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wil · Jul 2, 2002, 12:47 AM

Who remembers Aaron? I remember the first time I saw Aaron and my jaw just dropped.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about:

Aaron was the first "theme" ever released for the Mac. It gave us the platinum look that eventually came about in OS 8 (i think). It was a precursor to Kaleidoscope having been written by the same guys.

Sine · Jul 2, 2002, 12:54 AM

Yeah Aaron also slowed down the computer tremendously

So did Kaleidoscope.

Then again, so does Aqua.

moonmonkey · Jul 2, 2002, 01:20 AM

Do you remember Aaron Lite, this extension actualy made OS8 display Platinum properly.

train · Jul 2, 2002, 01:27 AM

yeah, Aaron was a jaw-dropper for me too! wow.

And I still think those spinning finder rectangles are cool.

Gankdawg · Jul 2, 2002, 02:02 AM

I think I used to use an extension called Aaron Lite - it made all of the progress bars shiny!

Millennium · Jul 2, 2002, 09:41 AM

Aaron was the predecessor to Kaleidoscope. It had Platinum working back in the days when it was slated for "official" release in Copland. And Mac users went nuts for the thing.

The idea for Kaleidoscope actually came when people started making mods for Aaron. Some of the pixmaps Arron used were in the resource fork, and things like window widgets, titlebar stripes, and scrollbar buttons could be edited. It wasn't even on par with Kaleidoscope 1.0 color schemes in terms of power, but people worked on them. The most popular of these mods was Layne Karkruff's original Scrollites, and this is the one that really got the idea for Kaleidoscope going. Sadly, this is no longer available, nor are his original three Kaleidoscope schemes, Scrollites 1, 2, and 3. You can see more of his work at <a href="http://www.blueskyheart.com" target="_blank">http://www.blueskyheart.com</a> however; he makes great desktop pics in addition to icons and K-schemes.

Anyway, there isn't really anything like Aaron for OSX yet, and probably won't ever be. Its somewhat less necessary, though, given Themes, which offer more power than Aaron ever did, even though the power of Apple's Themeing mechanism as we know it is only about on par with Kaleidoscope 1.5.

Synotic · Jul 2, 2002, 11:12 AM

Well seeing as I was using OS 7 until what.. 98.. 99? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> Ahh.. the trusty 6100/60.. never crashed.. ever.. though the lack of a CD drive was annoying, heh. I jumped straight to OS 9 with a now extincty PowerMac G4.

P.S. Yes.

Gul Banana · Jul 2, 2002, 11:30 AM

I remember Aaron

It actually made my LC475 look cool.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Jul 2, 2002, 11:32 AM

Aaron was great, but old schoolers remember the predecesor to *that*, <a href="http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/buttons.html" target="_blank">Greg's Buttons</a>. This was the original jaw-dropping hack, that gave System 7 3D buttons, Window colors, and fonts options. The control panel still launches under Classic, so its fun to see what it did back in '97

waffffffle · Jul 2, 2002, 12:15 PM

I remember my aunt got a rev C iMac a couple years back, previously her family had a PowerBook 5300ce running 7.5.something. When they got the iMac my cousin is using it and IMs me saying "IT HAS AARON!!!!" I was so ****ed at him. and he said "And its got those cool controls for volume and stuff on the bottom left side!" I wanted to shoot him. Of course this genious bought a Dell when we went off to college. I really wanted to kill him then.

starfleetX · Jul 2, 2002, 02:45 PM

Does anyone remember the code name "acid"? That name survived as the Creator Code, IIRC.

Greg Landweber rocked the Mac scene in the good ol' days of System 7 and OS8. Three cheers for Greg!

MacMonster · Jul 2, 2002, 02:59 PM

There is a extension called "BeView", which is quite similar to Aaron, it makes the system look likes BeOS, and my LC 475 becomes a BeBox !!!

[ 07-02-2002, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: MacMonster ]

Mac The Fork · Jul 2, 2002, 03:26 PM

I remember seeing that in... whenever at a local Mac shop.

"They have Copland!!"

Sine · Jul 2, 2002, 04:25 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by train:
yeah, Aaron was a jaw-dropper for me too! wow.

