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Haxies (Unsanity collection) . . .

Well, looks like that Unsanity and its haxies like Windowshade, FruitMenu, Xounds etc are dead for good with Lion launch and anyone relying on these would have to stick with Snow L.


But either way I need to ask you, Lion community, if you guys are aware of any similar products.

I am really addicted to Xounds, where I can costumize sounds for different menu actions, sound when pressing keyboard, menu pop up sounds and navigation etc. - I really like to hear sound response when writing, not to mention minimizing window to the tab using Windowshade.


Anyway, I would appreciate we keep this alive and maybe you guys can drop an email to Unsanity to make them to wake up from dead and to give us some update on Lion's compatibility.


ANy tips for system possibilities for similar actions woudl be appreciated.


Best,


Mike

Posted on Aug 3, 2011 2:02 AM

Reply
10 replies

Aug 3, 2011 3:50 AM in response to Leslie Bell

There appears to be a lack of interest on Unsanity's part.


I have not been able to track down any news from them . Still in the process of pining down the developers myself.


Slava one of the head programmers for Unsanity appears to of moved on to another project of his. I've been able to track down his twitter in which he's a profilic poster on that other project and other things just nothing Unsanity related.


Despite what anyone says the issue isn't having to convert all it's PPC code to Intel as Rosetta was dropped. The Application Enchancer framework or "APE" is already written with both PPC code _and_ Intel code in it. In fact since APE 2.6 all modules are required to have PPC , Intel 32 bit and Intel 64 bit code inside them or they will not load.


No what your'e seeing here is APE's defense mechanism. Its's detecting a higher O/S version then what it's maxium allowable version is and is disabling itself.


Unsanity could _very_ easily update APE and it's haxies for Lion - I've found evidence in the APE framework and also the modules themselves that it's just an edit to be done in one of their build files , then a new variable added both in the framework and the modules themselves and it should in theory load them.


Of course getting them loaded is only the first part - this all assumes there's no bugs come up with them or nothing changed in Lion from SL that the haxies use.

Aug 3, 2011 4:00 AM in response to Bluspacecow

well, I guess it was slava not rosyna who was twittering their updates for snow leopard which came about 1 year after snow l. release. I laso think that the delay was caused due to the re-writing of the code for intel.

their discussion forum is a mess and the last update is from 2010. even it looked like they are back, they are not.


many issues holds me back from upgrading to lion. unfortunTelly, unsanity's lineup of products was living with me since their launch and I simply hate to ignore its usability by moving up to lion. amazing, how few haxies influence my workflow and makes me NOT to upgrade. being apple . . . I would be ******. why they just can't expand their universal access panel for costum sounds assignement for keyboard sohnd feedback . . . for a start )

Aug 3, 2011 4:07 AM in response to Bluspacecow

......


The plot thickens !


http://twitter.com/#!/rosyna/status/93678909895360513


"Yay, the first version of system software with my code in it has shipped!" and the link is to Lion ?


Which according to :


http://twitter.com/#!/rosyna/status/93679328096821248 is


"Yeah, ATS/fontd stuff (none of the shaping, metrics or anything, just the font management/database). BECAUSE THAT'S WHO I AM!"


Very interesting.


http://twitter.com/#!/rosyna/status/95524380741869568


Seems to hint at problems with LS not loading particular code for different processor types correctly. That could cause an issue with getting APE to load correctly. May need to wait for 10.7.2 to be pushed out that's only just been pushed out to the developers before a meaningfull update IMHO.

Aug 3, 2011 4:17 AM in response to mi.po

mi.po wrote:


well, I guess it was slava not rosyna who was twittering their updates for snow leopard which came about 1 year after snow l. release. I laso think that the delay was caused due to the re-writing of the code for intel.

their discussion forum is a mess and the last update is from 2010. even it looked like they are back, they are not.


The blog posts appear to be written by slava. Mind you i'm only going off what I can see in the twitters - there could be a back story i'm not aware of here.


As for discussion forums ... where are their ones at ?



I've tried their offo

Aug 3, 2011 4:31 AM in response to Bluspacecow

is actually in the blog area / under comments at


their http://www.unsanity.org/archives/betas/betas_twitter_and_***.php#comments


that was the only way people could write down their frustartion.

now it has some heavy spamming with every post you do - or I have no idea what it is, but it makes difficult to get any sense of what is happening with them. last blog comment from unsanity was done in Feb 2010 an d then there was a sale in May 2011, so I am sure they are aware there is a big community of people who would like to get their upadates. again, its price is not an issue here, but their ability to "work"?

Nov 6, 2011 10:51 AM in response to mi.po

Any company, like Unsanity, who creates hacks to the operating system (software that uses undocumented and unofficial application interfaces) is always going to be at risk of becoming incompatible with any update to the operating system – even small updates. With Apple's improvements to the system to make it faster, stabler, and safer, hacks always are at risk of becoming incompatible. Through Unsanity's history, we've always experienced with regularity when its products become incompatible and thus fail.


