# The first seemless Mac OS X Theme



## simX (Apr 6, 2002)

OK, I saw this on resexcellence.com, and it piqued my interest since it looked so good.  So I downloaded Duality 3.0.1 and this theme called AluniteX.

And BOY does it look good!  OMG I haven't seen an OS X as seemless as this one before.  And it even looks good with Mail.app drawers.

So since it's so good, I thought I'd do a little advertising for free.   Here's the link to the page where you can download it:

http://www.desktopper.net/izawa/

It's in Chinese or Japanese, but you should be able to find the link.  There's two versions: one with square window corners and one with round window corners.  I prefer the rounded corners, myself.

Here's a screenshot:

http://homepage.mac.com/simx/.Pictures/FinderScreenSnapz002.jpg

If you notice, the "Go" button looks like it's bulging down into the screen.  That's the equivalent thing of pulsing blue in Aqua.  It's a really nice effect -- it bulges down and then changes to bulging up and then vice versa.

Here's the equivalent thing of the twirling arrows, and the first instance where I've seen this changed:

http://homepage.mac.com/simx/.Movies/MailScreenSnapz001.mov

I really like this effect, too.

As you can see, this is a really cool theme, and I recommend it to anyone who's trying to find a suitable platinum-esque theme.


----------



## LordOphidian (Apr 6, 2002)

Damn that looks cool.

Oh, and how many damn things do you have in your dock man?


----------



## Sogni (Apr 6, 2002)

It's in Japanese - here's the translation (I love Bablefish!  )
http://babelfish.altavista.com/urlt...net/izawa/&doit=done&lp=ja_en&tt=url&urltext=

Looks good! I'll be downloading it and checking it out as soon as my other download finishes (the only thing I hate about bringing my Mac home... Dialup! blah!)


----------



## LordOphidian (Apr 6, 2002)

Anyone had any trouble with Duality?  I am about to download this theme but don't want to bork my system if anything goes wrong with this theme.


----------



## simX (Apr 6, 2002)

For the record, I have 88 things in my Dock (dang I didn't realize it was THAT many).    

Anyway, I'll probably take out the three other ICQ clients, because Proteus is rapidly turning into my preferred messaging client.


----------



## voice- (Apr 6, 2002)

What version os OS X are you running? It looks like a OS 9 menu on top there...

Oh, and the theme looks good too


----------



## simX (Apr 6, 2002)

It's OS X 10.1.3.  Uh.. you thought it was OS 9?  OS 9 never looked this good!


----------



## voice- (Apr 6, 2002)

No, I knew it wasn't OS 9, you had the dock and the desktop and the iTunes buttons and the browser button-placement to tell me X, but you also have that OS 9-app switcher in the upper right-hand corner


----------



## ddma (Apr 6, 2002)

I like the new progress bar!

Btw, any more web site to download more themes? I would love to show my PeeCee friends.


----------



## simX (Apr 6, 2002)

Oh.  That's just ASM.  It's a freeware utility you can download from www.versiontracker.com .


----------



## verlorenengel (Apr 7, 2002)

I love this theme im using it now.. Duality doesnt work very well for adding themes as far as i can tell.

I used metamorphx and it worked fine 

Anyway,

How do i get a transparent dock?? I have the background transparent but the edge of the dock is all white and it looks ugly!!

Anyone help?


----------



## Ronnie Fitz (Apr 7, 2002)

where did you find Duality 3.0.1
i went to there web page and all i could find is 3.0
also i downloaded the theme you are talking about 
when i try to use it in Duality it sase it cant redo aqua
what am i doing wrong
i would love to use this theme
Please help
Ronnie


----------



## voice- (Apr 7, 2002)

Change the theme
Quit Dualtry
Log out
Log back in

There, now it should be changed


----------



## Ronnie Fitz (Apr 7, 2002)

i did that and the theme still dident change!!!!!!!
it keeps telling me that aqua could not be created
i dont know what to do


----------



## googolplex (Apr 7, 2002)

Can I use a theme on one user login but then use aqua for another? Because I'd love to try this but I'm not sure if the rest of my family would want it.


----------



## dricci (Apr 7, 2002)

I think there can only be one system wide theme at a time since it has to modify (literally hack at) core system files to replace them with the theme's files. That's why they can be dangerous if something goes wrong.

There's no way to have custom themes for each user -- yet.


