ShapeShifter - January 11, 2004
Author: Unsanity
Cost: $20
Version: 1.0.1
Reviewed by: Phillip Ryu
User Rating: 
63%
Many theme users will remember November 18th as the day of ShapeShifter's release, and the subsequent revolution in Mac theming. Or perhaps not. Nevertheless, ShapeShifter is undeniably a quality product, and one that indeed holds the key that may unlock OS X's limitations.
Features
ShapeShifter's main function is to switch system themes, and this is something the application does exceedingly well. Not only does ShapeShifter do this with speed and stability, but also offers exclusive features such as the never before seen exclude list, which lets you turn themes off for certain applications, the insta-preview, and user specific themeing. Furthermore, ShapeShifter is almost impossible to break: it updates even 10.1 themes for Panther compatibility on first application, and because of its unique engineering, lets you turn off themes with one click, rather than restoring a backed up copy of Aqua. How does ShapeShifter achieve this? Magic.
Well, perhaps not magic, but ShapeShifter's unique features are possible due to its use of Application Enhancer, an Unsanity creation that lets modules (such as SS's engine) hijack applications on launch to do their bidding. ShapeShifter uses this functionality to reroute an application's resources on launch to your own, meaning that your system theme is never replaced, but rather ignored, forgoing many stability problems that plagued previous theme switchers. In addition to stability, ShapeShifter's engine allows for many other perks, including the aforementioned exclude functionality. Even more importantly, however, is what potential this application holds. ShapeShifter already breaks some boundaries that Aqua had restricted on themers; in the future, themes could potentially break out of these boundaries completely. Instead of simply replacing textures on the windows and controls that make up OS X's default interface, ShapeShifter could potentially manipulate window shapes and boundaries, opening up a new world of innovation and possibilities for themers. Of course, this "feature" hasn't officially been announced yet, but that's the direction ShapeShifter seems to be heading towards.
Basically, ShapeShifter is all about potential and possibilities. Though the application remains a quality theme switcher in its current form, who knows what it might become by version 2? Application specific resource switching (such as Safari toolbars) is an obvious feature to add, as is support for system icon sets. Perhaps ShapeShifter could eventually integrate with an online database of themes, similar to the IconFactory's online integration with many of its products. The possibilities are truly endless.
Ease of Use
In its current form, ShapeShifter is generally intuitive and a joy to use. The application resides in your System Preferences, and is organized by three tabs: ShapeShifter (general options and information), Themes (for viewing, previewing, and switching), and Exclude List (self explainable). As previously stated, the actual process of switching themes is fast and painless. Like most other theme switchers, there is an option to restart the finder and dock on application, and other applications must be manually restarted for the theme to take effect.
However, some minor glitches remain. Why ShapeShifter uses radio buttons in the theme list is beyond me, as a simple select and apply could have done as well. In addition, ShapeShifter suffers a minor annoyance of having to load themes, which one competitor, ThemeChanger, never had to do. Another noticeable problem that users found early on was that ShapeShifter cannot theme the "About This Mac" and boot/login panels due to APE limitations. Finally, I'd love guiKits to be installed on double click; at the moment, they open in ShapeShifter, but are not copied to your theme directory. Though this list may seem intimidating, ShapeShifter's many other features, including its stability, exclude list and user specific themeing, brings much ease of use to a task that was previously painful and sometimes even dangerous. Before this, theme switching was basically a hack and things could go wrong. Kernel panics and the dreaded sad mac were always possible, but with these gremlins abolished, theme changing has become a much easier and fun thing to do.
Price
ShapeShifter is worth its price for three reasons: First, the application is one of its kind; the first to bring safe, fast switching and the possibility to break Aqua's strict bounds. Second, these features have made its closed theme format irresistible to theme authors, meaning you won't find many new themes compatible with competitor switchers. Third, as previously stated, ShapeShifter is a world of possibilities, and is definitely a smart investment for the interested buyer.
However, the second reason has brought up some controversy and concerns in the community, as the format coupled with its popularity has seemingly turned themeing into an expense in one blow. Previously, while there have been shareware switchers, free and quality alternatives were always available. (Most notably, Cliché Software's ThemeChanger.) However, the guiKit format has now made ShapeShifter almost a necessity for customization fans, and this is the focus of the complaints; not that ShapeShifter isn't worth the money, but the fact that a financial investment has now become almost necessary. For some, this is a major issue. For others, I highly advise buying this product. There is simply nothing better, and this is an application that will continue improving and evolving at a tremendous rate. (Look for huge changes in version 1.5.)
