolor, Blue variant. I gotta say FatalE Black is my favorite. Carbon is great.
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:08 PM
 
Heh, cool. It's always nice to see people enjoying your work.

My two all time favorite interfaces are ChosenOS and FatalE... both of which have been ported to OS X

//Carbon


:: Carbon Themes v1.5 ::
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:12 PM
 
Aqua Extreme 1.0 and SmoothStripes Sunken 2.8 for me... I like to keep as true to Aqua as possible, because icons and preference pane buttons simply don't look right in most other themes. Right now I'm using SmoothStripes... I juggle between it and Aqua Extreme once every couple of weeks.

However, I have tried just about every theme out there (including the latest, Shinobi), and let me tell you, that's one major pain in the rear when your dialup has slower connection speeds than a 28.8K modem!
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:15 PM
 
The only theme I love as much and can use as much as the original Aqua is SimpleAqua, which is just Aqua without stripes. It's great because it reminds me of the iMac flat panel (same white color). Every other theme was off my computer in 6 hours tops.

Theming is a tough job. The irony about being a themer is that the more work you put into designing and making a theme that significantly deviates from Aqua, the less people are going to use it. I guess it is more of an "art for art's sake" hobby.
(Last edited by 970; Apr 22, 2003 at 11:37 PM. )
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:20 PM
 
[double post deleted] 970
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:22 PM
 
i like themes and am very impressed with them. but i really like aqua and have not been able to take off smoothstripes sunken.
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:25 PM
 
I'm currently using Smooth Stripes Square, with the sunken widgets. (I'm in a Aquaish mood. )

My favorite themes are...

ChosenOS
FatalE Silver
Watercolor Silver

As you can tell, I love the simple grey themes.

Free Your Mind...5/15/03
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:36 PM
 
Currently using Shinobi, My all time fav are:

SimpleX 1.0 Orange (For happy times, hurry up with the new version so it works again Swiz)
Classic Platnum (For the minimistic moods)
AlumiteX (Used when photoshopping for some reason, I guess it feels professional)
Currant SimpleX Blue (Because I can't get orange or mint yet)

There are soooo many good ones out there that I haven't used, but those are my all time fav. As I speak, shinobi is climbing the charts however, it's a really shiz-bang theme.
     
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Apr 22, 2003, 11:47 PM
 
Safety First by me. I dunno, I just really like it.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 12:00 AM
 
Let's see...I tried Brushed, Alumite, and BBX Mercury. But the one I'm using now (which is also the one I've used the longest) is Max's SmoothStripes 2.8 sunken. Man, SmoothStripes (can't wait for the BLUE widgets) combined with Rad-E8's Snow E.2 icons make for a gorgeous screen!! I LOVE my MAC!
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 12:14 AM
 
SmoothStripes Gloss (Mostly cuz it was my idea)

Cappuccino (Still waiting for update)

Watercolor (I want brown! LOL)
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 12:19 AM
 
iridium quicksilver remix.

safari looks badass w/ the chosenos buttons in that theme.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 12:54 AM
 
QNX and Smootstripes Square Sunken.

Mac Guru - c'mon where's the love
"The young people of America need be taught that the only pride they may properly hold is in the content of their character, and the achievements they make. There is no legitimate pride or moral credit to be gained by virtue of sharing the same race with a great and admirable individual. "

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Apr 23, 2003, 01:08 AM
 
Well, the ones that remain in use the longest on my machine are:

- Brushed
- Aqua Extreme
- SmoothStripes
- Milk
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 01:25 AM
 
Smoothstripes. Aqua is so beautiful without the stripes
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 03:52 AM
 
Watercolor Olive
QNX
Alumite

Those are the only themes that I've really liked. Currently I am using QNX Sage.

Much love to Carbon and Mac Guru. :*
#macnn: where all the real action is at.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 04:16 AM
 
I always use SmoothStripes on my computer. Right now I'm using the sunken blue widgets and they are really neat.

I use other themes when I'm making them, but I always return to SmoothStripes because it makes the GUI consistent.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 04:47 AM
 
the one, the only alumitex.

has very much a professional feel to it. and safari looks great with it.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:06 AM
 
Right now I'm using Iridium QuickSilver, but my favorite OS X theme is definitely FatalE.
Other ones I like are AlumiteX [B], the different SmoothStripes variants, BBX Mercury (but not for too long, you get tired of the color ) and Rhapsodized (Graphite or Grey).
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:52 AM
 
Watercolor
SmoothStripes
Milk ( in combination with snow icons ....drooool )
Platinum
BeOS
...
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 06:52 AM
 
I gotta say Milk is my all-time favourite, although I also dig Watercolor Strawberry and QNX.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 07:45 AM
 
i've gotten hooked on brushed, with transparent menus

i sometimes use pearl, also nice.

i LIKE the metallic thing. anything is better than those silly color widgets & scroll bars
(no aqua for me)

waiting for fcp...

and will try some theming of my own when i have time (ha)
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Apr 23, 2003, 08:22 AM
 
that would be in order of preference:
"Titanium Apple" which is the theme I'm working on right now..It's not completely done but I post a few previews in the next days for feedback and comments..
Other then that:
-QNX by Mac Guru and Max
-bbx mercury x by Max
-Green Apple by me..
(Last edited by Patcarla; Apr 23, 2003 at 08:55 AM. )
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Apr 23, 2003, 08:52 AM
 
Since no one else will vouch for it:

SEER

Even though it's incomplete, it's still a great theme. And I know a few people out there like it.


