JETFIREDX  Get info shows it is PowerPC only and 10.6 is telling me to install Rosetta. MacUpdate information needs to be corrected or a new build released.  
(Version 0.9.2)

JETFIREDX  I haven't had time to play with all of the new whiz-bang features that have been introduced and simply made a reply to a comment about the first thing that was presented to me by the new version. I highly doubt you or anybody else has been using it long enough to make a reasonable claim about the "improved" stability or any other aspect of the new version of iTunes except the aesthetic.

First impressions do matter and iTunes 9.0 in my opinion made a bad one right away by shocking me with a glaring white screen and a silly blue highlight in my otherwise graphite themed system. I think being able to comfortably look at a webpage or application window matters as much as some of the arguably less useful new features that have been added.  
(Version 9.0)

JETFIREDX  Gotta agree. The white background is bad. Much preferred the dark gray theme since it was easier on the eyes and was hoping this was a direction Apple was going to move with the Finder and their other apps too.  
(Version 9.0)

JETFIREDX  I am doing an updated review since it has been a long time since 2005 when I last posted about Blender.

With the last builds of 2.48 and the current 2.49RC series I have come a long way with Blender in a short time. Thanks to the improvements that have been added and many short tutorial videos I've been able to learn quickly the basics of rigging my models from Wings. I am now learning some python and playing around with the Blender Game Engine for some prototyping.

Besides tutorial videos two things seemed to change in regard to Blender since my last review. 1. The community doesn't seem as hostile as they were when I originally tried Blender with the 2.3 and early 2.4 releases. Asking a question got a lot of responses like "Go through the entire Noob-to-Pro book before you ask anything." Now there are many people who can link you to a video or point you in the right direction for how to accomplish something when it needs to be done using different tools than you may be used to. 2. I had to go back and look at Imagine 1.0 and 2.0 from my Amiga days and remember just what it was then do some modeling. I personally was taking too many things for granted with respect to user interface paradigms. Once I remembered how things used to work it was easier to just "let go" and learn this tool without regard to the operating system or "UI best practices" that are all over OS X.

I never did get 2.48 running well on a MacBook with GMA950 integrated graphics. The special builds were too slow to overcome OpenGL problems with the Intel driver. Now I have a MacBook Pro and everything is awesome.

I still think Wings has better modeling tools for the most part that can simplify quite a few tasks greatly but I am getting more used to thinking with Blender's toolset in mind. Blender however brings so much more than Wings though that I can't give it up now that I am comfortable with it. It really is a great program that you can't beat for the cost.  
(Version 2.49rc3)

JETFIREDX  Sorry for the double post.  
(Version 4.3b1)

JETFIREDX  This along with FruitMenu and PathFinder have finally allowed me to realize my dream of killing off the Dock and Finder. I'll be registering tonight! Awesome.

(Wings3D is the only app I have had misbehave so far.)  
(Version 4.3b1)

JETFIREDX  Nice. Compression rates vary greatly as I would expect from app to app. My BlitzMax debug builds of applications get a huge improvement in size, while others save a few megs here or there. I did not notice any slowing of loading applications once they were compressed and all have been behaving normally. (I did Mail.app to test as I have it running all the time.)

I could see this being useful in tandem with trim the fat and monolingual or a similar tool to save every last bit of space on a bootable backup or disc.

One feature I'd like to see is a report after an app is compressed of how much space was saved.  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  I like this! Adding projects and project items is straight forward and worked like I expected. Editing the project notes as a sticky is a nice touch.

The only issues so far is that the default height of the window on my MacBook is taller than the screen height. I suspected that having my dock auto hide may have allowed it to open too large but changing the dock to the default behavior didn't fix it. (And the AppleScript trick to resize it down isn't working . . . perhaps it isn't accessible by AppleScript? I haven't looked yet.) It is useable in the maximized view, but this isn't optimal all the time. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

I look forward to seeing future releases!  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Sorry I guess I wasn't completely clear there. I meant that both YCD and SpaceSuit were configured to have the same set of four distinct images during my testing / comparing. No matter though really. . .with a couple gigabytes of ram available I am not too concerned about memory consumption. (Some people might be though.) It was just one thing I looked at since I had Activity Monitor up at the time.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Very nice. Took me a bit to figure out why I couldn't see the images I was adding. Turns out that it doesn't work with PathFinder's replacement desktop. Not a surprise really and not SpaceSuit's fault.

YouControlDesktop seems to be a bit lighter on the resources. With both Spaces + SpaceSuit and YouControl Desktops configured for 4 desktops in a single row using the same images, SpaceSuit is using 4 threads and about 38megs of real memory while YouControl Desktops is running 3 with about 8megs of real memory in use. (YCD may increase with time, I just restarted it after testing SpaceSuit for a while...I haven't watched it closely for any memory leaks.)

