Another perspective on Mac vs. PC / OSX vs. Vista vs. XP

4.33 · Post by **4.33** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:10 pm

hey Martin, sorry for a dumbass Q - how do I install these deviantart themes? couldn't find any details on their site and faq... the readme for Licorice says "patch uxtheme.dll file. Doubleclick on the *.msstyles file to use the theme."
now what the hell does that mean?

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:30 pm

4.33 wrote:hey Martin, sorry for a dumbass Q - how do I install these deviantart themes? couldn't find any details on their site and faq... the readme for Licorice says "patch uxtheme.dll file. Doubleclick on the *.msstyles file to use the theme."
now what the hell does that mean?

The UXtheme.dll is the theming engine from xp, it lives in the system32 directory and usually only allows you to just change diffeent colours of the xp theme. The patch, which you can download from here; http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=140707 modifies this dll so that you can use any MSstyle directly without needing to install anything like Windowblinds or Style XP, a good light style actually runs lighter than the native windows themes when doing it this way. To unpatch all you have to do is re-run the patcher.

I must stress that this is NOT RECOMMENDED BY MICROSOFT

If you do choose to run the patch, XP throws up a complaint dialoge box which says something along the lines of "Aaaargh! Something just monkeyed with my guts somewhere! do you want to allow this" whereupon you say "yes". You should then be able to download a theme pack like that Licorice one and inside the downloaded zip, find a file called "Licorice.msstyles" if you double click this it will apply the theme.

Only do this if you are confident with this sort of thing though, make a restore point before you do it for instance. If you back up the original UXtheme.dll, the only way windows will let you replace it is via the command line! Not trying to scare you off, just if your machine is off-the-shelf and under warrenty I'd suggest leaving it how it is. If you don't give a shit about things like that (like me) have a go.

BTW, I accept no responsibility for anything that might fuck up as result of this dubious advice.

4.33 · Post by **4.33** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:25 pm

thanks man, you made my day!)))
LUV the new look

Martyn · Post by **Martyn** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:43 pm

4.33 wrote:thanks man, you made my day!)))
LUV the new look

Why the

? did you not try it, or something not go right?

4.33 · Post by **4.33** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:21 pm

sure i did try it right away))))))

is cause i'm sitting staring at it like a complete idiot))))))

mohler · Post by **mohler** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:26 pm

Damn it Neb,

Make up your mind:

OS X or XP??

or are you happy with the duality in your life?

mohler · Post by **mohler** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:28 pm

Or should I say Dual boot?

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:28 pm

nebulae is clearly Bi-OS curious

popslut · Post by **popslut** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 11:34 pm

I never "see" my OS except in the four seconds between booting up and opening my audio software.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:35 am

Martyn wrote:Heh, can't resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtp5gNhBZgo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVOnFdMf ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkFQVcl6 ... re=related

Those aren't even funny though, as boring as Linux is

rikhyray · Post by **rikhyray** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:41 am

Precision wrote:Awww, man....How many years have I been using XP and I've never heard of ClearType

My eyes are now giving you big thanks

Damn, what a difference, anything more on this line ? I dont care for "pretty" looks but better visibility definitely.
My eyes saying thanks to both of you.

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:15 am

mohler wrote:Damn it Neb,

Make up your mind:

OS X or XP??

or are you happy with the duality in your life?

I'm guessing that was meant for me as I was the one talking about OSX!

Actually I do prefer it by a long shot, but I cant even a afford a cup of coffee right now so a Macbook is out of the question

using a hack doesnt appeal to me really - mainly because not all the drivers are there so it feels like I have half a computer

at least I have wireless under XP, and webcam and onboard audio

plus, I'm not really into dodgy unsupported hacks these days - the main reason OSX appeals is because I just want to get on with the tasks at hand and stop pissing about

@Martyn - I loaded Ubuntu 6 off CD last night and it looks really nice, but I didnt install it because I really need everything under the one roof - not having Live kills it for me

I have thought about using it for Uni - Open office and internet etc though - do you think it's worth it for that? I think it would shit me not having my audio stuff to hand

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:25 am

Ubuntu looks great

if only it did Live...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5O ... re=related

forge · Post by **forge** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:59 am

just thought I'd update y'all

after my flatten/re-install I also installed vista - at first mainly because I needed EasyBCD so I could access OSX

I also did the whole thing so I could create a Fat32 partition for sharing with OSX

well, this fresh vista install is really snappy and quick - I dont know what was slowing me down before, but whatever it was it's not happening now

ironically I keep getting the hourglass in XP when trying to access folders!

so what I'm doing now is using the FAt32 partition to store my projects folder and my Ableton library and sharing both between all 3 OSes so I can quickly and easily choose one over the other if one is giving me probs or I need to do somethign another doesnt offer

but right now vista is working a treat!

I ran TweakVI and even with Aero it's really snappy

bizarre

forge · Post by **forge** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:07 am

which brings me to the next question

does anyone know if windows defender is enough in vista? or do I still need a 3rd party virus scanner?

It just occurred to me maybe it was Sophos causing slow downs