[ambush]

So ShapeShifter has arrived, it takes theming to a whole new level.

Is it safer? Well at least it's advertised as VERY SAFE, but only time will tell. I, for one, will always keep my system APE-free. But there's also this mildy annoying "old school theming isn't safe" campaign going on. One might argue that theming was not safe before ShapeShifter but I never had a single problem with ThemeChanger.

Then there's the "theming your mac will now cost you 20 bucks" thing. Hey, come on, TWENTY BUCKS? That'll sure make me want to go back in time, where we could say that theming was *really* free. I'd like to talk as a theming on OS X pioneer, but I'm not really one. I was the original creator of TC 0.1 and worked on bits of the latter versions. I'd really like to hear my former coworker's (Finlay Dobbie) opinion on this.

I will have to see if ALL themers will really *stop* supporting TC/Duality formats.

That'd be a bit of an anti-competitive and monopolistic move.

Swiz already did.
Hey Swiz, thank you! </sarcasm>

Now that I'm not affiliated with TC anymore, (I still have the link on my web site though) I can talk with a more neutral point of view. I still think it's very bad.

Anyway, the whole goal of TC was to make theming on OS X a better experience, and I think we (Finlay, Jail, Me) achieved our goals.

I'd really like to hear the macnner's opinions, so don't hesitate!

[phillryu]

Sucks to be you.

Nah, I do agree that it is turning themeing into shareware, which while not necessarily an evil thing, could and will block out a large number of users from themeing their macs. Also, it's probably too early to judge whether Shape Shifter is worth it or not, as it seems that there are a ton of cool features coming soon. I for one will probably buy this soon. Even as it stands, its a very quick, painless theme switcher, and when it incorporates icons, safari icons, and theme Omega, well, it may start being worth the price.

Anyone else here hate safaricon?

[ambush]

Is the guiKit format open?

Hmm.

[Weezer]

The thing I don't really understand is, who gets the money? Say for a few weeks there's no reason for me to spend $20 on the program, but then some random guy makes a theme that I fall in love with and must have, turns out the format is shape shifter only, so I buy it. Unsanity just made $20 off me, but it seems a little unfair that the person I bought the program for doesn't see any money. Oh well

[quandarry]

Originally posted by ambush:

Anyway, the whole goal of TC was to make theming on OS X a better experience, and I think we (Finlay, Jail, Me) achieved our goals.

I'd really like to hear the macnner's opinions, so don't hesitate!

never had a problem with themechanger, not one...

but mostly i still use metamorphx to change the extras rsrc over and over as i work on it with themepark.

[phillryu]

Yes, that's true. Hats off to theme changer, its still a great app.

[cloudaj]

The thing I don't really understand is, who gets the money? Say for a few weeks there's no reason for me to spend $20 on the program, but then some random guy makes a theme that I fall in love with and must have, turns out the format is shape shifter only, so I buy it. Unsanity just made $20 off me, but it seems a little unfair that the person I bought the program for doesn't see any money. Oh well

but doesn't that bring up a whole new issue? Isn't it a bit crazy that you are paying for an application because they had the mere ability to coax theme developers into developing themes in their format?

What unsanity has done is so underhanded it ridiculous. They fought off opensource in the only way they possible could: With their wallet.

OpenSource is a great thing, its developers doing what they love for the benefit of the user. The user is involved in development, and everything is done to please the user, thats the payment. Companies are different. They are there to make the buck, not to please the user. They may please the user in the short run, but they dont do it TO please the user. Its important to draw that distinction. So what do you think is going to happen when Unsanity converts all the theme developers to THEIR format, when all traces of the opensource soltution are gone? They aren't going to be offering new features and bending over backwards to please the user. They will just be there to collect your buck.

This is all without discussing the technological demerits of APE, and the underhanded ad campaign of unsanity. As a user, you have to understand the reprecussions of supporting actions such as the ones Unsanity have taken. In the short run you might get what you want, but in the long run, you are participating in the stifling of innovation.

[codywalton]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
but doesn't that bring up a whole new issue? Isn't it a bit crazy that you are paying for an application because they had the mere ability to coax theme developers into developing themes in their format?