With SpaceSuit I am seeing none of the graphic glitches/artifacts that are present with YouControl Desktops after switching around. This is a nice and pleasant bonus since areas of the screen not redrawing properly makes me wonder about what YCD may be doing to achieve its effects.

So far a great tool and like the other comments, I agree that this functionality should have been part of Spaces to begin with. Thank you for releasing this. It is a great (and FREE) alternative to YouControl Desktops and HyperSpaces for multiple background functionality.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Very nice! Already using them on my system. Any chance for a home folder too? I didn't see one in there. (But it is late and I could have missed it.)

It would be great to see what you could do with the other system icons for files as well!

Thanks!  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I tried them both when my initial selection of ftp failed with the errors I mentioned above. I tried several times making different backup configurations to make sure I was covering the options. I did select FTP. There is no need to yell about it on a forum.

I deleted everything, reinstalled Mathusalem tonight and tried again and it appears to be working. It is quick and looks to work very well. However, I'll not be sending any bugs if this is how you respond to a legitimate issue.  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Doesn't work with my Comcast FTP webspace. Shows connecting with ssh:// instead of ftp://. (I read the instructions and did not put the leading ftp:// in server name)

Console logs show that the backup completes with result null and nothing is in my ftp folder.

Looks like it will be a nice tool when its working.  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  Yeah it seems pretty unstable still with FTP as well. Trying to change the default path to ~/Comcast caused it to crash after an error about being unable to create the mount point. (However typing the full path in worked fine the next time.)

Glad to see MacFusion getting some updates though! Hopefully it will just continue to get better.  
(Version 2.0.2)

JETFIREDX  Again no OpenGL support and so I am sure is going to be almost useless to many people who either want to run a game or have one or two 3D tools they use in Windows that they would rather not reboot to run. (Parallels 3D support is laughable last I checked, and VMWare is passable but it still means running the whole OS just to get at that "one application.")  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Wings is a great modeler that I have been using for years now. Don't let the UI put you off. Similar to Blender, tt is fully cross platform which is why it doesn't fit in to any OS. Unlike Blender, Wings' method of editing meshes doesn't take years to learn and years more to master. After learning the basics, enabling advanced options in the menus, and learning a few...repeat FEW hotkeys, I was off an running. Also, unlike Blender, all of Wings' buttons and windows work like any user would expect.

There are some great plugins that the community around Wings has created and the forums are great to post questions in.

A few notes: Wings doesn't do animation. A bummer, I know because I think its UI would be well suited to this task. Also, if you get a blank window with a title bar when you open it, just drag the window a small amount and it will refresh. (A small bug that seems to have crept in through recent builds.)  
(Version 0.99.03)

JETFIREDX  Really nice. Dropping this one in with the rest of my image tools. Would it be possible to change JustLooking to use the black HUD window type for its windows? I think this would really unify its look, similar to PixelMator.  
(Version 3.2)

JETFIREDX  Half working here. Install appears to run correctly. Mail then launches. New emails do trigger an animation to play (the default I assume) but the preference for it only says something like "pick a button first!" but then if I select it again nothing is shown.

I am using the WideMail plugin so it is possible that there is a conflict.  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Thanks! I see that it is working. Forgive my mistake.   
(Version 0.1)

JETFIREDX  I think leaving the system for a half an hour is plenty of time to unpack. Also, how can it be unpacking when there is no process for it running (System Idle Process hanging out around 99%)? I also figured it could be trying to unpack something so I made sure I have a couple gigs of space open to unpack to just incase it wasn't handling an error for running out of space well.  
(Version 2.1)

JETFIREDX  Didn't show up in Apple Software Update for me at all. I guess I will check again in a few days.  
(Version 2.1)

JETFIREDX  Downloaded several times for WindowsXP both from MacUpdate and from Apple directly. Doesn't extract any files. Windows Task Manager shows the process consuming some RAM and CPU and then suddenly quits without an error. Nothing of note in the system logs.

MacBook CoreDuo

Windows XP Pro SP2  
(Version 2.1)

JETFIREDX  Doesn't appear to be working at all. Closes with no error or warning after entering server, username, and password. Shame too, this would really simplify my life dealing with files between home, work, and school.