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Apr 23, 2003, 09:11 AM
 
- Smoothstripes Sunken
- Pearl
- Sosumi (remember the good ol' days?)
- Workspace
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 10:21 AM
 
Aqua Extreme... yeah.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 01:25 PM
 
SmoothStripes wins.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 01:49 PM
 
1st Smooth Stripes Square Sunken graphite
2nd FatalE
3rd Iridium Quicksilver Remix


I’m also looking forward to Swiz’s SS Studio Pro.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 02:08 PM
 
SmoothStripes Opaque Square
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 03:55 PM
 
Originally posted by Dace:
Since no one else will vouch for it:

SEER

Even though it's incomplete, it's still a great theme. And I know a few people out there like it.
I'm one of the few. LOL Still waiting for an update, I've tried other themes and SEER is the only one I really like like to any extent. Ran QNX for awhile but I keep getting drawn back to SEER.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:28 PM
 
Man, at this point there is already 14 votes (left out 1 vote by Max to be fair) for SmoothStripes as either a favorite or one of the top choices.
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:31 PM
 
SmoothStripes and Rhapsodized

** we need a good minimalistic theme for osx! **
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:35 PM
 
Fav: TuXedo
Theme installed now: Shinobi (and testing Dark Glass)
click one
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 05:43 PM
 
Originally posted by ambush:
** we need a good minimalistic theme for osx! **
... it doesn't get much more minimalistic than ChosenOS or FatalE combined w/ WindowShadeX and DeskShade Plus in my opinion:



//Carbon


:: Carbon Themes v1.5 ::
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 06:09 PM
 
I am loyal to SmoothStripes Gloss Sunken Aqua. It just fits in with the system the best.

For "fun" & original themes, my top three are Chosen, Milk, and soon to be Meteora. Most of the other ones I do not like. Dark and kaleidoscope-y gaudy themes especially...
     
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Apr 23, 2003, 06:12 PM
 
I use SEER.
Looks really sweet with BlueCurve Icons.

--cre8tif
     
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Apr 29, 2003, 04:07 AM
 
I love aqua, but I like the clear menus in some of the themes.

Do you guys know any themes that have clear menues that resemble aqua? e.g. like BBX Mercury menus except it keeps everything else like Aqua.

I just don't like that fact that BBX Mercury changes everything else for you, like the Brush Metal look in Apple apps.
     
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May 3, 2003, 04:09 PM
 
BBX Mercury is my current and one of my favs as well...
     
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May 3, 2003, 05:06 PM
 
with every theme i've tried, i always go back to smoothstripes.

aqua is beautiful. but aqua is sexy without the stripes.

i use smoothstripes gloss with the blue widgets.
     
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May 3, 2003, 06:13 PM
 
im using watercolor red right now. its pretty nice lookin. i like aqua extreme with the recessed widgets. i cant wait for meteora. go carbon!
     
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May 3, 2003, 11:52 PM
 
Aqua Extreme , aqua is nicer this way
     
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May 4, 2003, 04:04 AM
 
I just switched to SmoothStripes with the square edges. I like it a lot so far. Aqua is great without the damn evil stripes.
     
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May 8, 2003, 02:00 PM
 
Toss up between AquaExtreme with recessed menubar buttons and *cack* Windows XP.
     
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May 8, 2003, 02:09 PM
 
Really like Rhapsodized Blue.. It's plain enough.

Like the ChosenOS and Milk too. But find them a tad too glaring..
     
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May 8, 2003, 02:47 PM
 
My current theme now is Shinobi. I really like the pulsating blue light.
     
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May 8, 2003, 02:59 PM
 
since no one has mentioned it yet
next
and final cut pro
by swiz
i mostly switch between those 2

they both arent to bright or to dark

and sometimes brushed
w3rd..
surrey represent
     
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May 9, 2003, 12:33 PM
 
I haven't yet tried out any themes, but willing to try one out if it meets this basic criterion:

* very similar to Aqua, but without a lot of needless transparency and alpha blending/shadows. (Something like an Aqua-lite, for older machines with slower video cards.)

Does such a theme exist?
     
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May 9, 2003, 01:11 PM
 
Originally posted by gatorparrots:
I haven't yet tried out any themes, but willing to try one out if it meets this basic criterion:

* very similar to Aqua, but without a lot of needless transparency and alpha blending/shadows. (Something like an Aqua-lite, for older machines with slower video cards.)

Does such a theme exist?
There are variations of both Aqua Extreme and SmoothStripes that have opaque inactive windows and opaque menus. Get them by clicking my signature.

The menu fade out effect can be turned of by using FruitMenu 3.
     
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May 9, 2003, 02:10 PM
 
Originally posted by bOOzo:
I always use SmoothStripes on my computer. Right now I'm using the sunken blue widgets and they are really neat.

I use other themes when I'm making them, but I always return to SmoothStripes because it makes the GUI consistent.
I use Aqua Extreme as my default theme now for a long time. Great theme - I especially like the sunken widgets. If you do more revisions of this theme it would be nice if you could experiment with more subtle or tighter lines or variations of it.
     
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May 9, 2003, 06:05 PM
 
I'm using the final version of DarkGlass 1.0 It will be for public download tonight if I get the the safari skin done and a few other small tweaks. http://awguilab.ambitiouslemon.com/ I'm very happy with it for my first theme, and Mike was awesome at getting it all put together.


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