What unsanity has done is so underhanded it ridiculous. They fought off opensource in the only way they possible could: With their wallet.

OpenSource is a great thing, its developers doing what they love for the benefit of the user. The user is involved in development, and everything is done to please the user, thats the payment. Companies are different. They are there to make the buck, not to please the user. They may please the user in the short run, but they dont do it TO please the user. Its important to draw that distinction. So what do you think is going to happen when Unsanity converts all the theme developers to THEIR format, when all traces of the opensource soltution are gone? They aren't going to be offering new features and bending over backwards to please the user. They will just be there to collect your buck.

This is all without discussing the technological demerits of APE, and the underhanded ad campaign of unsanity. As a user, you have to understand the reprecussions of supporting actions such as the ones Unsanity have taken. In the short run you might get what you want, but in the long run, you are participating in the stifling of innovation.

you are so wrong it makes me laugh.

[digitaljames]

Anyone know any Custom Home Builders that will come and build a home for me just for the joy of satifying me? Homes should be open source.....

[codywalton]

Originally posted by digitaljames:
Anyone know any Custom Home Builders that will come and build a home for me just for the joy of satifying me? Homes should be open source.....

OWN3D!

[cloudaj]

yeah, its called Habitat for Humanity

[phillryu]

Yeah, and I suspect they'll throw you in jail if you had them come over when you had the money to buy a house.

Who couldn't scrounge together 20 bucks if they really really needed this?

[cloudaj]

students, kids, people without credit cards.

And its a stupid reply to a stupid comparison. The materials for a home cost money and its a primary job, as well as its services rendered for a single person. OpenSource costs no money to operate (ok, so we went a little overboard with extras on poisoned...), a lot of opensource developers do it as a second job, and its doing what they love. And dont even try to BS anyone into thinking the guy cutting wood all day enjoys his job

You don't have any problems with the way Unsanity is trying to get rid of the competition in the manor it is then?

and i'd like to know how I was "so wrong"

EDIT: and for me, its not all about paying $20.00. its about not wanting to run APE on my system and to use themes the way I always use to. Its not "unsafe" if you take precautions like installing tcfix/aquafix. And i'd much rather "take the risk" and not experience the performance degradation on my machine that is associated with APE.

[Tulkas]

Oh, this thread is just a sort of final stab to themechanger. Its dead guys, and it wasn't going to come back to life anyway.

Unsanity is a company, a caring company. They put time into their software, time that has made their products great. They have to eat too. So, instead of spending the odd hour a week they work much more. While doing this they must eat. Food costs $. So sure, most of their stuff is about $20 but they can also create better software and give better support than any open source project. Time is money.

Monolith on the other hand may have a chance. If they can get use of the framework to support Unsanity's new format then it'll be okay. If not (as I suspect) they will have to work very hard to gain an edge on Unsanity, perhaps by lowering price.

Frankly, while I am not happy with a monopoly, Unsanity would be the people I'd trust theming to. Because when it comes right down to it the biggest problem we've had is developers dropping the ball.

[Mac Guru]

OpenSource is a great thing, its developers doing what they love for the benefit of the user.

And open source got us WHERE? The same place we had always been, just a bit more THERE than we were the second before.

When it was the land of Duality, Theme Changer, and MetamorphX all we had were bitchy themers griping about which theme changer was better, etc... and how "revolutionary" each other one was when they didn't do ANYTHING new.

Shape Shifter allows for a LOT more than ANY theme changer ever has and underneath all of the stuff we have, is a TON of new and cool stuff we have yet to see. How bout you sit back and watch for a bit before passing your judgement.

Mac Guru

[Tulkas]

Oh yes, and I have had more problems with theme switchers (including themechanger) than I care to recall.

Also, file/resource based switching is dangerous. Memory based switching is safe (plus yields many other advantages).

[phillryu]

Originally posted by Mac Guru:
And open source got us WHERE? The same place we had always been, just a bit more THERE than we were the second before.

When it was the land of Duality, Theme Changer, and MetamorphX all we had were bitchy themers griping about which theme changer was better, etc... and how "revolutionary" each other one was when they didn't do ANYTHING new.