MacBook CoreDuo 2.0ghz 2gb Ram

OS 10.5.2

MacFuse 1.3.1  
(Version 0.1)

JETFIREDX  I have been getting the latest versions of Wine here:

http://thisismyinter.net/

Not the best site layout, but scroll down in the Darwine section and you should be able to find a 0.9.53 build.  
(Version 6.2.1)

JETFIREDX  Thanks. I have been following it on Blender's forums and am on the second build with some fixes... still not really usable, but almost good enough to learn with. If nothing else, waiting up to 20 seconds for it to respond at times gives me time to ponder the UI and the hotkeys to try to commit things to memory.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Looking through the system I can only find a few files in System/Library/Extensions that were updated today with this update. My GMA950 related kexts are all still from Oct 2007, so I guess that means those of use using this poor chip didn't really get to see any (or many) fixes? That would explain why Blender is still useless.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Blender 2.45 on MacBook still suffers from terrible performance with this update. Unusable menus and responses from the UI.

OpenGL extension viewer benchmark tests gave the same performance results as before.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I like these icons. I would use them with LiteIcon and replace my current set except that these are incomplete. No developer folder, generic, etc... Add in the whole set supported by LiteIcon (and maybe some extras like a Games folder, Projects, and the like) and it would be a great set.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I ran it under Rosetta on my MacBook. It ran okay, but at this point I don't think there is any excuse for apps not being universal binaries so I removed it and haven't come back since. When there is a universal binary then I will check it out again and more thoroughly.  
(Version 4.0.9)

JETFIREDX  Really interesting. I am eager to see the next release.  
(Version 0.9.21)

JETFIREDX  I have never had to compile Wine myself. Dropping two files on my hard drive from a .dmg is all that it takes to get Wine. It is just a matter of looking for it pre-built. Next, they use the exact same winecfg application to configure them. Beyond that I think the bottles concept that CrossOver makes you deal with is more complicated than it needs to be.

As for OpenGL, neither Wine (Darwine) or CrossOver are working for me so in the end it doesn't matter and I suspect it is similar for others. I don't play games on my Mac or on a PC so the only thing I am interested in is the few 3D tools I did use and would still like to use.

I would gladly buy CrossOver if FragMotion would run because then I could ditch Windows entirely. However, because I am not a business I cannot afford to pay the devs to get support for FragMotion working as it says you can do on their site.  
(Version 6.2.1)

JETFIREDX  Then there is little point in buying this if it is just Wine repackaged... if you find and download the latest binaries for Wine on OS X it is just as compatible and incompatible for me. I thought the point was a team working on an improved for pay product when Wine is free but hit or miss if it will work and continue working.

This latest version still shows no improvement for the few apps I need. Wine doesn't run them (as of 0.9.50) and neither does this demo of CrossOver.  
(Version 6.2.1)

JETFIREDX  Doesn't work here. Starts up and needs authentication just like the first run on Tiger. Perhaps the 10.4.5 and above should be changed to 10.4.5 - 10.4.1x. That is if the dev is really not picking up development again? Somebody else care to take over development? Spaces needs to go and YouControl is too expensive for what is provided.  
(Version 0.54b5)

JETFIREDX  Very nice! I was using the latest set for Leopard on Iconfactory along with LiteIcon. This has replaced it.

I didn't find a Music Graphite icon in the set. It will be almost perfect once the others that are missing and this one are put in.

Thanks for putting this together!  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Working pretty well for a beta. Replaced all my icons with the ones I used for Tiger. The only minor issue was it took a reboot to get the new folders to refresh. Everything else came up after a logout. So don't freak if you just have default file icons for your folders...just reboot and it'll probably come up correctly.

Now if only a new version of UNO could get dropped I could have things looking really nice again.

Thanks again for putting this together!  
(Version 1.3b)

JETFIREDX  I agree that it is better than Spaces in many ways, but after setting it up in demo mode and using it for several hours is it $30.00 better? I would drop $15 maybe $20 on this, but I think it is over priced for what it does. (That is unless I find some amazing feature I can't live without. Hasn't happened yet.)  
(Version 1.3b4)

JETFIREDX  Very nice! Makes improving the dock a lot easier.

Would you consider also adding the option of replacing the indicators as well? Light blue is not always the best color depending on the background.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  When you set a desktop picture in Leopard and then plug in the second monitor it has a different image... thus the modified pic from the first display is left being shown without the menubar to cover it and the second monitor has the normal Leopard menubar. I think Tiger would move the main desktop image to the second monitor if you had to set to be the primary when plugged in.

And I agree with the previous poster... Apple this was a lame idea. Please put in an option to disable it.  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  Nice to see a new version. Working here in Leopard. Still would like to see more options for bringing it up though. :(

I still think it would be much more useful if the menus could be added to the right click context menu. Middle mouse button, Left+Right together, anything other than just the keyboard. I had to stop using it because of Logitech's software.  
(Version 1.2.2)

JETFIREDX  Nice. I had already changed the color of my dock by hand. Good to see a tool to do this a little quicker.

