User Comments

This is an absolutely excellent document and I would suggest that anybody seeing this should try it. I’ve found that my system (running XP Pro) runs much faster and is even more stable using the DesktopX/Object desktop combination.

Plus the fact that my PC now seems to work more like a mac than a pc is really good.

To be honest, I think your mad if you just read this and don’t try it out, you will be grateful when you do!

Glad you liked the article Lone Wolf.

There’s more to come (if I ever get around to revising the document) as there are lots of other utilities that contribute to that OS X “feel”.

In the meantime, if you want to forge ahead with desktop modding, I recommend a visit to http://aquaxp.com/theme/index.php - where you’ll really see what your XP-based PC is capable of.

The best website iv’e seen in a long time that really gives you that “os x” feel Like lone wolfe said people would be crazy to read and not try this excelent emulation if i can call it that.

Actually, since that article was written, I have installed a few more items that have made XP look and act even more like OS X. I will update the article at some point to cover these latest additions.

I read your article a couple of times because I was really interested to make my computer like Apple. I don’t usually install software hacks because I worry about trojans and spyware too much. But in the end the temptation was too great.

I followed through the article and downloaded some extra things from aquaxp.com and now I have a stunning desktop that looks just like OSX. My friend has a Mac and he was really surprised when he saw what I’d done. He was amazed that the emulation was so accurate.

Anyway, I just want to say thank you for a great article.

I’m glad that article was so useful to you Ian. It’s always nice to have one’s work appreciated.

Cheers.

I’m sure you already know about this, but it you don’t, here it is. iTunes, the real version, is available for PC, and it kicks the crap out of that WMP skin. {http://www.apple.com/itunes/}
Also, as a former PC user who emulated Mac OS X (I now have a awesome iMac) let me tell you that modifying the surface of windows does not even begin to compare with actually having a mac. macs have a much better user interface design overall, and no amount of windows tweaking will get windows as nice as a mac. which is why I switched, and i haven’t regretted it. I understand that macs are more expensive (and you can’t build them) but to me it’s worth it. eMacs are only $800 though. not too much.

Yes, I’m using iTunes - I just haven’t got around to updating those pages! :-(

I have an iMac myself (however, it’s running OS 9, rather than the X I’m trying to emulate). I know the mods don’t compare with the real thing - but they do visually, and that’s all I was trying to achieve here.

I am currently saving for a G5 - however, even though I’ll have the real thing, I’ll still mod the Windoze box - I might as well maintain the illusion! :-)

Another possible screensaver that supports multi-monitors and looks Mac like - well is ported from the Mac OS-X is Flurry (http://www.maddogsw.com/flurry/)

Thank you Ricky. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I’ve been looking for this screensaver ever since I began with my OS X emulation quest. The closest I ever got was Euphoria from Really Slick Screensavers. Euphoria’s great but it’s not authentic enough and it doesn’t support multiple monitors.

Needless to say, Flurry is now my screensaver of choice. So, again, thank you. :-)

The FlyakiteSP2 pack is now available. I’ve installed it today and it is extremely good, closer to OS X than anything I’ve seen thus far.

It’s so good, it even gets a mention on Wired’s Cult of Mac weblog!

hi i was just wondering, what windowblinds theme did you use in your review of modding windows into os x? it looks quite impressive.

If you want a quick change (without installing tweaks and progs like “windowblinds” etc.) to the looks and feel of MAC OSX, go to:

http://osx.portraitofakite.com

Or take a peak what your system would look like after installingen it:

http://osx.portraitofakite.com/screenshots.htm

EJ

what windowblinds theme did you use in your review of modding windows into os x

It isn’t any one theme, it’s a combination of elements taken from several OS X themes.

Do you have a theme for Firefox like AquaMoz for Mozilla ?? Its really great

Oh, dear, you’ve committed at least 2 basic UI errors with this project.

1. You’ve confused any effort at look & feel as sufficient. If L & F were so simple, I could repaint my ‘95 Saturn 4-door in Ferrari yellow, slap on some badges, wheels, a cheap fart-can muffler, carbon-fiber interior trim and ground effects, and I would have a poor man’s Ferrari 360 Modena. Right? Well, no, of course. The duplication is never accurate: in your case, to begin, the “Aqua” pick menus:

   [Choose a city… v]

(forgive the grotesque text-only illustration) are massively outsized; the typeface is wrong, nor is the type correctly centered vertically in the widget. In addition the “Aqua” buttons in the AquaMoz toolbars are again hugely fat, eating into the margins above, below, and to the sides. Look closely at screenshots of the Aqua interface and you’ll see a strict policy with toolbar icons: height, width, and offset. In addition, the visible “back” button is the wrong state (it’s in Aqua’s mouseover state) and the “forward button is too transparent. AquaMoz misuses the orange “reload last typed entry” button by bloating it (as usual) and placing it in the toolbar, where instead it belongs in the textfield. AquaMoz misuses the red “close” button by placing it as a tab-closing device, where Aqua strictly reserves the red button for whole-window closure.

1. As my humble Saturn is to the Ferrari 360, the two are structurally different. A paint job will not convert my Saturn to a mid-engined drivetrain, badges won’t delete the rear doors — nor will expanding the Windows Start menu/button into a bar at the top of the screen duplicate the Mac experience (to choose just one example). In Mac OS X, the top menu bar IS the menu bar for the application; it uses Fitt’s Law to enable the user to find the application functionality in a consistent manner. What you’ve done with your UI remodel is create a monster. Which menu is correct — the one at the top of the screen, or the one tied to the window per X-Windows and Windows policy?

You’ve got 2 file menus active at the same time, and — Lord help us — 2 HELP MENUS! Sadly, your final creation is where usability comes to die. The Win32 interface, left alone, was better. Hell, Motif is better.

Sorry, guys.

Ha!

Tuck paragraph 4 [“forgive…”] into the indented area for point #1.

Make that second indented area called #1, er, well, call it #2.

That’s what you get for not previewing when given the chance…

S.

… and that’s why I gave up and bought a Mac.