Comments
Posted by kovacs at January 12, 2004 07:46 AM | Edit | Delete
This is not the kind of critical review I expect from a site like this, love this site but this review wasn't very objective, there is no doubt that this is a great app, but it's not that revolutionary at the moment, it's safer and offers customizable text colors but that's about it, not really worth the 20$ price tag for me. I have no doubt 1.1 or 1.5 will be worth the money but this is not a review of version 1.1 or 1.5, I pay for this app and not the apps it's going to be. This is like saying MS office v. X is great because you will get a free update for Office 2004. I'm sure shapeshifter is a great step forward for any theme designer, being able to test your themes safely and on the fly is a big thing, but as an end user I don't really care. So, my main complaint with this review is that you seem to like the app more for what it's going to be and not for what it is at the moment. I wonder how you are going to review version 1.5 when it's really worth the money and really is revolutionary...
Posted by Phillip Ryu at January 12, 2004 07:59 AM | Edit | Delete
I agree with you that a big point of this review is that ShapeShifter has lots of things coming in later versions. However, I do believe that it is revolutionary, at least to some degree, in its current form. ShapeShifter provides safety, instant previews, user specific switching, exclude list functionality, and already breaks some Aqua barriers (look at EYLO for a theme that is only possible on ShapeShifter). That having been said, at the end it is still your opinion (and mine) whether ShapeShifter's price is worth it or not. But I guess we both agree that version 1.5 is something to look forward to. I hope to boost up the feature and ease of use score by then :)
Posted by kovacs at January 12, 2004 08:26 AM | Edit | Delete
Thanks for the quick and friendly reply, I'm certainly looking forward to version 1.5 ( and version 1.1 of this site ;-)
Posted by Judie Edwards at January 12, 2004 12:29 PM | Edit | Delete
Thanks to ShapeShifter, even we *blondes* can change themes on our Macs with one-click! The $20 price tag is well worth the safety factor ShapeShifter provides.
Many thanks to the creative minds that provide all the beautiful themes!
Posted by swiz at January 12, 2004 01:27 PM | Edit | Delete
I would echo kovacs comments but phillryu has already said what I was gonna say. So this post is pointless. Knowing what SS is going to be is hard to not hint to in a review.
Posted by slb at January 12, 2004 01:37 PM | Edit | Delete
Well, it's not exactly without issues - some reports of QuickTime problems and other assorted glitches with APE mean it's not totally safe, as people would have us believe.
I personally have not found many Themes worth installing this and paying for as of yet...
Once the new version and the mystery "Omega" appear, I may change my mind.
SB
Posted by Benjamin at January 12, 2004 07:26 PM | Edit | Delete
I use my computer for important things like recording, and my work, so to me, $20 is a small price to pay to be able to safely play around with the beautiful theme work people do. I bought it 10 minutes after I installed the demo. Love it.
Posted by Phillip Ryu at January 12, 2004 09:28 PM | Edit | Delete
SLB, those Quicktime issues you mentioned may be fixable by the exclude list ;)
Posted by d0le at January 14, 2004 12:49 PM | Edit | Delete
I bought ShapeShifter the day it was released hoping it was something really cool, but so far it hasn't been anything special. Hopefully it does add some new features soon and some bugs are fixed. The one bug that really annoys me is when something requires an Admin password to install or to deactivate the screensaver, the prompt box takes forever to show up with ShapeShifter enabled.
Posted by danielgrenell at January 15, 2004 05:59 PM | Edit | Delete
i think it's closer to a 10, not a perfect 10, but like 9.6, 9.7, and 10.0 when it gets those features we're waiting on.
Posted by Grey at February 24, 2004 10:25 PM | Edit | Delete
So Far I Can not put it to fault, but recently it has been making my finder relauch or some thing and then resets the theme back to its original aqua theme, now that isnt worth $20.If any of the unsainty team read this ,please sort it out.
Over all its brilliant.But annoying at times when it does this, and more frequently it has been lately
Grey
Posted by Heiesuke at April 29, 2004 09:41 AM | Edit | Delete
wow i hope ya can delete the spam. anyway SS is one of the best things for my Mac experience that i can think of.
Posted by iNeusch at April 29, 2004 12:02 PM | Edit | Delete
My favourite :)
BTW, MacThemes should install MTBlacklist... spammers are around