A few things though. I found I liked my dock dark but with the contrast between the light and dark parts of the image increased. Any chance you could put in a brightness and contrast control for the entire dock image? Also, being able to change the color of the separators would be a good feature.

Thanks for putting this together.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Now that Leopard is out and I see how very limited Spaces is I sincerely hope the developer will restart work on this. Spaces is woefully short on options and features and I would be happy to support future developments for VirtueDesktops with a donation.

Please work on a 10.5 compatible version!  
(Version 0.54b2)

JETFIREDX  Wouldn't install the driver on Leopard. I have the last version of the controller on the system from upgrading with migration assistant, but the last driver is not there since I formatted and started a clean install.  
(Version 2.5)

JETFIREDX  Nothing working here either. Installed PlugSuit and then dropped the latest SafariStand on it. The plugin is there. I have closed Safari and rebooted. Repaired permissions as was posted (in a now missing post) and still not working. Dunno what else to try.

Note: I am not starting from a "clean" install of Leopard. I used Migration Assistant to import my account.

MacBook CoreDuo 2.0. 2gb Ram, 160gb HD. 10.5.0 Safari 3.0.4.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Good idea, but buggy.

1. Refused to refresh the image after I had applied it the first time and then attempted to change it.

2. Rounding of corners leaves artifacts of white at on the top most line of pixels on the screen.

3. Rounding of screen corners should be done differently because the effect is too blurry and subtle. The image should be resized however it needs to be to fit the exact dimensions of the screen and then the rounding should happen so that the rounded corners are not scaled / stretched with the image when it is applied.

I still need to try it using a second monitor as the main display to see if there are any issues.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Constantly resets the desktop picture to the default space image with Leopard when it launches. Doesn't support a second monitor being the primary off a MacBook. (The white bar appears only on the internal LCD)  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I loved this tool in Tiger. Please updated it to work with Leopard. I cannot stand the new icons Apple put in the system.  
(Version 1.2.2)

JETFIREDX  Still doesn't support the one app I need it for - fragMotion. Application closes after showing its splash screen. I saw no improvement with speed to the point that the installer works and the application launches. (But this was pretty fast already so I am not expecting anything better.)

I would love to use this instead of Parallels and Bootcamp, but until the compatibility improves there is just no way I can.  
(Version 6.2)

JETFIREDX  I just bought Pixelmator because I was sick of Gimp's X11 interface. In my experience for the last couple days, Pixelmator runs much smoother and faster than Gimp ever has. I will check out this latest RC but I am not going to hold my breath. I will continue to post feedback for Pixelmator and likely leave Gimp behind entirely.  
(Version 2.4rc3)

JETFIREDX  Lovely interface. Lots of nice colorful icons and tons of little animation touches. There hasn't been a tool that is in The Gimp that I use that I haven't easily found in Pixelmator. Very nice! Works fast and smooth on my MacBook 2.0 CoreDuo. Definitely thinking about purchasing it soon. Some other comments / requests: Doesn't seem to fully support opening .xcf files from The Gimp. (GimpShop) I only get one layer from files I know are at least 6. Help? Hints? I would like to see an option to open my old PaintShop Pro files. (Gimp is able to do this pretty well. I could just finally convert them once and for all.) The gradient fill tool doesn't show you the angle of the line anywhere. This makes it difficult to judge where you want it to be since the line being drawn is antialiased heavily. Could a tool status bar be added to the window? (Or a tool tip for the angle like the gradient editor has.) I don't use Photoshop plugins since I never dealt much with Photoshop but if they were available I might start using them. (Even plugins from the Gimp would be nice too!) I know it has been said, I just thought I would add my vote.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Got it up and running... sorta. Only one of my calendars shows up from iCal. (I have probably been using iCal wrong all along by sorting my event types in different calendars but oh well.)

Also, after it synced to Google Calendar I now have duplicates of all the entries in my Birthdays calendar in iCal. This will be fun to clean out.

And when I run sync-now.sh I get a lot of the following in the terminal:

Sep 15, 2007 2:12:13 PM com.google.gdata.util.XmlParser$ElementHandler getChildHandler

INFO: No child handler for sequence. Treating as an extension element.

Anybody have any ideas? Otherwise I think I will be removing this and wait for an easier to use release or another tool all together. There has got to be an easier way.  
(Version 1.0b13 )

JETFIREDX  Sweet! Working great now!