Unfortunately, it takes a lot of energy to figure out the new ways to hack the operating system. Hacks often have to break through security features of the operating system, for example. This is why it usually takes Unsanity a long time to update their products. It certainly took a long time to update for Snow Leopard, for example - so long that I stopped using their hacks and found replacements for almost all of them.


1. Fruit Menu: I use the Favorites folder feature - which is stored in the user's library to store aliases to my favorite applications and folders. I dragged this folder (after changing the icon to a heart) to the right side of the dock. There, I can pop it open in any application to activate my favorite applications or open my favorite folders. What is good about this replacement is that it is free and does not hack the operating system so will be available in any future update of OS X. It is also easier to mouse to the Favorites folder since it is on the bottom rather than top of the screen.


2. Labels X: I recommend Path Finder. It is an application which can replace the Finder. It has many many more features than the Finder – including changeable labels, dual-pane Windows (allowing you to see the contents of two folders at the same time, so you can more easily organize the contents of each and copy or move items between each one). It also has the hard drives listed on top of the side bar rather than at the bottom like OS X Lion has (which is very inconvenient in Lion). I turn on Path Finder generally only when I need it. But you can use it all the time as a Finder replacement. Path Finder is rapidly upgraded since it doesn’t hack into OS X like Unsanity’s products – thus you can expect it to be stable for years to come. Path Finder is like a super duper replacement for Labels X.


3. Menu Master: This is the one I miss the most since it was so handy to change an application’s actual menu key. This feature cannot totally be replaced. But for nearly every situation, I’ve replaced it with Keyboard Maestro. Keyboard Maestro does more than Menu Master. It allows you to create complex macros in OS X. It has been very stable and compatible and has been rapidly updated since it uses official application interfaces and doesn’t hack into OS X. There are other alternatives which are also excellent: iKey and Quickeys. But Keyboard Maestro is the one which has been most rapidly updated as OS X has been updated. I’m pretty happy with it, even though I also bought iKey and Quickeys.


4. Windowshade: This is an OS X feature I also miss since in spots it can come in handy. Apple, unfortunately, decided that the Windowshade feature was not useful for the majority of people and overly complicated the user interface. I bet Steve Jobs also thought it was UGLY to clutter up the desktop with partially closed windows - and I thought for years that it does look ugly. For these reasons, Apple removed the Windowshade feature. Unfortunately, there is direct replacement for it. I have instead accepted the fact that OS X will never have Windowshade again unless someone again hacks the system. However, I have come to terms with this and have instead used these OS X’s features as a replacement: 1. Minimize to Dock: which minimizes the window to the right side of the dock. 2. Mission Control: which allows one to switch between applications and shuffle windows around. 3. Command-Tab to switch between applications (Command-Tab was originally from Microsoft Windows). 4. A Second Monitor (or more): More monitors removes the need to use Windowshade since you can have numerous windows open at the same time. With practice, these become second nature and just work. Thus, since Snow Leopard, I haven’t found a need to come back to Windowshade.


5. Xounds: I admit that I don’t use Xounds. When this feature first came out in Mac OS 9, I found it a distraction and turned it off. It is, however, fun on occasion and I have saved the numerous sound files I had used with Mac OS 9 through the years. If you want sounds for various system events, consider SoundNote 0.2.1 (http://mrgeckosmedia.com/applications/info/soundnote). It is open source so perhaps someone can improve its interface - like Unsanity. It is complicated to use but it can do pretty much everything Xounds can do and more – e.g. growl notification sounds. If you want more sound from your Mac, you can also turn on the VoiceOver utility in the Universal Access preference pane. This will then tell you the contents of every window you mouse to. Note that, unless sight impaired, the extra sounds are more a distraction than not. Again, I bet this is why Steve Jobs cut system sounds out of OS X except for basic ones like the trash sound and alert sound.


6. FontCard: I tried this but found it slowed my system too much when it did work. I use simply use Apple’s Font Book when I want to organize my fonts. It will forever be updated and supported in OS X.


7. Shapeshifter: I miss themes in Mac OS 9. But I have come to terms with simply using what Apple gives us. Note having to decide the flavor of the day is missed. And, one can’t wow your friends with a Sci-Fi look to your Mac. But at least the interface works.


8. Silk: With OS X Lion, there are no longer any PowerPC apps and carbon apps are dying away. Thus, Silk is no longer necessary.


9. Mighty Mouse: There is no direct replacement for this in OS X Lion. OS X Lion allows you to enlarge the cursor using the Universal Access preference pane. It does this much more nicely than previous OS X versions. Other mouse utilities that do similar things to Mighty Mouse to strongly consider include: OmniDazzle (free from the Omni Group), iCursor (free in the App Store), Mouseposé (from App Store), Star Trail (from App Store), and HotMouse (from App Store).


There you go. I've moved on. I've found replacements for almost all that Unsanity does. So I no longer wait for them. And I don't have to worry any longer about system crashes from a hack to the system.

Haxies (Unsanity collection) . . .

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