And I still think those spinning finder rectangles are cool.<hr /></blockquote>I hate zoom rectums. I hope there is a way to get rid of the new ones on Jaguar.

Sine · Jul 2, 2002, 04:26 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
Aaron was great, but old schoolers remember the predecesor to *that*, <a href="http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/buttons.html" target="_blank">Greg's Buttons</a>. This was the original jaw-dropping hack, that gave System 7 3D buttons, Window colors, and fonts options. The control panel still launches under Classic, so its fun to see what it did back in '97

<hr /></blockquote>Yes I remember that one, and Church Windows, and ...

Group51 · Jul 2, 2002, 06:19 PM

Hmm, I thought this was going to be asking for a new Aaron to bring Aqua to OS 9. Still, yes I remeber Aaron, and yes my jaw dropped. I watched the spinning rectangles on my first Mac, a Classic II running System 7.0.1.

I remember running down my dorm corridor to bring people in to see the spinning rectangles.

[ 07-02-2002, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Group51 ]

rgoer · Jul 2, 2002, 11:56 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Group51:
...I remember running down my dorm corridor to bring people in to see the spinning rectangles...<hr /></blockquote>wow... somebody even nerdier than I! I'm only kidding, but I didn't honestly think that was possible. Anyway, yeah... hooray for Greg and all he did to make Mac OS 7 un-sucky. If it didn't bring the performance of my Centris 660av to an absolute snail's pace, I would have used Greg's Browser as my only method of filesystem navigation. Greg's Buttons, Greg's Browser, Aaron, et al... beauty.

billybob · Jul 3, 2002, 10:41 PM

Aaron was great.

Anyone remember the registration process? Just hold down return when you start up.. "Thanks for registering Aaron!" ....

Those were the days.

Proudest Monkey · Jul 3, 2002, 10:49 PM

Aaron was amazing - i had it on my Performa 6116 (purchased from Sears, where else?) before i had the internet. I brought 5 floppies to the library to download utilities from download.com and that was one of my first choices. the amazement when i got home, wow! i may have ran up and down the block as a nerdy 7th grader - its quite possible.

on a side note - i want kaleidoscope for OS X, i hate the themes for OS X. i'm stick in Milk Mode and cannot get back to Aqua.

Millennium · Jul 3, 2002, 11:03 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Sine:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn:
Aaron was great, but old schoolers remember the predecesor to *that*, <a href="http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/buttons.html" target="_blank">Greg's Buttons</a>. This was the original jaw-dropping hack, that gave System 7 3D buttons, Window colors, and fonts options. The control panel still launches under Classic, so its fun to see what it did back in '97

<hr /></blockquote>Yes I remember that one, and Church Windows, and ...

<hr /></blockquote>Ah, yes, Church Windows. Kaleidoscope's long-forgotten older stepsibling.

Quite good for its time; it could actually do shaped windows long before Kaleidoscope could. But it never caught on, because its themes required actual coding. This made it faster than Kaleidoscope, but no one ever made a third-party theme, so it died. I don't believe it was ever even made compatible with OS8 (though it, like Kal, had a Platinum theme).

Guy Incognito · Jul 3, 2002, 11:23 PM

Millennium, I know I'll sound like an a$$ saying this but...why is this thread even in this forum? Do your job d00d!

thePurpleGiant · Jul 4, 2002, 12:17 AM

Ah yes, Aaron.. <smiles as I remember the good old days> Ahhhhh, yes, I too brought people in to see the window rectangles...how sad...

On second thoughts, I guess it's no different from showing off the Genie now..in years to come I'm sure I'll be ashamed of that too!

Jeremy

Captain Big Trousers · Jul 4, 2002, 02:18 AM

I still use the QuietStart extension to keep the volume of the startup chime down in MacOS 7/8/9. Anyone else use it? It's rather old and I haven't seen it around for a while. The creation date is May '94.

Tominator · Jul 4, 2002, 04:05 AM

Heh, yeah Aaron rocked. I still remember downloading it over my 14.4 from Compuserve. That was the first piece of shareware I ever registered. In fact, I still have my letter from Greg

Vanquish · Jul 4, 2002, 05:16 AM

aaahhh, those where the days... no kernel panics it would just lock up and you knew what to do

, and I loved Aaron btw: it didn't slow down my computer that much.