OSX Themes - replace Aqua

Hmm, I haven't talked to William in a long while, but knowing him, he's around making desktop pictures and maybe Audion faces still.

BTW, Max Rudberg does the BBX Mercury X theme - William didn't want to do an OS X theme. He wrote some about why, it's in one of the documents that comes with the BBX Mercury X download.
 
I just want to point out that after days of using different non-Aqua themes in OSX, I notice my system feeling a lot snappier. Programs appear to launch faster which I think a few things attribute this:

1. Less memory wasted on caching Aqua style textures or whatever you want to call them.

2. Less time and power wasted on drawing/preparing the GUI widgets.

I've been switching between BBX, QNX, and various Swizcore Studios themes. Currently using the QNX theme. They all seem to be more light weight than Aqua. Other than programs launching faster, the responsiveness of windows is improved as well. I'm using Camino and it feels a little more responsive, for example when I have multiple tabs open and switch between them, there's always a pause before the selected tab is brought up but now with these light weight themes the pause is not as long. There's just little tid bits like that that make me feel happier with OSX!

BTW, my machine is an iBook 800 MHz and of course the ATI Radeon 7500. It just felt sluggish with the Aqua theme. Moreover, I did not like the stripes in certain window areas and menus. I've been bothered by it for a long time and now they're gone! Also, menu transparency isn't as transparent which also helps make the text easier on the eyes.
 
Not so, the system is still loading, drawing, preparing, and caching everything just the same as it did the Aqua elements. Themes are in the same format as the Aqua theme is - they have to be. Basically, all themes do is replace the default Aqua graphics. That's it. Nothing else. If some graphic isn't replaced, the default Aqua one will be used.

It could be maybe a tiny bit faster if the theme you're using doesn't have a lot of different colors in it, but it isn't going to be that much faster. Talking milliseconds here!
 
Couldn't lacks of translucency in menus and anti-aliasing in window corners have an effect on rendering time? Especially on a G3?

I dunno. Placebos are cool too...
 
Themes lacking transparency would probably be a bit more responsive, esp. on slower machines.

Doug
 
Well Lycander sure seems to notice a difference, so maybe the graphics in alternative themes are less demanding than in the default Aqua.

What are some other themes you guys recommend? It couldn't hurt for me to install one on my iMac.
 
Darkshadow is right about Max having quality themes. I had Milk for the longest time with no problems, and this past weekend I switched to Smooth Stripes Gloss and am also enjoying it.
 
Cool!

Check out Androo's theme, Ice11. It's a collaborative effort by the Dextop team.
 
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