Shape Shifter allows for a LOT more than ANY theme changer ever has and underneath all of the stuff we have, is a TON of new and cool stuff we have yet to see. How bout you sit back and watch for a bit before passing your judgement.

Mac Guru

I agree with you generally, it's just that at 1.0, ShapeShifter doesn't offer much more to the end user than ThemeChanger did for free. That's not to say that it won't become vastly more useful and worthwhile soon.

[phillryu]

For an example, once it allows system icons, safari icons, and dock skin switching... well, isn't that like 15 bucks of other shareware and hassle right there? I'd personally like to fast forward a few months

[ambush]

Originally posted by Mac Guru:
And open source got us WHERE? The same place we had always been, just a bit more THERE than we were the second before.

When it was the land of Duality, Theme Changer, and MetamorphX all we had were bitchy themers griping about which theme changer was better, etc... and how "revolutionary" each other one was when they didn't do ANYTHING new.

Shape Shifter allows for a LOT more than ANY theme changer ever has and underneath all of the stuff we have, is a TON of new and cool stuff we have yet to see. How bout you sit back and watch for a bit before passing your judgement.

Mac Guru

Please refer me to a link where I (or Finlay) said TC was revolutionary. Please.

[ambush]

Originally posted by digitaljames:
Anyone know any Custom Home Builders that will come and build a home for me just for the joy of satifying me? Homes should be open source.....

Yes. And you're a total dumbass.


You know where Safari comes from? KHTML.

You know where OS X's core comes from? BSD.

You know where Mozilla comes from? Developers who GIVE their time (and Netscape employees, etc.).

You know where Linux, Apache, etc comes from? Etc.

Software engineering is about time, NOT MATERIAL RESOURCES.

And you can give time more easily than say, a pound of gold, or even a house. No?

[kmkkid]

They shouldnt have released it until it was the revolutionary product they said it would be.

If it was indeed WB for OS X upon v1.0 it would have been worth $20. But ATM it's just a theme changer which traps users into it's format, since most of the good artists seem to have been persuaded.

I dont have this problem with WB for the simple fact that they use their own theme format, and there are msstyles the free alternative. But with unsanity packing up all the top theme developers, they just monopolized on the skin market. My bet is all the original OS X themes will hault in development, and the user will have to pay if they want to skin their system... which was once free to do.

I think whats steaming some people is the fact that they went after every top OS X theme dev. and 'bought them out'/convinced them, if you will.

Oh well, let's see where this goes...



Chris

[CarbonG4]

This is analogous to the day Apple made the change from iTools to .Mac -- taking away our free tools and charging us for them if we wanted to continue using the services. But, along with the fee came much better (arguably) features.

Is this is a trade-off? Perhaps. Is it for the better? Undoubtably. For once we have an architecture that allows us to proactively tackle GUI inconsistencies, road blocks, and 10.x migration problems that have always lingered around us in the past. We have a stable foundation and no longer will we have to screw around with various theme formats and multiple theme changers to support and troubleshoot. Do you know how many support emails we received back in the day when people still used Duality over ThemeChanger? I loved ThemeChanger, it made the .dlta standard work and offered an almost flawless installation environment, but nevertheless end users would still manage to bork their systems up and we'd almost have to feel somewhat responsible. Now, no real harm can be done to the system.

I think people are over looking another big factor here because they haven't been exposed to themeing in Panther long enough before the initial release of ShapeShifter... step back and look at the world of themeing in Panther w/o ShapeShifter:

- The Finder *had* to be grayscale (!!!)
- Window drop shadows would not conform to titlebars (!!!)
- Global text could not be altered consistently from black
- And I know for fact that there would not be as many theme developers for Panther

Now, you may argue that the Finder issues and the Window drop shadow issues can all be fixed -- yes, but how? With APE. Therefore, you'd have to be running APE regardless in order to achieve a consistent GUI. So it just makes sense that ShapeShifter is the next logical step, that it is and should be distributed as an APE, that it does (and should) cost money, and that it will advance OS X themeing much much more than it already has.