A few thoughts after messing around for a while...(already put together my own locked image)

1. Can there be a different way of handling options for timers?A couple ideas:

a. Checkbox to get lock time from sleep time preference.

b. Checkbox to get lock time from screen saver time setting.

c. Text entering field for fine control of timers.

2. Can it be made to allow the screensaver to promote over lock screen? The screensaver doesn't currently show up over it for me and when I unlock the screensaver is up, but hasn't actually run yet (like its just idle waiting) then starts. I would like to be able to have an alarmclock app or other apps trigger at specified times while the screen is locked something that doesn't work when my Mac comes out of sleep with Apple's built in lock mechanism.

3. Got the following memory allocation errors in console.log:

Utility Lock(802,0xa000d000) malloc: *** error for object 0x36e050: double free

Utility Lock(802,0xa000d000) malloc: *** set a breakpoint in szone_error to debug

Should I worry? ;)

4. An option to show desktop image / any image instead of solid color background would be cool.

Awesome app otherwise. I still have some other things to try to see if I can use it for what I want. I am definitely gonna get a couple bucks for a donation ready! Please keep working on it!  
(Version 1.0.3b)

JETFIREDX  Glad to see an update! However, it seems like all of the notifications display slower now. Fading in / Sliding in takes at least a whole second as well as fading out. With the previous version of Growl I had my notifications display for a total of a half second. The duration now applies only to the time a notification is displayed once its appearance effect is done. Even by setting the durations to 0.0 sec Music Video (Which I use by default) takes almost 3 seconds to appear, display, and slide out. Too long.

Can an effect duration setting be added so it doesn't take so long to display notifications?  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  Same thing going on here with 1.0.3a on a MacBook with 10.4.10. Can't figure it out.  
(Version 1.0.3a)

JETFIREDX  Great stuff. I always thought the menu extras needed color.

Any chance for an alternate volume icon? The megaphone isn't really my style.

Thank you for your work!  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Cool app! Just found it yesterday and I am liking it a lot. I would like to see the option to add more account types. (I have no idea if this would be a standard thing for this type of software or not...) For example: I would like to be able to list my school loan as an account, but not under credit cards. I would also like to be able to make an account for money a friend owes me, and enter transactions to it like it was any other account or similar to a credit card account, choose which account that money went into. The only other comment I have is that the icon is a little drab. It is a good app that is going to be a permanent resident on my dock.  
(Version 2.4.10)

JETFIREDX  I think the problem is that their betas should not be public in the condition they have been recently. I am sure many people are like me and when I see an update on MacUpdate and I try it - beta or not. (After I do a complete back up of course.) So it is not a huge problem for me to go back. I just think they should have fewer open betas posted here until major bugs are sorted out and perhaps there would be fewer complaints from people.  
(Version 3.0.5060)

JETFIREDX  Had no problems with Parallels until this update. After installing and rebooting Windows the Start Menu / Task Bar disappear from the screen as soon as the Parallels tool is loaded in the system tray. The entire area where the start bar should be is unresponsive to mouse clicks of all kind. I can't change window focus, can't right click and get Desktop properties like I should if the startbar just slid out of view. The command key is the only way to get the start menu up to really do anything. I tried VMware Fusion's beta and it was honestly worse for compatibility and stability on my MacBook, but I may give it another shot if Parallels keeps these kinds of builds coming.  
(Version 3.0.5060)

JETFIREDX  Pre-registered during the beta to secure the final release at the lower price. Though Silo has an amazingly customizable interface, some of the places they stopped short on the features you are able to change make it feel somewhat "half-done". (Little annoyances like being able to customize the colors used in the UI, but not all of them such as the display of the normals.) For the price it is a great tool. I was very easily able to mimic a large part of Wings3D's UI (my preferred but somewhat stalled development wise modeling app) Again though this has been some issue for me as each new beta would not load the keybindings and layout I had designed from the previous version. Bugs went unanswered on the forums at Nevercenter's site. Each time there was a new release candidate, this and many other problems persisted on the Mac. It hasn't crashed on me yet, but that doesn't mean that the last RC was a viable candidate for 2.0 final. In my opinion, it was not. Perhaps it is less buggy on Windows? I need to check that soon as this is another good thing about the company - your one registration will let you use Silo on Mac and Windows. A nice little bonus. Personally, I am hoping 2.1 fixes some of these issues and the many others I have come across that keep me from using Silo all the time. I am happy I paid though to help its development.  
(Version 2.0)

