osx themes? how :S

[pxoint]

hi,

well i got my first mac today and so far im very pleased only thing i really cant figure out is, how do i change the themes? i've seen so many nice screenshots of themes ~_~
i downloaded some in .zip but i cant figure out how to set them up.

thanks in advance


PS: i also downloaded quartz desktop that someone mentioned in this forum, how does that work? :S

 

[mastephens]

To use different themes you must download a program like ShapeShifter so that you can change to the new themes.

 

[The_Mage18]

Purchase ShapeShifter and Mighty Mouse. Get Shapeshifter first and you'll get a coupon that you can use on Mighty Mouse. I can't remember off the top of my head but I think I paid $20 total for both apps if not less.

 

[lesman]

To build on the info, some shapeshifter themes (also known as "gui kits") come with icon/wallpaper packages that you can apply using shapeshifter. If you want to change your icons the traditional copy and past way, then that's fine, but if you search for "icontainers", you can use shapeshifter to apply the icon sets all in one, without coppying and pasting. An icontainer is basically an icon package that shapeshifter can read and distribute system-wide. There's also a free theme changing program called, simply enough, "theme changer". All it does is change your themes, though...no special features or anything. Hope this helps!

EDIT: there are also MANY stand-alone theme installers available...if you use a stand-alone theme it DOES replace system files, but they usually come with backups to restore your files. You don't have to use any type of program to use stand alone themes.

 

[lesman]

Ahh, also, with quartz desktop, basically you can display any quartz rendering as yur wallpaper....you can find some quartz compositions in your screensavers folder, also, wherever you downloaded it from, there should be downloadable compositions on the site.