Published on October 30, 2007
As you may know, Leopard ships with a controversial icon for Windows Machines on the network, it’s a beige monitor with a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). While this was pretty funny in the developer builds of Leopard, I think it’s a little tasteless for the retail release. I use a Windows machine right alongside my Macs every day, and I didn’t want to stare at this icon when I was networking between them. I was reading how to replace the BSOD Windows Network Machine icon from Leopard with a generic Mac monitor icon at Engadget. I wanted to replace it, and I thought this might be a good time to find out how icon creation works on the Mac. This was my first icon (on any system really) and is really just a modification of the existing BSOD icon and the Bootcamp icon.
If you want to use this icon yourself, you can grab the icns icon file here.
Here are the instructions on how to install it, modified from Engadget’s article.
- In Finder, go to /System/Library/CoreServices/ and find CoreTypes.bundle. Right click and choose “show package contents”
- Now go to Contents/Resources/ and you will see a bunch of icons.
- Drag the wincomp.icns file into this folder. It will prompt you to authenticate and enter your admin password to make changes to this folder.
- Open up Terminal and type the following 3 commands:
- cd /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/
- sudo mv public.generic-pc.icns public.generic-pc_lame.icns
[enter your admin password]
- sudo cp wincomp.icns public.generic-pc.icns
Now log out and log back in and things should be swapped. This is my first icon, ever, so I know it’s not pretty… hopefully I’ll take another shot at it once I know Illustrator better and I can make some nice vector art. Above, you can see my Windows icon next to my 12″ Powerbook on my network.
Published on October 29, 2007
I was just talking about how I couldn’t get QuickSynergy to work in Leopard. Thankfully, I did a little digging and quickly found a solution. Using SynergyKM I have Synergy running between Leopard and XP Pro with no problems. SynergyKM looks a lot more mature than QuickSynergy, and is probably the software package I should have been using all along.
At any rate, I’m happy now!
Published on October 29, 2007
[Update: My problems have been solved with SynergyKM]
I’ve switched both of my machines (12″ Powerbook and Intel iMac) to Leopard now, and I’ve run into my first major application loss. QuickSynergy no longer works for me.
My workstation setup is a 20″ iMac on the right, with a Windows machine hooked up to a 20″ LCD directly to the left. I use the Windows machine for 3D modeling and rendering. Having both machines on the desk lets me use both systems without having to reboot my iMac or run a virtualization program. I use Synergy to control both computers with one keyboard and mouse. If you haven’t heard of Synergy, and you use more than one computer at a desk, check it out immediately. It’s nearly life changing.
QuickSynergy is a great GUI for using Synergy on the Mac or Linux. Before QuickSynergy came along, everything was command line. Well, QuickSynergy doesn’t seem to play nicely with Leopard. My Windows machine won’t connect to my iMac as a Synergy server, and when I try to quit QuickSynergy I get an error mentioning something about Applescript.
I’m going to try using the command line Synergy setup, but if that doesn’t work it looks like I’ll be rockin’ out old-school with two keyboards and two mouses (mice? mii?) on my desk.
If anyone has run into this and knows a solution, please enlighten us in the comments!
Published on October 29, 2007
The new Leopard GUI versus the old Tiger GUI in regards to titlebars. (Tiger on the top, Leopard on the bottom) I felt like the corners Leopard had a smaller radius on them than Tiger did, so I checked, and they do.
Small detail, doesn’t really matter. I feel like a pretty big geek for noticing without seeing them side-by-side.
Published on October 16, 2007
I was just talking about this, and now Download Squad has a post citing Business Week with speculation that Leopard may indeed bring us an official iPhone SDK.
Sources familiar with the company’s plans tell BusinessWeek.com that Apple will release a software-development kit for the iPhone in early 2008, enabling programmers to create games, business-productivity tools, and countless other applications for the device. Few details are known, but sources say an announcement will come in January, which suggests it may be slated for Jan. 15, when Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs takes the stage at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
- Business Week: Will Apple Open the iPhone?
It really does seem inevitable that Apple will release a SDK. The novelty of the iPhone is wearing off fast, and customers are getting loud about the fact that they want more than first-party applications. The iPhone as a gimmick isn’t going to sell units much longer. However, building a strong and robust platform for third-party development will. Just look at the PalmOS’s dominance of the PDA market a few years ago.