JETFIREDX  Just registered today after reading the good reviews and wanting my MacBook to run cooler. Working well with my first level of undervolting. For $10 it seems to be well worth giving a shot. A few small suggestions: Would it be possible to have the ability to remove a single Frequency / Voltage pair from the lists? As it is, if you add the wrong values you have the clear the entire list and add them all again...a bit of a pain and I did this several times today messing with the settings. Second, tying in the ability to control the fan speed would be handy too. I always thought the fans kicked up too slowly on my MacBook, letting the heat build up more than it needed to. Having an option of setting minimum fan RPM per frequency would be nice because when I am running at full speed the fans could go faster before the temperature would normally tell them to kick up.   
(Version 2.3)

JETFIREDX  Runs fine here. Original MacBook 2.0 Core Duo. 10.4.10 and all manner or system mods and haxies running. One problem though... it doesn't seem to make use of the Mouse patch in Quartz Composer. Makes it difficult to make an interactive desktop background. Any chance for a fix? I would like to do more than RSS feeds and moving images.  
(Version 0.5u)

JETFIREDX  Cool little tool now that I have a pretty large amount of memory. Reminds me of the RAM: drive on the Amiga. Is there a way you could have the disk dynamically change size to the amount of free unused memory in the system? That way, you don't have to create a disk of a set size, it is just there and able to hold as much stuff as you have free ram...if the OS needs more memory, it takes it and the disk loses free space to the point that it is "full" if you have files copied in there. (Then it really would be like the RAM: drive on the Amiga.)   
(Version 2.3.2)

JETFIREDX  Heh... never mind. Don't select any variant and it seems to be working now.   
(Version 1.0b4)

JETFIREDX  I have the latest MacPorts installed and I can't get Porticus to install a single thing. Using MacPorts from the terminal works fine. I constantly get the following: Error: Error executing universal: Default universal variant only works with ports based on configure Error: Unable to open port: Error evaluating variants. These errors come up no matter what variants I choose. I really want to get to using this app...I just got done setting up a Ubuntu box and Synaptic was really easy. (Not as easy as drag and drop on the Mac, but still pretty good!)  
(Version 1.0b4)

JETFIREDX  Well I am so glad I supported this dev by paying for the driver a couple months ago. Granted, it was only $5 or something but to have it go free now just seems like I wasted my money. Oh well.  
(Version 1.3.4)

JETFIREDX  Running Windows XP Pro from my Bootcamp drive. After installing the new version Windows now complains that I have to re-register with Microsoft because my hardware has changed "significantly". XP wouldn't re-activate over the internet so I get to make another lovely phone call to their help line to explain that no, I don't have my copy installed on more than one system and that before getting my Mac, I regularly changed hardware and had to keep activating because of their stupid scheme... Not Parallels fault I know, just FYI that you might have to do the same. 3D seemed to be running well when I found that it was not enabled by default and turned it on.  
(Version 3.0.4124)

JETFIREDX  Sweet app! Worked great for me. I was able to quickly change all the icons I wanted by dropping them over their defaults. Defintely worth checking out.  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Nice clock. Really liked using it until it started consuming 99% of the CPU and had to be killed via Activity Monitor. Happened just a few minutes (8 - 10) after installing it.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I managed to get the demos to load in the main program, but without any documentation along with it or docs in English on the site I am not going to be able to get much farther with it.

Definitely has my interest though.  
(Version 0.5.8.4.1)

JETFIREDX  This is the first app I have come across to fill this need for me. Basically, I am looking for an alternative to the screensaver lock built into the system because I want to use my Mac as an alarm in the mornings. None of them so far seem to have the ability (for good reason) to work with the screen saver lock. However, this program is difficult to use. Some things it needs: 1. A visual indicator if the daemon is already running. Pressing Start or Disable does not show the user in any way that anything has changed. 2. Changes to settings should automatically stop and restart the daemon without the user having to quit the app. 3. The slider for the lock time is imprecise. The exact number of minutes should be displayed in the window for where the slider is. Also, there should be a text field to enter the time by hand if a desired time isn't available. 4. Running from the desktop (for testing, since only apps I am going to keep go into Applications.) causes strange behavior. (The daemon may or may not be able to find the app...) My fault, but really it should be able to run from anywhere, as I would keep this in Utilities. 5. Lock immediately with hot key or menu item. Adding the ability to lock the screen with cmd + L (or something, I am not sure if that is already assigned) and or by adding a a "Lock" to the Apple menu (a hack?) would be great as you wouldn't need to wait for the specified time. 6. Option to turn off the brushed metal look...just because I think it looks tired and dated now. Unlike the other poster, I can see how this application could have serious uses for things that need to run but offer some level of protection against unwanted mucking from others. Please keep working on it. I look forward to giving it another run in the future.  
(Version 0.2)

JETFIREDX  I believe I told it that I was using the A950...I read somewhere that was the best way to do it. I will try again with this new version and see if it behaves better under Rosetta.