My 2¢
//Carbon

[olorin15]

Complain Complain Complain ...
This community is drowning in complaints. NOTHING will ever meet everyone's expectations, but that does not mean we have to slam every new software and every new service and every new machine that comes along. People here always complain about Apple not making products the right way, themers not making their themes right, developers charging money for things poeple expect (for some odd reason) to be free ... I don't get it. If you are all so unhappy with this platform, if you want free software and easy free theming, why don't you switch to LINUX??? If you stay with the Mac, and you want to use themes, then let the developers do their job, and let them charge for it what they deem appropriate. If the developers of TC thought it should be free, good for them. If Unsanity thinks enough effort went into SS, then they SHOULD be paid for it. You want free - there's Linux or BSD. No one is forcing you to use a Mac.
And after all, if you do not have/ do not want to pay $20, then don't. Stick to TC. JUST STOP COMPLAINING!!!

[zboy]

I dont understand why all these people are acting like unsanity is somehow forcing/tricking theme developers to make themes exclusively in the guikit format.
Themechanger, in its current just-released state, already offers solutions to problems that have plagued anyone who wanted to design a theme under OS X. And things will only get better.

No ones forcing them to develop only for SS. SS happens to be the only theme changer that supports the features they've desired.
Free themeing is great, but like has been mentioned, it hasn't gone anywhere. It allows relatively primitive alterations to apple's Aqua theme, and thats it. You couldn't even change default text colors on a system-wide scale. And we've had free theme tools for how many years now? SS may not have many groundbreaking features at the moment, but it's very poised to make some much more creative themes available for OS X.

[quandarry]

kaleidoscope wasn't free...now there was a monopoly...it was that or nothing but platinum...and maybe gizmo or hi-tech or drawingboard.

i think i paid 10 bucks [1995?] for that sucker and i think it goes for 20 or 25 now...

[ambush]

Originally posted by olorin15:
And after all, if you do not have/ do not want to pay $20, then don't. Stick to TC. JUST STOP COMPLAINING!!!

No. Go read what I said.

I said I find it unfortunate that important theme devs will publish in guiKit only.

I have nothing about concurrence, I just hate monopolistic tactics.

[swiz]

Originally posted by ambush:

I will have to see if ALL themers will really *stop* supporting TC/Duality formats.

That'd be a bit of an anti-competitive and monopolistic move.

Swiz already did.
Hey Swiz, thank you! </sarcasm>

Your welcome /sarcasm
I dont really care what other people think of it.
Im happy to say that I wont have to read emails from people who have had any theme changer mess up their systems anymore.
Im 27, married and building a house not a teenager who has lots of time to deal with that type of monotonaity. I'd rather spend my free time building GUI's not troubleshooting problems to systems I'll never see due to hack changers. Did I love ThemeChanger? Yeah I did. I never had problems with it but I knew what I was dealing with unlike many people who just want to kick around a theme for a few days. ShapeShifter opens up the doors to all those who were sitting on the fence due to stability concerns.
Im happy to say that all my themes will be solely released as guiKit and if you or anyone else doesn't like my stance, use another theme.

[swiz]

Originally posted by kmkkid:

If it was indeed WB for OS X upon v1.0 it would have been worth $20. But ATM it's just a theme changer which traps users into it's format, since most of the good artists seem to have been persuaded.

It didn't take much persuading... more features more benfits, no fear of sacrificed system stability. I'll give up themed login items any day for an inbox free of (insert theme switcher name here) issue emails.

[jerseyfreeze]

I think a lot of you misunderstand the term 'monopoly.' A monopoly is something where there are no alternatives. As it stands right now, every one of us has more than one alternative for applying themes. And, even if Themechanger, Duality, etc. went away, we still would be hard-pressed to call Shapeshifter a monopoly. No one is forcing anyone else to theme his Mac, nor is applying a theme to your OS X something that will make your life easier, simpler, etc (e.g. Verizon - you don't absolutely need a phone, but you kind of do.).

-Jason

[jerseyfreeze]

My other issue with Shapeshifter has already been mentioned by someone else.

It should not have been released until it provided the end-user with a radically different experience. Right now, I have no reason to shell out $20 for an app that does less (it doesn't change the login panel, etc.) than Themechanger. I understand that the way it changes things is potentially safer, but to me - a user who has had no problems with TC - there's no tangible benefit.

