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CrystalClear Interface 2.5.8.8
Customize aspects of the Mac OS X Aqua interface (Snow Leopard and Lion). Shareware ($12.00)
- CrystalClear Interface has been discontinued
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Developer
Mars Themes
CrystalClear Interface (CCI) is a powerful system add-on that lets you customize certain aspects of the Mac OS X "Aqua" interface. Version 2.5 adds significantly to the CCI feature set, and is also easier to control and configure.
The 5 basic sets of interface components that you can customize through CCI are:
In addition, CCI provides
The 5 basic sets of interface components that you can customize through CCI are:
- Window transparency
- The color of windows and some text fields
- The "frame" of various window types
- Miscellaneous items such as scrollbars and the system menubar
- Buttons, tabs, and other interface widgets
In addition, CCI provides
What's New
Version 2.5.8.8:
- This release updates CCI to be compatible with Mac OS X 10.7.3, as well as earlier versions of Mac OS X 10.7.
CrystalClear Inter... User Discussion (Write a Review)
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CrystalClear Interface (CCI) is a powerful system add-on that lets you customize certain aspects of the Mac OS X "Aqua" interface. Version 2.5 adds significantly to the CCI feature set, and is also easier to control and configure.
The 5 basic sets of interface components that you can customize through CCI are:
In addition, CCI provides several other interface enhancements that you can use if desired:
The 5 basic sets of interface components that you can customize through CCI are:
- Window transparency
- The color of windows and some text fields
- The "frame" of various window types
- Miscellaneous items such as scrollbars and the system menubar
- Buttons, tabs, and other interface widgets
In addition, CCI provides several other interface enhancements that you can use if desired:
- Animating the opening and closing of windows
- Using "Single Application Mode" (SAM), which reduces window clutter by keeping only one application active at a time. Use the built-in application switcher (command-Tab) to switch applications.
- Allowing users to move windows by more than just the titlebar.
- Blurring the background for greater usability with very transparent windows.
- A selection of preset themes, making switching among the numerous possible combinations of color, transparency, and window frames a snap.
Copyright © 2012 MacUpdate LLC
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I -really- hate the Mac GUI eye candy and was a long-time user of Shapeshifter and before that Kameleon (!) - was so good to customise the eye-candy GUI. Never had any problems with either of them and enjoyed being able to replace/adjust various elements.
Would be delighted to see CCI for 10.8!
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The-Big-K reviewed on 02 Feb 2012
HOWEVER, I quickly discovered it kills MacJournal whenever I try to launch that app, which is mission-critical to me.
This happens even after restarts. Thus I had to immediately delete CCI. (I needed to use the DMG to get hold of the de-installer.)
Afterwards, the only trace left of it was a beautiful desktop wallpaper called “Sunrise,” but as soon as I tried switching to other ones, it disappeared and couldn’t be found again. (Heck, i might pay a buck or two for a batch of the app’s desktop pix.)
What I would like is a small utility to selectively color the tops of windows to differentiate Safari from Mail from iPhoto et al when I have a plethora of windows open. Seems like this would be a useful niche for some dev, and would be hugely helpful to people like me.
But Apple strenuously fights the idea of any third party making “skins” or anything similar to change their maddeningly-pristine Platinum non-color, just as they’ve managed to kill so many haxies from Unsanity.com, like the Windowshade that I adored. One report states that Apple’s engineers don’t even read bug reports where [Unsantity’s] APE is part of the installation.
If anyone knows of any alternatives, please post them.
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chadsere reviewed on 27 Nov 2011
Also, I would like if you created a function for us OCD users that would take this theme and completely overwrite the OS X Apple Aqua theme. This would greatly improve the speed of the theme we chose because nothing would be emulated, it would just be replaced. Other than a few minor choppy bugs, I really like what you have created, but until the bug I spoke about above gets fixed, I will not be purchasing. Thank you.
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Note that the delay is more pronounced on slower Macs with less RAM. The recommended System Requirements -- as noted in the User's Guide and on the CrystalClear Interface website -- are for at least a dual processor running at 2Ghz or better, and for at least 2GB of RAM. The current batch of Macbook Airs do not meet those requirements, so it's not surprising if theming is slower on those Macs.
You can reduce the delay somewhat by turning off various options in the "Extras" tab of the CCI Preferences panel. All of these are documented in the User's Guide.
