[InactionMan]

Despite the fact that it can wreak havoc on my system ( ) I've been using Shapeshifter for the past few months. And there are some great themes available, especially the new guikits that mod folder and system icons automatically. But I just went back to the default Aqua theme and my god it is bloody awesome. Apple is really quite good at what they do.

Anyway, if anyone else here knows of theme that can top Aqua please show me. I don't think it exists.

[Brad]

Long ago I used to suffer the pangs of not having Kaleidoscope on Mac OS X. Then, I realized that the themes were not only more trouble than they were worth, but that Aqua itself is bloody awesome especially compared to many of the themes out there. Yes, some of them are very well done, but none of them seem quite as polished and universally appealing as Aqua.

[BuonRotto]

Yeah, a lot of people went through the same machination when Kaliedoscoe was available for the Classic Mac OS. You'd spend about a week changing the "scheme" every 15 minutes, settle on one that was very close to Platinum for another week, then look at the default Platinum, realize it was still better, and return to where you began. If you're looking for something Aqua-like, it will be hard to improve on the more refined one we have now in my experience. Otherwise, you might look into more OpenStep-like appearances or something really different from Aqua.

[HOM]

I used Alluminum Alloy for a good six months until my hard drive completely crapped out. It seemed perfect to me. Now, I don't want to use it because it requires some Unsanity software. Can't stand that company.

[Majost]

Yeah, that one was fun for quite some time... but then I turned it off for an update, and realized how elegant Aqua is - Especially in Panther. They've really refined it nicely since 10.0

[LoCash]

I use the AquaPro theme, but before that, I used SmoothStripes. Basically, I have always hated the pin stripes in OS X, and both of those themes do a wonderful job of only removing them.

I love Aqua too, but the pin stripes just had to go.

[autodata]

Aqua is certainly the best theme, but it doesn't mean I like it. The three things that bother me: 1. too bright 2. too many curves and 3. aqua + metal. So I use a theme called Classix10k v1.1 which is a little darker, has squared edges and doesn't differentiate too much between aqua and metal apps. It's not as 'good' of a theme as aqua, but I find it much less intrusive and, therefore, easier to ignore when working.

[kscherer]

I especially liked the Mac OSX XP look. Brilliant!

[BarracksSi]

I was one of those who played with Kaleidoscope every day, even finally buying it. I found myself using an "Aqua" (which was really neat with a Zelda 64 soundset!), which I liked a lot. Eventually, the only two Kaleidoscope themes I used were Aqua and Platinum, and I ended up ditching Kaleidoscope altogether and using plain ol' Platinum because of how smoothly it worked.

I even fooled around with those Appearance themes that worked their way into the unused native theme support, but again, kept going back to Aqua or Platinum.

The only thing I'd like to see in OS X is proper soundset support (no haxies, no APE crap). I miss having the noises from Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. Best menu & selection sounds ever.

[iBrowse]

http://www.dlanham.com/downloads/somatheme.htm

That's my current favorite, in the green variation. Fun and funky.

[InactionMan]

Originally Posted by iBrowse http://www.dlanham.com/downloads/somatheme.htm That's my current favorite, in the green variation. Fun and funky.

I used that for a while. The icons are nutty. I used Good Grey before switching back to Aqua. I tend to go for the plain themes like Good Grey or Milk. But for now-nothing but Aqua. Though there is a NeXT theme I may try.