The minute SS can support stuff I've never been able to do, I'll pay. Unsanity et al. should've known better than to launch a product that is identical in final form to other free apps.

-Jason

[cloudaj]

a monopoly is simply control by one company of a given field. and i didnt call it a monopoly (if i did it was a slip up), but what they are trying to do is monopolize theming on OSX.

I guess the only alternative could be an apple entrance into theming...

swiz, could no possible "happy medium" be made? You couldn't still produce both, or let someone on your message boards put together a dlta formatted theme version?

[swiz]

Originally posted by jerseyfreeze:
My other issue with Shapeshifter has already been mentioned by someone else.

It should not have been released until it provided the end-user with a radically different experience. Right now, I have no reason to shell out $20 for an app that does less (it doesn't change the login panel, etc.) than Themechanger. I understand that the way it changes things is potentially safer, but to me - a user who has had no problems with TC - there's no tangible benefit.

The minute SS can support stuff I've never been able to do, I'll pay. Unsanity et al. should've known better than to launch a product that is identical in final form to other free apps.

-Jason

Thats just it.
No other app:
1. Allows for different themes for different users
2. Changes text colors globally
3. Fixes the window titlebar widget mask problem
4. Fixes window shadow issues
5. Makes a 5mb theme only 300kb

I hear you about needing more features, they are in the pipeline, actually further along than you would even think but there is a reason for the release at this time.

[phillryu]

However, if/when I pay, I will pay with the full knowledge that this WILL be expanded and built up to something more than other theme changers could ever become. I'm pretty sure this will happen at least.

And of course, as Swiz pointed out, it did fix a lot of long standing limitations and new problems with theming. Omega wouldn't have been possible without this, at least to what Bill had imagined.

I do think its too bad that swiz decided to forego dlta completely already though Especially since as I understand it, SS can read .dlta's but other theme changers can not read guikits. So why not have an alternate dl for those brave enough to suffer the consequences of using a more instable but free theme changer? And put a warning that you take no responsibility?

[jerseyfreeze]

Originally posted by swiz:
Thats just it.
No other app:
1. Allows for different themes for different users
2. Changes text colors globally
3. Fixes the window titlebar widget mask problem
4. Fixes window shadow issues
5. Makes a 5mb theme only 300kb

I hear you about needing more features, they are in the pipeline, actually further along than you would even think but there is a reason for the release at this time.

Swiz,

I understand there are benefits, but I'm trying to approach it from the average user's (my own) perspective.

And I know there are changes in the works - it just would be nice if the really cool tangible things could have been included in the first release.

Don't get me wrong - I appreciate all you guys do. I love your themes and I'm sure I'll shell out the dough sooner or later.

-Jason

[swiz]

Originally posted by jerseyfreeze:
Swiz,

I understand there are benefits, but I'm trying to approach it from the average user's (my own) perspective.

And I know there are changes in the works - it just would be nice if the really cool tangible things could have been included in the first release.

Don't get me wrong - I appreciate all you guys do. I love your themes and I'm sure I'll shell out the dough sooner or later.

-Jason

Yeah I totally get that, I agree even but I dont think the actually developers would want me to divulge the reasons for getting this out now. Now it sounds like I made this into some big deal and really it isnt.

[Chinasaur]

*cough* cheap a## malcontents *cough*

Isn't it great we live in a society where anyone can express themselves?


cheers

[milhouse]

Does anyone know of incompatibilities with Shapeshifter?

Background:
I hosed my system with it. An archive and install restored the system. I then installed APE 1.4.1 ( I had the SS pre pane installed from the previous system but it remained "inactive").
I rebooted and then updated to 10.3.1. Upon reoobt I got...
'Nother hose job.
Can't get to the desktop (bluescreen). I won't bore you with the details but I'm installing Panther on another partition and hope to replace the hosed FInder with a new one.