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Alkan reviewed on 05 Nov 2011
Don't blame the developer for your ignorance.
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jps846 reviewed on 20 Sep 2011
I first downloaded CCI v.2.5.6.2, then ran the update for v.2.5.8.2.
I then tried to run the uninstaller but CCI is still running on certain windows!! It still run on safari, my preferences window, and also on my mail. There may be others but I haven't checked all of them. Can somebody please help me to uninstall this?? I'm not that great with computers, so I'm a little bit worried I won't be able to restore my computer to it's original settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
James
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Have you
1. … tried to restart OS X?
2. … contacted the dev directly?
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Oops… sorry to dangerous for my workhorse.
1. Adds code to preserve users' custom Finder settings when uninstalling CCI.
2. Fixes Safari graphics files so that Safari is restored correctly when uninstalling.
This update fixes 3 problems for users on Lion:
1. It no longer installs custom graphics for Safari, Mail, Preview, and others. Until I understand why the Safari graphics don't get restored.
2. It forces Lion users to restart after installing. This step minimizes the problem Lion has in transitioning from one set of graphics files to another.
3. It removes code that caused users' custom system preferences to be reset when uninstalling CCI.
Remaining Caveat: Uninstalling CCI on Lion will still cause your custom settings for Finder to be reset. I'm working on that as a top priority for the next update.
Leland
A couple of users have noted that on Lion, Safari's graphics are not completely restored after uninstalling CCI 2.5.8
This is probably a glitch in the uninstall process, because Safari's graphics are named differently on Lion than on Snow Leopard. I thought I had caught them all, but obviously not.
Leland
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1. You must RESTART your Mac after installing the software. Unlike Snow Leopard, merely logging out and back in isn't sufficient... Because of the very aggressive way Lion caches system resources, a restart is needed to avoid weird behavior, especially by Finder. A restart avoids this problem.
2. It does seem that uninstalling CCI 2.5.8.1 resets your system preferences to the system defaults. I'll be investigating this further, as the cause of this is not clear yet. The reset doesn't affect the appearance of your Mac GUI, but it can annoyingly revert settings -- such as your mouse scroll behavior -- to the Lion defaults.
Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll be updating the installer later today to require a restart after installation. Unfortunately, this will require Snow Leopard users to restart as well, but that's less of an inconvenience than what some Lion users have been experiencing.
Leland
MarsThemes
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I first downloaded CCI v.2.5.6.2, then ran the update for v.2.5.8.2.
I then tried to run the uninstaller but CCI is still running on certain windows!! It still run on safari, my preferences window, and also on my mail. There may be others but I haven't checked all of them. Can somebody please help me to uninstall this?? I'm not that great with computers, so I'm a little bit worried I won't be able to restore my computer to it's original settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
James
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I tried the demo. Upon doing the required logoff/logon, Quickeys crashed instead of loading completely. I tried disabling CrystalClear within the Pref Panes, logged off/on, quickeys crashed again. Upon uninstalling the Crystal Clear demo, Quickeys loaded normally.
It appears that there might be an incompatibility between the 2 applications. I wish to emphasize "might be" because I didn't have time to perform exhaustive troubleshooting.
Many thanks for providing the uninstaller; not all developers do that.
Again, to report bugs or other difficulties, the best approach is to contact the developer directly rather than posting here, because I don't check this page very often.
I do have one major problem though: It seems as though only one application can be displayed at a time. If a Safari window is up, for instance, and I need to go to something in Yahoo Messenger, I click the Yahoo Messenger icon in the dock. Yahoo Messenger's windows (all of them) show up, but Safari's, rather that going into the background, completely disappears. It isn't even present in Exposé. Then when I'm done with Yahoo Messenger, I have to click Safari's dock icon, and the Safari Window is back--but the Yahoo! Messenger windows disappear. It's very annoying, and because of this I will be uninstalling CCI until this bug is fixed.
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installed and tried it - no go - crashed, hung the system, forced to restart
lots of problems so immediately uninstalled it and have purged my system of it
a shame - I am always looking for non-aqua GUI, and this promised an alternative, but the delivery wasnt there - am happy to provide the developers with feedback, and maybe others are willing to try the software, but for now. I am free of CCI
Rmtv rated on 03 Sep 2011
+123
Eric-Woehler rated on 13 Dec 2010