(BTW BitPim works great with Windows running on Parallels with my Mac... until there is a Mac intel native version that is the most likely way I will keep using it.)  
(Version 0.9.10)

JETFIREDX  Thank you for this! It is really great. Would it be possible to see an option to always show previews of images and other files?  
(Version 2.0.1)

JETFIREDX  Cool! Any chance for supporting separate controls for multiple monitors? (I might be able to finally get matching colors between my MacBook screen and my 20in LCD...)  
(Version 2.0)

JETFIREDX  Good little application. I have been looking for something to aid me with my mutlimonitor setup for some time and this fits the bill so far nicely. Unfortunately I had to install Logitech's driver for my mouse to assign the scroll button press to do the keys CMD-SHIFT-M to bring up the menu, but it isn't a huge hassle. (It would be better if there was an option to add the menus to the existing context menu available through a right click, rather than a separate one. Then I don't need the logitech software.)  
(Version 1.2.1)

JETFIREDX  Just wiped my system and started over after trouble with the 10.4.8 update and it appears that the link is broken. Any mirrors?  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Worked great here... can we see a version that works with FireFox? Safari isn't my first choice of browser. Still a great program. Many thanks.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Very cool little program. Been working on a little model plane off and on for the last couple days and it is just good ol'lego fun!

Couple things I would like to see though. First, a display axis in the perspective view would be helpful.(I think my whole plane is turned 90 deg.) Second, either have the color of the preview piece be in the current color or have the color be able to be set to something other than white. Sometimes its hard to make out what you are looking at.

I also agree than a different way of finding the parts you want / having a "favorites" would be very nice indeed.

Please keep up the great work on it!  
(Version 1.5)

JETFIREDX  If you want something powerful, free, and EXTREMELY difficult to learn to use, get Blender. I would recommend Wings (Wings3D.com) for something that is easy to learn (though not at all Mac like) that is also free and has some good renderer plugins.

Cheetah3D and Silo I have found are also easy to pick up and learn. Silo is especially nice because the entire UI is able to be set up to fit your workflow. (I actually cloned Wings' interface with little work.) These aren't free however.  
(Version 1.5)

JETFIREDX  I have found the Skype UI to be pretty average. It didn't immediately put me off and I have no issues or comments about it either way at this point... you wanna see a bad UI? Try Blender. (different type of app I know, but for me it is an example of a truely bad UI design.)  
(Version 2.0.0.3)

JETFIREDX  Nice icons. Gonna suggest this to my Dad for his Mac Mini. But for this to be the Mac Intel Family, one seems to be missing... my MacBook. ^_^  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  I have been running MenuMeters for a long time now and recently started using FileVault on my MacBook. Now I have noticed that for some reason the meters don't always return after a restart. Then I am left going into the System Preferences to turn them on again.

Anbody else seen this? Great software just the same and I love using it.  
(Version 1.3)

JETFIREDX  Yup... Intel is under Rosetta is unstable as it can get. My buddy just bought a new LG phone and we checked it out on his PPC machine along with my phone from Samsung. On the PPC G4 they worked almost perfectly, importing / exporting contacts, adding wall papers (though the cropping tool is unstable there as well), editing and copying ring tones, etc. On Intel I was barely able to browse the filesystem and half the time the program would crash on load.

A really great tool on PowerPC Macs though.  
(Version 0.9.06)

JETFIREDX  Nice beta. Only tried XnView tonight but ran it off of my Darwine install folders without a problem. XnView's Windows in itself look like Windows style graphics inside of the XWindows outer window. Ran a a really good speed. Looking forward to seeing more. (Now just need to scrape up some cash!) Check it out so they can work on more app compatibility.  
(Version 6.0b1a)

JETFIREDX  Awww... have to agree... I really like this game but now that I am Intel I tend to avoid PPC only apps. I was really hoping to see a universal binary this time around. Thanks for continuing to work on it at all though!  
(Version 3.3.5)

JETFIREDX  Already used it several times since installing it just a few days ago. Very handy. Thanks for your hard work in providing it.  
(Version 1.7.2)

JETFIREDX  Hmmm...no reviews? I seem to recall there being some negative feedback on here when 1.0 became 2.0 without so much as a bug fix release or reasonable upgrade price for those of us who paid for the first one.

