Thursday, August 30, 2007

Tushing Xp into Mac





To say that Apple MacOSX is not popular in Nigeria and most African countries is merely stating the obvious. I can boldly state that most people don't even know how a Mac looks like. Mac has a very eye catching Look and Feel.
So, you like flashy MAC OSX but don’t feel like dumping Windows. If that’s the case this post is for you. It takes three steps and two free programs to make XP look like OSX.
Step 1:Install FlyakiteOSX.
Run this free tool and you’re half way there. It will quickly replace needed system files, set necessary registry tweaks and install bunch of needed extras, i.e. cursors, sounds, visual styles and so on. Some Screenshots
Step 2: (Installing Dock)
[Update: Ooops, I just figured out that FLyakiteOSX has an option that eliminates the need for step 2]Now it’s time to get that nice rollover expansion effect for icons and shortcuts similar to the bottom dock on OS X. Initially, I thought I would get this with FlyakiteOSX but unfortunately I didn’t. So, I found couple of tools that can get the job done. These are RKlauncher and ObjectDock. Which one to use is up to you, both of them are pretty good.
RKlaunch
ObjectDock:



Step3: (Browser and Email)
Now that you got all the basics, it’s time to suit up your browser and email. If you are not using Firefox as your browser and Thunderbird as your desktop email client, then feel free to skip this one. For all lucky ones there are some themes you can use to get MAC looks. For Firefox check out iFox Smooth, iFox Metal, Macfox II graphiteo, Macfox II and Cobalt firefox themes. And for Thunderbird see Apple mail and Tiger
Step4: (Yahoo Widget Engine)
This step is optional, but if you’re going after good looks, don’t skip it. Yahoo widget Engine is a cool application that can turn your XP desktop into MACky penthouse. Y!widget engine grants you access to yahoo widget gallery, where you can find thousands of good looking mini apps(aka widgets) for all kind of purposes. These include; alarm clocks, calculators, calendars, games, memory meters, feedreaders, webradios, email notifiers and lots more. See it in action below



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