----------



## themacko (Apr 7, 2002)

Dang 88 things in your dock is ridicules!  I had like .. 6!


----------



## AdmiralAK (Apr 7, 2002)

looks really nice 
Now can we get an LCARS theme  ?


----------



## dwaynepack (Apr 7, 2002)

Ronnie Fitz

I had the same problems.

First you can download 3.0.1 duality from versiontracker, but that won't help.

Download metamorphx from versiontracker. It seems to work with this theme? I usually use duality, this is the first theme that it couldn't load for me.

Hope this helps.


----------



## satanicpoptart (Apr 7, 2002)

this is a great theme i just want it to be integrated more... themes need to include icons and dock... this one needs gray folders and a gray dock..


----------



## Sogni (Apr 7, 2002)

Um... no - I do NOT want anyone or anything changing my icons thank you very much! I'll go insane! 

I've been downloading tons of icons and have been modifying most of my icons with new ones. I'd die if they are globaly changed! 

Unless a themer would be smart enough to NOT modify ones that where already modified... or only does it to generic icons (finder, unmodified folders, apps with no specific icon, trash, etc.)


----------



## satanicpoptart (Apr 7, 2002)

or have an option  like "modify icons y/n?"


----------



## simX (Apr 7, 2002)

Themes can only modify generic icons, like folders and generic drive icons and stuff, so your custom icons wouldn't be messed with.

The thing about AluniteX is that although it looks different, it's not too different that it needs a changed dock or changed icons.  Well, maybe the blue icons should've been grey, but it still looks really seemless.


----------



## scruffy (Apr 7, 2002)

Not really on topic, but how do you get iTunes to shrink down to that smaller window?

That does look nice.  I might even change the theme in OS X.  Really though, there just should be per-user theme preferences.  I mean morally, there just ought to.  Are you listening, Mr. Jobs?


----------



## simX (Apr 7, 2002)

To get iTunes to shrink that small, just press the green maximize button (the one that has a + on it when you move your mouse over the widgets).  Once you do that, you can make it even smaller by grabbing the resize widget and moving it towards the controls  this way you'll have iTunes taking up a REALLY small amount of screen real-estate, only showing the three window widgets, the three controls, and the volume slider (no music info).


----------



## scruffy (Apr 7, 2002)

Now that's intuitive - press the maximize button to get a small window


----------



## voice- (Apr 8, 2002)

Just think of the small window as default and the big one as maximised and it'll be intuitive.


----------



## dePoPo (Apr 8, 2002)

installation of the seperate download of the theme failed, but i used the online feature of duality, which was able to download and install the A team just fine


----------



## cybergoober (Apr 8, 2002)

Anyone install this theme and thentry to go back to Aqua? A while back I installed Duality and some other themes. I went to go back to Aqua and there were still some things that were jacked up. I've been weary of themes since then. Anyone tried AquaFix yet? I'll probably end up giving this a shot and hosing my system again, but oh well.

Edit-- Nevermind. I downloaded it and noticed that it had a Restore Theme. Nice touch.


----------



## fryke (Apr 8, 2002)

> _Originally posted by voice- _
> *Just think of the small window as default and the big one as maximised and it'll be intuitive. *



'Intuitive - If it isn't, think the other way round, yeah.'  Nope, the "+" doesn't really make sense in this case at all. And the minimized state of iTunes clearly is just that, while the normal state is normal and not maximized.


----------



## bubbajim (Apr 8, 2002)

Go here to see more themes for OS X.


----------



## cybergoober (Apr 8, 2002)

> _Originally posted by fryke _
> *
> 
> 'Intuitive - If it isn't, think the other way round, yeah.'  Nope, the "+" doesn't really make sense in this case at all. And the minimized state of iTunes clearly is just that, while the normal state is normal and not maximized. *



Of course the "minimized" state of iTunes would be in the Dock, no?


----------



## Valrus (Apr 8, 2002)

One good thing about OmniWeb... you don't get people spelling "seamless" as "seemless."

I'm sure that here, as in college, I'll get a reputation as the jerk who corrects everyone's grammar and spelling.

Oh well!

-the valrus


----------



## cwoody222 (Apr 8, 2002)

> _Originally posted by scruffy _
> *Now that's intuitive - press the maximize button to get a small window  *



Exactly.  That's why I asked the same question about two weeks ago.


