The reason mac themes are more polished and overall better looking than most skins on windows is because most people who use macs dont know how to do these things so the real pros work at it. The same applies for windows too but since windows holds such a large market share there will always be more pros out there for windows than macs. Since there are a lot more people using windows there are a lot of resources for people who want to learn how to skin so we get more of maybe the not so polished skins than macs do.

But if you ask me, there are a lot more ORIGINAL skins in windows than on the mac. Most mac skin all use the same macish looking effects like the glossy buttons and scroll bars, thins like that. Mac users can skin, but i think windows users can truly customize their computers because we have so much selection.

If you want to see any really mind blowing work for Windows, you generally need to look in the Winamp scene. Outside that, Pixtudio and Skins factory are probably the only people producing truly outstanding stuff.

sad, but true. personally i would have replaced Pixtudio with Mark McQuillan though.

moshi: That is like saying that a C++ program is cross platform because the code is a text file.

Many, if not most, of the Konfabulator widgets make use of MacOS specific features and APIs. Sure, the weather widget will work fine. But the CPU temperature ones? You think those will work? Or the task monitor? Or the iTunes controllers?  Obviously with enough work or in the case of iTunes if Apple implemented the same hooking then it can be done. But just because they  both use XML doesn't mean anything.  DesktopX objects are just .PNG and .XML. Does that mean they would work on the Mac if there was a Mac version of DesktopX? No. Not many of them.

But even that isn't really overcoming the other issue - are Mac users going to be willing to make .ZIP versions of their files? How many Windows users would be willing (or able) to create a .DMG file for Mac users?

i am betting that there is the same number of great objects. however there are so many more people making desktopx objects that the great ones are harder to find. but i saw a few on the konfabulator that i wouldn't mind having on my desktop

ok I'm not an expert in MAC and PC, my question is what is so different between them when it comes to graphic design?

Macs still have a huge presence in the printing industry (in north Amwerica at least).

Photoshop, Illustrator, and Quark Express (indesign and pagemaker to a lesser extent) are the program staples and although they all have PC versions, such a history has been built up in terms of training and usage; it's easier for many to keep the status quo rather than jump over to the pc platform.

As well, so many graphic houses work on macs, that when it comes to receiving files from other companies, you want to be giving mac files and recieving mac files. Despite the claims, not all files built in those major programs tranfer across platforms intact.

So there are large hurdles to be stradled before macs loose one of thier original bases of use and support.

http://www.macaquarium.com/imacaquarium.htm

hi jesse! I was just about to start a thread to ask where you are!

I just haven't posted as much here since I do visit other sites and I have been busy experimenting with making BootSkins and playing Nintendo 64.

moshi, don't you think throwing a standard common sense *no warranty* clause around like it is something only DesktopX developers should use is a bit off?

Your assuming a lot here don't you think? iTunes was going to kill Winamp and Media player from what some claimed. As soon as it hit the PC it was going to just blaze through the net onto every desktop and people would see what is so great about MAC software. Well it's a freaking hog, a big fat, hairy hog that was on my drive for two days and then in the bit bucket with a blink of an eye. It ate resources, it not only ate them, it horded resources like a hog in a trough, pilling ram up for it's own use and slowly eating more and more of that which it did not have in reserve.

Konfabulator *MIGHT* work ok on a PC it *MIGHT* work outstanding on a PC and it *MIGHT* be the big brother to that HOG iTunes for Windows...



MIGHT seems like something I would hold reservations from backing so strongly, lots of looser out at the track that put everything on a horse or dog that *MIGHT* have won but didn't, more than enough for me to attempt playing around being one over a piece of software that *MIGHT* actually stick around on my drive longer than two days...

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Moshi,

People CAN extend their objects with their own DLLs. But they don't need to. I can make a CPU meter object right now in less than 10 seconds and it's 17K, no DLLs.

https://www.joeuser.com/brad/lamemeter.dxpack

99% of DX objects have no binaries. They use either XML or INI inside. Having the capability to extend ones objects themselves with new functionality is something I conider to be an advantage. I've been a Konfabulator user from day 1 and have hung out on the forums there and there has been a big demand for widget makers to be able to extend the capabilities of Konfabulator themselves. DesktopX allows this. Konfabulator doesn't. If Arlo doesn't think of a given feature, it ain't going to happen. There is no Brazen Weep of the Konfabulator world because Konfabulator doesn't allow people like him to do what he does.

On the other topic, I totally agree with you that Arlo could ask his widget makers to let him convert the various .dmg files (most of the widgets are .dmg btw, not .sit) to .zip or whatever. But it would be a manual process. You cannot convert a .dmg to a .zip. .sit, on the other hand could be.

All of which is beside the point. Konfabulator MAY be the greatest thing since sliced bread. But what bugs me is the general belief that anything on the Mac must be great and when it's ported over it is a gift to us poor Windows users. iTunes is a 40MB pig. If anyone other than Apple had made it, it would have been a foot note. But because it came from the Mac, it gets a free marketing ride.

From a technological perspective, Samurize is superior to Konfabulator. And it's free. SysMetrix too. But do these programs get all the hype? No. Even though both Samurize and SysMetrix can do anything Konfabulator does, they don't get mentioned on TechTV. In fact, TechTV said there is no PC equivalent to Konfabulator when in fact there are SEVERAL. The two I mentioned, several other programs, and DesktopX which has many many features beyond Konfabulator.

Will there be people who will do commercial skins AND free skins too?

On behalf of myself and Mike, I'd just like to say *ahem*......