I was wondering if some ap, preference pane etc may be interfering with SS and giving my OS (and me) fits. If anyone has insights I'm all ears. (I've also emailed unsanity as well)

TIA

[ambush]

Originally posted by swiz:
Yeah I totally get that, I agree even but I dont think the actually developers would want me to divulge the reasons for getting this out now. Now it sounds like I made this into some big deal and really it isnt.

If you really wanted, you could provide a DLTA package and write in big red letters UNSUPPORTED.

But you probably agreed to distribute exclusively in guiKit.

[cloudaj]

"The Reason"?

[King Bob On The Cob]

You people against ShapeShifter make me sick...
Unsanity gave you 4 years to write a decent theme switcher but you stuck with the same ideals that switched themes in OS 10.0.
And this may come as a shock to you, This way of installing themes broke some people's computers.
So here's the problem:
*Themes broke people's computers by modifying system files
*Due to limitations in OS X, you can't change everything that theme developers want to
*You couldn't do per-user themes
I've been asking for APE based switching for awhile, but everyone would blow me off with "APE isn't safe." While they were modifying files that made their computer run, while it was running.
Now the real question is, which one of you people who believe that APE isn't safe can tell me exactly how it works?
Your against ShapeShifter which finally gives safe theme changing at the expense of a companies time and you have the gall to complain that you have to pay?

[Modro]

I think where you are going to see a big difference in mac theming, is now that you have a company with a vested interest in it's success, and a "safe" means of delivering the themes, more people will get interested in them.

Why?

Because to sell their product, Unsanity will be hyping themes, and theming in general, getting more and more people interested in it. More people interested in it, more themes.

It's not like you are getting charged for the themes themselves, just the means of applying them. 20 bucks is wholly reasonable for a program that can simply change your whole gui environment, and as the product matures, it will surely get better.

Even at this early stage, ShapeShifter allows something previously impossible.

Dark X themes.

If the product cam be improved further, allowing more design flexibility, then you will start seeing even more themes. Right now, most all OS X themes are variations of Aqua, or are trying to be different, then running into Apple designed walls.

These guys are trying to knock those walls down, and I can see why they are excited, as a few just dropped today.

[swiz]

Originally posted by ambush:
If you really wanted, you could provide a DLTA package and write in big red letters UNSUPPORTED.

But you probably agreed to distribute exclusively in guiKit.

Actually I didn't but I don't know we'll see, maybe I will do that. It diesn't matter really, ShapeShifter is the future of this stuff so regardless of the road people choose to take now, they'll all end up at the same location... ShapeShifter in system preferences. Contrary to popular assumptions around here, I benefit nill from people using SS and guiKit other than its benefits in development and less support email.

[ambush]

Originally posted by swiz:
Actually I didn't but I don't know we'll see, maybe I will do that. It diesn't matter really, ShapeShifter is the future of this stuff so regardless of the road people choose to take now, they'll all end up at the same location... ShapeShifter in system preferences. Contrary to popular assumptions around here, I benefit nill from people using SS and guiKit other than its benefits in development and less support email.

Cool - because I can certify you it's not over yet.

[mamamia]

I can not believe the unmitigated whining on this board. A company has come out with a product. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Your current theme changer and your current themes will still work to the same extent they ever did. You are not losing anything in the process. No one is taking anything away from you.

This is what you people complaining about SS (not free, monopolizing the theming industry, etc.) don't understand. You are not ENTITLED to anything in this world. You are not entitled to free themes. If people want to provide them to you, fine. If you want to provide them to yourself, even better. But to blame the makers of SS for spending their time and providing a different solution is incredibly immature. They are not forcing anyone to make themes which only work with their programs. That is the the theme-maker's decision. If you don't like it, complain to the theme maker's not to the SS developers.

SS is a choice. it is not a monopoly. If it takes over a majority of the "theming market" because it is a superior product, then good for them. Please try to understand that.
Thank you. Good night.

[:dragonflypro:]

Originally posted by ambush:
Cool - because I can certify you it's not over yet.

Actually, that may be part of it right there.

(Cost Justification)

Theme devs must get a massive amount of 'it don't work' email. Well, this is the solution, as I see it.

Unsanity gets the $$, they do the support.

Theme devs just make their themes, submit to Unsanity for stamp of approval. Done deal.