----------



## genghiscohen (Apr 8, 2002)

Man, this Alumite theme is *sweet!* 
But I couldn't get it to work using Duality 3.1.  Had to dl MetamorphX just so I could run it.


----------



## nkuvu (Apr 8, 2002)

> One good thing about OmniWeb... you don't get people spelling "seamless" as "seemless."


Oh, you still can spell lots of words incorrectly.  You just get a red line underneath.  Sometimes.  At one point I typed in "I hve seen"... and OW didn't pick it up.  Last time I checked, hve is not a word.... 

Anyway, the spell checker in any app is only as good as the person paying attention to it.


----------



## Valrus (Apr 8, 2002)

And, inevitably, especially since I am using the spell-checker-less Chimera/Navigator/Whatever, sometime I'll spell a word wrong, and then I'll feel like a real dork.

-the valrus


----------



## fryke (Apr 11, 2002)

I think there's only two themes right now that engage my productivity well enough. Apple's Graphite Aqua theme and: SmoothStripes of which you see a screenshot below (if this works...). No transparency in menus. Subtle shading effects. Like Platinum only much, much more beautiful.


----------



## sheepguy42 (Apr 11, 2002)

This theme is very nice, but the biggest issue I take with it is the one theme element we see all the time- the menu bar. I really like the aqua menu bar. For some reason, it is the only one I have ever seen that looks 'real,' like I can reach out and tough it. It looks like a piece of translucent plastic...I love it. I think AlumiteX could have this feel too - even better, in fact: I like the narrower pinstriping in this theme. Its like a more sophisticated version of Aqua (the pinstriping, not the whole theme). I would like to use this background, but only if I can make the menubar match. Hmmm......maybe I should try doing it myself. We'll see; just thought I'd toss in my $0.02 and explain why I'm back in Aquaville


----------



## fryke (Apr 11, 2002)

My turn back to Aqua (which I often did before SmoothStripes) has much more to do with something else than the 'plastic feel'. It's a refined theme. There were people who actually thought about what they did. They didn't want it to look oh-so-cool only, but also to be something useful. And you notice that while working, almost automatically. If I want funky themes and a GUI that gets in the way, I turn on my Windows XP box. Or a Playstation 2.



Gotta get some work done: Let Apple do the Theme(s).


----------



## cybergoober (Apr 12, 2002)

Back to Aqua here, too. I mean yeah, that AlumiteX is a cool theme and all, but after a while it just is like, blah . There's just something about Aqua that keeps bringing me back .

I think I'm over themes for a while. Waiting on one that knocks my socks off.


----------



## scruffy (Apr 13, 2002)

Alumitex for me!  The one with the square corners, and the straighforward scrollbar arrows.  It's elegant, understated, and most of all, clean.  And the wobbling buttons are just so much cooler than the Aqua throbbing ones 

Gawd, I can't believe I'm devoting this much attention to window widgets...


----------



## WoLF (Apr 14, 2002)

I use AlumiteX* (which has the regular arrows)

http://xthemination.maccustomise.com/*


----------



## rhale1 (Apr 17, 2002)

This is, quite possibly, the coolest theme I have ever seen.

I agree with the related icons. Something that would change the custom icons and toolbar icons for the Finder (and include some for OW4). A matching Desktop wouldn't be too bad

I'll post back if I find (or make) anything interesting.


----------



## strobe (Apr 17, 2002)

On the iTunes issue...

The problem is the so-called "maximize" button is NOT a maximize button regardless what the stupid '+' symbol implies. It's a ZOOM button which is supposed to toggle between the 'best' window size (typicaly the smallest size which doesn't have scroll bars) and one or more 'custom' sizes.

This isn't windows!


----------



## simX (Apr 17, 2002)

> _Originally posted by strobe _
> *On the iTunes issue...
> 
> The problem is the so-called "maximize" button is NOT a maximize button regardless what the stupid '+' symbol implies. It's a ZOOM button which is supposed to toggle between the 'best' window size (typicaly the smallest size which doesn't have scroll bars) and one or more 'custom' sizes.
> ...



Good point!  I just looked under the Window menu, and it says "Zoom Window", not "Maximize Window".


----------



## strobe (Apr 18, 2002)

Maybe somebody ought to release a fix for the Aqua theme to get rid of that '+' symbol and replace it with a 'z'.

The 'zoom' slang is pretty language neutral now. I was in latin america a week ago and they use 'zoom' |-)


----------

