4 Apps to Mod Your Desktop

by Judson Collier • 03/15/2007 at 05:50 PM

Apple’s Aqua user interface is probably one of the best user interfaces there is when it comes to looks. But, just like your favorite movies and stupid jokes, things get old and boring. In light of that, there are quite a few options to change the look and feel of your Mac, from changing the look to completely changing how your desktop acts.
Uno
The bare minimum for changing your desktop is Uno. If you haven’t noticed already, Apple has quite a few different interfaces for their apps (four actually, not counting the dashboard “Cheese Grater” bottom bar). Uno modifies Aqua, making a unified interface for the entire system. You can choose between Uno shade (like iPhoto or iMovie), or just plain Uno (a lighter shade). Uno is absolutely free.
Uno
CandyBar
Next is CandyBar. CandyBar is a great application by Panic that changes any icon you want. Icons come in iContainers (a zip-like file for icons) and when opened, CandyBar automatically replaces your current icons with those in the icon pack. You can also use standard .ICNS files, but you have to specify which icon you want to replace. Pixadex, an app that goes hand-in-hand with Candybar, lets you store and search loads of icons. You can buy them both in a pack for $24.99 or separately for $12.95 (Candybar) and $18.95(Pixadex).
Candybar
Pixadex
ShapeShifter
ShapeShifter is the flagship of Mac UI modding application; it can change Mac OS X’’s interface to whatever you’’d like it to be. There are tons of user-uploaded themes for ShapeShifter on sites like Interfacelift and MacThemes and from themes with sleek metallic looks to Windows XP themes, you should be able to find something that pleases you. If you’ve got the skill, you can even make your own! Unsanity just released ShapeShifter as a Universal Binary, but unfortunately it will only work on Mac OS X Tiger. It costs a mere $20.
ShapeShifter
Virtue Desktops
At the heart of Virtue Desktops is a well-known and popular concept, one so well-known that Apple is implementing it in into the next version of its operating system. The concept of Virtue Desktops is hard to explain without a real-life demonstration, but it is basically an application that provides multiple “virtual desktops” or workspaces that you can switch between on the fly, using special keyboard triggers or a command-tab like switcher. Virtue Desktops (no longer under development) is available for free.
Virtue Desktops
That’’s it! These four applications will hopefully tide you over until Apple gets around to tidying up Mac OS X’’s user interface.