--- layout: post title: Iridium’s FAQ author: Steven date: 2005-09-11 01:41:35 categories: - Musings tags: - iridium - os x - software featured_image: https://www.stevenjaycohen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/wsi-imageoptim-happy-mac-icon.png --- Frequently asked questions: Q: I've installed Iridium, now how do I change between the themes? A: Iridium is not a theme-changing program. It installs 1 new theme in place of the old look of your OS. To change themes, run one of the other installers or restore programs. Q: I would like to request a different theme, will you do it? A: Probably not. Programming is a hobby for me, not a business. If you were willing to hire me to write something, that would be another story. I made Iridium because it was a theme I wanted to use. I released it because some of the people I showed it to thought that lots of other people would like it. I provided the original source files along with Iridium for both the theme and the installer. Please feel free to use them to write your own theme. Remember, if you do release something based upon my work, you should include the Creative Commons license in the Read Me file. Q: I loved Chromium and Palladium, why did you pull them from the current download? A: Both themes had too many rendering glitches to handle while trying to make adjustments to Iridium. I took on too big of a project by expanding the set of themes. So, I had to scale back. Designing these themes is not my job, its a hobby. If I were getting paid for this, things might be different. But, I am committed to making these themes free and opensource. That is the priority. Q: Can I still download the last versions of Chromium and Palladium? A: Sure, they are at: http://www.resexcellence.com/themes/index_59.shtml Q: Iridium used to be flat, what happened? A: Iridium began by applying the Unified window gradient to all of the windows in the OS that could handle it. A glitch showed up in Safari that I could not fix. So, I worked around the problem by flattening the windows. A fix for the problem was submitted to me by Pedro Grilo. So, I re-instated the curved look to the windows. Q: I preferred Iridium when it was flat. Can I still download that version? A: Yes, it is at:http://www.resexcellence.com/themes/index_59.shtml Q: In an older version of Iridium, the selected menu items were all cool and bevelled and there was more depth to the metal windows. What happened? A: The bevelled menus caused problems with some 3rd party menus and the depth to the metal windows caused a glitch in Safari's bookmark view (http://www.macthemesforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=35080#35080 ). Once I can find a bug free way of restoring these features without the bugs, I will. The window depth is back in v1.6.3! Q: There is a slight irregularity in Safari's bookmark view. Why? A: I saw this glitch as the least of all evils. Every way that I found to remove this problem seemed to create other problems. So, once I figure out how to remove it without causing other glitches, I will. Q: The MS Word Search and Replace box looks funny with Chromium installed. Why? A: It seems that Word was not designed in the cleanest way. A dark theme like Chromium makes those things show up a lot more. Q: There is a glitch in iSync once I have pressed the Sync button. It goes away if another button is pressed. Are you going to fix it? A: Problems like this one and ones in some of the other iApps (iCal, iChat, etc) are going to need to wait until Iridium v2.0. Apple designed many of the iApps to use their own internal system widgets. This means that Iridium would have to modify many, many more files to fix this. Q: I found an application that is not being themed. What should I do? A: Take a screenshot of the application and contact me at www.stevenjaycohen.com Iridium is a work in progress. Screenshots from you will help me improve it a lot faster than if I had to track everything down alone. Also, be aware that some applications use their own internal resources to draw windows. If that is the case, Iridium will not theme the application. Q: Does this mean you won't fix interface problems in ___ application? A: I will fix interface problems whenever possible that are caused by the files that I am modifying. I will also work to resolve interface issues with applications that ship with MacOSX 10.4 Q: Are you still making a DLTA file for ThemeChanger? Where is it? A: Yes. All betas are built as DLTA files. You can find the link for the current file by following the "Iridium Beta & Other Files" link that came with your download. Q: Why won't you support ShapeShifter related problems? A: I do not have ShapeShifter installed. Any problems you encounter while using ShapeShifter should be addressed to www.unsanity.com Q: Okay, but is there a way for me to use Iridium with ShapeShifter anyway? A: Since ShapeShifter says that it can use DLTA files, you may want to try the file I generate for ThemeChanger. I cannot guarantee that it will work with ShapeShifter. You can find the file by clicking on the "Iridium Beta & Other Files" link that came with the download. Q: Can I install Iridium on 10.3? A: Iridium for 10.3.x is available here: iridium4panther.zip But, since I do not have a 10.3 machine to continue development on, it is provided "as is" and may not be updated nearly as often as Iridium for 10.4.x Q: Can I install Iridium on 10.2? 10.1? 10.0? 10 Beta? OpenStep? etc? A: No. Q: I'd like to change part of Iridium. Can I? How do I do it? A: Be my guest. Grab ThemePark and start editing! You can find help over at http://www.macthemesforums.net and please share your work with me. I find it inspiring to see the creativity of others. If you would like to distribute your modifications, please be sure that you read the Creative Commons license in the Read Me file. Q: I just want to skin iTunes. How do I do that? A: Download http://code.google.com/p/stevenjaycohen/downloads/list Q: Hey! Iridium v1.5.1 and earlier skinned iTunes. I just applied v1.5.2 and iTunes is not skinned, what happened? A: In preparation for changes anticipated in iTunes v5.0, SmoothTunes is now its own installer. It is in the folder with this file. Q: There is a line missing from the bottom of the toolbar in formerly aqua windows. Why did you remove it? A: Removing that line is part of what makes the aqua windows seem unified. I know it does not look perfect everywhere, but remember, Iridium is a work around until Apple gives us a unified interface. Iridium is faking what Apple should have done in the first place. Q: Where is the Backup stored? A: /Library/Application Support/Sagefire/ If you have a folder at the root level of your harddrive named "Pre-Iridium-Backup" please re-run the backup program. it will move your backup to the proper location. Q: iTunes and Quicktime do not exactly match Iridium. Why not? A: The above programs do not use standard Cocoa or Carbon methods for generating their UI. This was as close as I could get. Q: Will updates (like MacOS 10.4.x) break Iridium? A: No, an Iridium install should work fine on all 10.4.x systems. I will likely need to make a new version for 10.5.x Q: Can I make a suggestion? A: Please do. Drop by www.stevenjaycohen.com and get in touch.