Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Jan Van Boghout · Nov 24, 2004, 05:59 PM

I'm happy to present DeskShade 2 to the world, the completely rewritten successor of DeskShade Plus. The main new features are the desktop organizer, color variations, desktop transitions, direct image drops from your browser and DeskShade links.

Have a look at http://www.macrabbit.com/deskshade/ to see what else is new.

Enjoy!

Stuphalina · Nov 24, 2004, 07:33 PM

Sweet! Been waiting for this!
Thanks.

plastiqueusa · 10:29 PM

There are some nice new features, but how about an option to have the covered desktop revealed with the expose "show desktop" like in Deskshade Plus? That's a very handy way to get to desktop icons quickly when using hotspots, and actually my favorite feature...

Tim2 at Omni · Nov 24, 2004, 10:25 PM

This is a stunningly well-designed app. Nice work!

SwarmyCurve · Nov 25, 2004, 12:33 AM

This is an outstanding update! I just wish the iPhoto integration worked on my configuration, since it doesn't seem to be unless I am missing something. That is the only negative point I could think of, but the essential functionality remains all there and is vastly improved at that.

Spliff · Nov 25, 2004, 01:48 AM

Originally posted by plastiqueusa:
There are some nice new features, but how about an option to have the covered desktop revealed with the expose "show desktop" like in Deskshade Plus? That's a very handy way to get to desktop icons quickly when using hotspots, and actually my favorite feature...

I second this. It's too bad it's been dropped. I loved having my desktop covered but then being able to activate expos� to quickly see my desktop icons.

Please restore this behavior to DeskShade 2.x.

Otherwise, the update looks great.

SwarmyCurve · Nov 25, 2004, 03:04 AM

Another question: Does DeskShade break the ability to rotate desktop photos over increments of time? I used to enjoy running a wheel rotation for change every 5 minutes, for example, but now I can't seem to be able to.

Macanoid · Nov 25, 2004, 04:42 AM

Here another vote for the expos�/show desktop feature. I use that a lot as well.

I love the new feature where clicking on the desktop hides all applications. What I'd love to see added is an option to exclude certain applications from getting hidden.

Otherwise a brilliant update - thank you!

Jan Van Boghout · Nov 25, 2004, 06:05 AM

Desktop picture rotation is definitely coming, but I wanted to make it more advanced than the standard Apple implementation. I'll have a look at re-enabling the Expos� bug since people seemed to like it

SwarmyCurve, is your iPhoto library located in ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/ ? Please email me at [email protected] so I can have a look at what's going on.

Scallywag · Nov 25, 2004, 06:23 AM

Originally posted by Jan Van Boghout:
I'll have a look at re-enabling the Expos� bug since people seemed to like it

You can add me to the list of users who would like this "feature" (bug?) restored.

iOliverC · Nov 25, 2004, 07:12 AM

Great update, especially like all the transitions, also another vote for the 'bug' to return.

Axel · Nov 25, 2004, 09:22 AM

I've tried your app, and it looks quite nicely done indeed. I did have a problem with iPhoto integration : for some reason I can't see my albums in the folder list, it may be because my iPhoto library is not stored in my Pictures folder.
I've had another more serious issue with the "Lock Desktop" thing. It worked fine the first time, but then I customized the away message, and when I locked the screen, it turned black with no way to get out. I had to force reboot the machine.
I hope you can fix that.

SwarmyCurve · Nov 25, 2004, 01:30 PM

Originally posted by Jan Van Boghout:
Desktop picture rotation is definitely coming, but I wanted to make it more advanced than the standard Apple implementation. I'll have a look at re-enabling the Expos� bug since people seemed to like it

SwarmyCurve, is your iPhoto library located in ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library/ ? Please email me at [email protected] so I can have a look at what's going on.

Ah ha! I should have remembered that I was not using the default location for my iPhoto Library.

The issue is fixed, however, once I make a symbolic link in the default location pointing to where my actual Library folder is. Thanks!

angelmb · Nov 25, 2004, 01:53 PM

since my PowerBook is on repair I can not try it, but the icon and the website are really cool

Good sense of taste.

Jan Van Boghout · Nov 25, 2004, 01:59 PM

Axel and SwarmyCurve, did you use the RootDirectory preference to change your library location? If so, I'll have a look at how I can detect this.

Axel, about the locking problem, which away message mode were you using? I will see what could cause a freeze like that.

Axel · Nov 25, 2004, 02:15 PM

Originally posted by Jan Van Boghout:
Axel and SwarmyCurve, did you use the RootDirectory preference to change your library location? If so, I'll have a look at how I can detect this.

