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I want to change the Macs default theme (Lion). How do i do this?

B

bassdude

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 11, 2011
6
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Somehow, my google fu has failed me. Programs like magnifique do not seem to work for Lion and i can't find any themes at all. I'm new to mac, so i don't know if this is even possible?
I really don't like the grey "graphite" theme and would like something black. Hell, i even prefer the universal access black "theme" for handicapped people.
 
without hacking there is very little you can change. the wallpaper and aqua/graphite and the location of the dock are just about it by default. it is not tunable like linux is. you can't even change the icon set easily without replacing system files.
 
so what are my options? Are there any specific programs i can download? for christs sake, i just want to change the colour - even windows lets you do that..
 
And to say you *just* want to change the colour :eek:. That's blasphemy to :apple:. There is theme stuff out there still but it is a very grey area (irony) and they have made it harder to do with each release - just realise that you don't actually want to change the colour scheme and you'll be fine.
 
There are theming apps out there. If I'm not mistaken the major ones are developed by Unsanity. But there may be others.

http://unsanity.com/products

The last time I was heavily into theming was during my time with Windows XP. Most of my stuff is on Customize.org. I left the scene completely when I went back to Mac in April 2006. I played with Linux briefly before then.

http://customize.org/LTD/gallery

roadbloc said:
Downgrade to Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how this will help.
 
Last edited:
thanks for all of your replies! I guess it looks pretty bleak then.
I can't be the only one who wants to do this though, so there must be some clever people out there who've been able to successfully do this for Lion..
 
bassdude said:
thanks for all of your replies! I guess it looks pretty bleak then.
I can't be the only one who wants to do this though, so there must be some clever people out there who've been able to successfully do this for Lion..
Click to expand...

I think it's a little early to expect Lion versions just yet (again, I'm making assumptions here), so maybe give it another month?
 
bassdude said:
thanks for all of your replies! I guess it looks pretty bleak then.
I can't be the only one who wants to do this though, so there must be some clever people out there who've been able to successfully do this for Lion..
Click to expand...

The apple experience means you give up a lot of ability to change the look and feel of OSX. Waiting won't do much, just look at the how much theming is available on Snow Leopard, Leopard. Apple quite effectively quashed the OSX theming community early on.
 
Mainly because they don't want you to be able to. Probably the #1 reason is so that phone tech support can help more easily assuming standard icons and themes, and so that at least in theory, all apps in the OS look consistent - iCal and Address Book of new being the obvious latest hypocrisies there....
 
bassdude said:
oh ok, and why is it so hard to customise compared to windows?
Click to expand...

Simply because apple does not want you too. Not to sound like I'm bashing apple, but they have their reasons, like consistent look and feel, stability not messing with system resources. Regardless, there is a small theming community but its a ghost of what it used to be in the early days of OSX\.
 
i meant software wise - i mean microsoft doesn't really want you to install third party theming software either. Does apple implement extra levels of protection then?
 
"oh ok, and why is it so hard to customise compared to windows?"

Honestly?

Because Steve Jobs is a dick.
 
There are also more plausible reasons, like the "usability". There are plenty of studies when it comes to designing a GUI, and, in my opinion, that's the real motive behind the "locked" personalization. See it this way:
1- A user changes the whole interface...
2- Suddenly, things are not as solid as before, everything is harder to reach and to locate.
3- The user takes more time to successfully complete a task, if he ever gets to finnish it...

Who do you think is going to lose with this? Apple loses a costumer, and the user loses a good user experience... and that's what apple is all about, "User Experience". The guys at apple's design dept. (probably) studied how users behave and try to shape the system according to those users. This makes the whole OS more productive for whoever uses it.
 
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mrmister said:
"oh ok, and why is it so hard to customise compared to windows?"

Honestly?

Because Steve Jobs is a dick.
Click to expand...

No, it's because an interface like OS X's shouldn't need theming in the first place. Apple actually puts work into the design. That's why Apple has the best-designed consumer OS in the industry.

Messing with system files is not good for across-the-board usability, and also defeats the purpose of Apple's design.


tfalves said:
There are also more plausible reasons, like the "usability". There are plenty of studies when it comes to designing a GUI, and, in my opinion, that's the real motive behind the "locked" personalization. See it this way:
1- A user changes the whole interface...
2- Suddenly, things are not as solid as before, everything is harder to reach and to locate.
3- The user takes more time to successfully complete a task, if he ever gets to finnish it...

Who do you think is going to lose with this? Apple loses a costumer, and the user loses a good user experience... and that's what apple is all about, "User Experience". The guys at apple's design dept. (probably) studied how users behave and try to shape the system according to those users. This makes the whole OS more productive for whoever uses it.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
well, the negative effect is still there (System Preferences>Universal Access>Switch to White on Black).

there are small things you can do; for example, i have ALWAYS had a black menubar...and do now in lion.

here: black menubar

macthemes.net is a good place to explore theming, but...there's not a lot going on these days. apple makes it very difficult...
 
Probably screw it up. But as stated. You are going to need to learn how to do this for yourself. I mean you can grab old skins and port them to Lion using Lions image files. Make backups and go for it. It does take an awfully long time. Get "Themepark" and start editing your system images or drag and drop the 10.6 theme into the 10.7 bins. Or wait till a good 10.7 theme emerges.
 
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