If you have a prob, you paid, you are entitled to support from Unsanity. And as a company they have been very responsive in my experience.

by ambush:

Software engineering is about time, NOT MATERIAL RESOURCES.

And you can give time more easily than say, a pound of gold, or even a house. No?

No.

You obviously are with out clue on this one.

Spoken like a invincible teenager living under supplied roof and in reach of stocked refrigerator. Time is money...any opinion to the contrary is given by a person with no financial commitments and more free time than they have things to do.

T

[quandarry]

so it's gonna be monolith vs shapeshifter vs themechanger

monolith will support rsrc, dlta, .theme, and xscheme and sounds very shapeshifter like in its functioning.
we know they have both been in development for months.
themechanger is open source and could evolve in the same direction.

that makes three little piggies...wee...wee...weee!

[MacX]

Originally posted by mamamia:
I can not believe the unmitigated whining on this board. A company has come out with a product. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Your current theme changer and your current themes will still work to the same extent they ever did. You are not losing anything in the process. No one is taking anything away from you.

This is what you people complaining about SS (not free, monopolizing the theming industry, etc.) don't understand. You are not ENTITLED to anything in this world. You are not entitled to free themes. If people want to provide them to you, fine. If you want to provide them to yourself, even better. But to blame the makers of SS for spending their time and providing a different solution is incredibly immature. They are not forcing anyone to make themes which only work with their programs. That is the the theme-maker's decision. If you don't like it, complain to the theme maker's not to the SS developers.

SS is a choice. it is not a monopoly. If it takes over a majority of the "theming market" because it is a superior product, then good for them. Please try to understand that.
Thank you. Good night.

Agreed. I happen to like the progress made thus far. If ya don't like it then don't use it. I bought it the minute is was released because I happen to support progress and I consider this progress. If you want to muck around with your system then go ahead and do the conversion of any number of themes out there and YOU do all the work. Otherwise, shell out the $20 and continue to enjoy the other aspects of the OS minus the hassles and headaches. To all involved in the project, I just want to say THANK YOU and keep driving forward.

[TheIceMan]

Originally posted by Modro:
I think where you are going to see a big difference in mac theming, is now that you have a company with a vested interest in it's success, and a "safe" means of delivering the themes, more people will get interested in them.

Why?

Because to sell their product, Unsanity will be hyping themes, and theming in general, getting more and more people interested in it. More people interested in it, more themes.

It's not like you are getting charged for the themes themselves, just the means of applying them. 20 bucks is wholly reasonable for a program that can simply change your whole gui environment, and as the product matures, it will surely get better.

Even at this early stage, ShapeShifter allows something previously impossible.

Dark X themes.

If the product cam be improved further, allowing more design flexibility, then you will start seeing even more themes. Right now, most all OS X themes are variations of Aqua, or are trying to be different, then running into Apple designed walls.

These guys are trying to knock those walls down, and I can see why they are excited, as a few just dropped today.

Well said Modro. I too, believe that this is an important step forward for theming on the Mac platform. Unsanity is well-respected for creating useful softwares. Again, no one is forcing any Mac users to conform to ShapeShifter.

It's very exciting to me because now theme developers/creators are given much more flexibility to be even more creative. ShapeShifter is a tool. *IF* it is as good as the developers and themers are saying then this will help push theming forward.

[ambush]

Originally posted by :dragonflypro::
You obviously are with out clue on this one.

Spoken like a invincible teenager living under supplied roof and in reach of stocked refrigerator. Time is money...any opinion to the contrary is given by a person with no financial commitments and more free time than they have things to do.

T

Look, mozilla developers give their free time and commit changes, it's the same for Adium devs and most open source projects.

What do you fail to understand? Time is money? What the ****? If a worker has a weekend and nothing to do, he can code in his free time! What if coding is a hobby? What if you do it to help others? What if it relaxes you? What if you already have a main job that gives you enough money?

Of course I,m not talking about a man who left his job to GIVE hisself to open source.

[Tulkas]

Grow up people.

It will be Monolith vs Shape Shifter. I hope neither wins but they both keep alive.

If Shape Shifter's format stays totally closed and developers only support it there will be a monopoly.