Axel, about the locking problem, which away message mode were you using? I will see what could cause a freeze like that.

I didn't know about this iPhoto pref until now, I'm currently using an alias in my Pictures folder that points to the location of my library.
About the locking problem, I used the "Fully styled text" mode and entered a large colored text (font:Cochin, size:45).
I'll see if I can reproduce the crash (I'm posting this first in case I get a freeze like the other time).

edit : Just tried it, with no problem this time. I have no idea what caused this the other day.

Spliff · Nov 25, 2004, 05:28 PM

I've been testing DeskShade 2.0 before I upgrade and stop using version 1.2.

I think there is a memory leak in 2.0. I've been running it for about 8 hours and already the "Real Memory" (as reported by Activity Viewer) of DeskShade Plus 2.0 is 55.95 MB. That is more than any other app running on my system, including Entourage and Safari.

Can everyone else using it check the real memory usage and post the stats here.

Update: now it's using 63.44 MB. Yikes!

Spliff · Nov 25, 2004, 05:39 PM

I quit and relaunched DeskShade 2.0. It's starting RAM usage is 25.56 MB. Within 5 minutes it's climbed to 35 MB.

The only options I have enabled are the following:
1) Menu Bar: "Show Shadow"
2) Menu Item: "Mini Desktop"
3) Hide Applications "When clicking the covered desktop."

Jan Van Boghout · Nov 25, 2004, 05:41 PM

Originally posted by Spliff:
I've been testing DeskShade 2.0 before I upgrade and stop using version 1.2.

I think there is a memory leak in 2.0. I've been running it for about 8 hours and already the "Real Memory" (as reported by Activity Viewer) of DeskShade Plus 2.0 is 55.95 MB. That is more than any other app running on my system, including Entourage and Safari.

Can everyone else using it check the real memory usage and post the stats here.

Update: now it's using 63.44 MB. Yikes!

Is this on the first launch? If so, try relaunching. For some reason the initial memory usage is much higher than on subsequent launches.

Spliff · Nov 25, 2004, 05:47 PM

Originally posted by Jan Van Boghout:
Is this on the first launch? If so, try relaunching. For some reason the initial memory usage is much higher than on subsequent launches.

Yes, this was after the first launch. Currently, it seems to be steady at roughly 35 MB. That still seems somewhat RAM hungry for a menu bar item. But I'm not a programmer so I don't know what kind of resources DeskShade has to utilize.

iOliverC · Nov 25, 2004, 05:50 PM

Originally posted by Spliff:
Yes, this was after the first launch. Currently, it seems to be steady at roughly 35 MB. That still seems somewhat RAM hungry for a menu bar item. But I'm not a programmer so I don't know what kind of resources DeskShade has to utilize.

Mine was 43mb, I then quit and it seems steady at 17mb. Scatch that, 20mb

.

Still, considering I have 768mb of ram, its not exactly slowing anything down. The funky effects more than pay for it

.

Jan Van Boghout · Nov 25, 2004, 05:52 PM

Originally posted by Spliff:
Yes, this was after the first launch. Currently, it seems to be steady at roughly 35 MB. That still seems somewhat RAM hungry for a menu bar item. But I'm not a programmer so I don't know what kind of resources DeskShade has to utilize.

The problem is the large fake desktop. Basically the desktop is kept 3 times: once in the window buffer, once in the view and once in my internal mechanisms. I'm looking into improving this in the future. If you notice a large increase again, please mail me at [email protected].

ARENA · Nov 26, 2004, 11:57 PM

Hey Jan, thanks for thge great update. I for one, am happy that you fixed the expos� bug, so if you plan adding it back please make it an option.

mishap · 04:21 AM

hmm... is there an auto transition option that i'm not seeing (like the one built into the OS)? i would need that before justifying a purchase.

great app otherwise! i like the desktop central and the overall fit and finish

EDIT: or maybe it seems to do it automatically, then nevermind

Thilo Ettelt · Nov 28, 2004, 01:20 PM

Thou shall buy! MacRabbit rules them all. I can't wait for future products. But I can't talk about them either!

- Thilo

[APi]TheMan · Nov 28, 2004, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by Tim2 at Omni:
This is a stunningly well-designed app. Nice work!

Ditto. This application is beautifully written, now on the top of my list along with Adium OmniWeb, QuickSilver, and Growl for being visually pleasing, using awesome Mac OS X technologies, and being coded so well. At this time I had OmniWeb open with 5 tabs or so, encoding an SVCD, had Mail.app and Entourage open, and was talking to several people on Adium:

Well done, man.

ManOfSteal · Nov 29, 2004, 09:23 PM

v2.0.1 is up!

Nice.