Was a nice piece of software that I paid for, but the features in 2.0 were not enough to make me pay again.  
(Version 2.0)

JETFIREDX  Good program that has seen a lot of progress since earlier versions. Seems to work alright with my Samsung SCH-a930 when it doesn't crash...you can always tell its going to because a file window will end up tinted blue beforehand. Any chance of an Intel compiled version so it doesn't have to be run under rosetta? I am hoping that it what is causing the problem.  
(Version 0.9.06)

JETFIREDX  Well this latest version worked without a hitch on my MacBook after trying the terminal actions described on the previous one. Give it another go if you've been having problems like I was. It really is worth it and I never liked multiple desktops before.  
(Version 0.53r216)

JETFIREDX  Thanks for the links... tried your quick fix with no success. Guess I will wait until it is officially fixed.  
(Version 0.53r212)

JETFIREDX  My mentioning of RAM and CPU had to do with loading performance and streaming / caching of files. Sections of levels and of cinematic sequences would pause for longer than expected periods which was compounded by a completely unacceptable framerate. I had the game on its lowest possible settings and it still ran like garbage - framerate and load times together.

I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't be smart enough to make the game skip assets it doesn't need when all of the fancy options are off, but who knows, maybe its just a poor port. Sure looks awful with everything turned off though!  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Don't even bother if you have a MacBook or a Mini. Demo ignores the widescreen option (though it is set) and doesn't allow you to choose widescreen modes like the native 1280 x 800. It is barely playable at 640 x 480 with all of the graphics options set to OFF. (And with all of the graphics at their lowest settings the models look terrible with hard edges down the vertical center of their heads and bodies.) Having the game auto detect the best settings for me it turned everything ON. Yeah right...

It looks amazing for about three seconds when it starts into the intro to the game with everything turned on. I wasn't expecting amazing performance out of the game, but it should be smooth to play with everything turned off at the lowest resolution. The UI however is VERY responsive and smooth.

I am not going to even bother messing with a CFG file to get it to run any better. I know the integrated Intel graphics aren't stellar, but I see no reason for the performance to be so bad with a gig of ram and SMP support and all the pretty stuff turned off. Graphics slowness wasn't the only issue, loading during cutscenes had significant lag where the screen would simply get stuck on a frame while audio continued. Walking around in the first level it seemed like it was having to cache and load constantly causing long pauses. (more than a second or two is long while in the middle of playing.)

I think I will download the demo for Windows and go check it out under bootcamp to compare the two.  
(Version 1.2)

JETFIREDX  Nice start, but very limited. Setting the batch of pictures anywhere near the full 256 causes significant delay even with my 1 gb of memory. The first time the images appear on screen they all appear at once then fade out and slowly begin to cycle through individually - needs some polish to make the effect start off the way it actually continues to later. Having a limit to the number of pictures displayed is a little annoying since I have far more that I would like displayed. Also, it would be nice if the program wouldn't over lap pictures until one is fading out and another was fading in that shared the same space... otherwise you just end up with a difficult to distinguish mess of images.

Keep working on it and adding features - its always nice to have a new way to show family pics and travel images on the screen.  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  I like to evaluate every release of this to see what is new. This version seems to have brought some nice speed improvements in the rendering of folders / icons with MANY images. I'd also like to thank the author for not limiting the evaluation time like others do...one request though? During the evaluation it is not possible to (or didn't seem to be immediately) to do any file / folder manipulation. Could this be enabled for say files of 10k or less and a limit to be able to move / copy / delete 10 folders per evaluation? How else could I decide if using 3D-Space VFS will be right for me or not?

Some other visualizations would be nice too. The flat plane is okay, though to me nothing more than an extention of the same 2D space we work in everyday...just tilted. (Although silky smooth in movement now on my MacBook.) Could the individual folders be mapped to spheres, cubes, etc... that could be fully rotated around rather than just "flown over"?

Thanks for the hard work on this and I look foward to playing with future releases.  
(Version 1.9.1)

JETFIREDX  Great tool. Very easy to use. Came in handy for me just after this version was released.

Thanks for the work in making this! Just need a universal version now.  
(Version 1.7b4)

JETFIREDX  There IS a need for this. I have had nothing but problems with Stuffit since it hit version 10. Zip files that will open in 9 refused to open in 10. 10 for no explicable reason would decide to set some option where it phones home and would not run until you were able to connect to the internet so it could do so and the program would start so that you could change the preference again.

RAR Expander is a great tool. If you are like me and don't care to have Stuffit installed for whatever reason, RAR Expander is great for when you have the need to decompress a RAR file. (Today I had the need to do just that with a file a friend sent to me and where Simply RAR failed to show me any files in the archive, RAR Expander expanded it without any problem. Great program devs...please keep working on it.  
(Version 0.8.5b1)

JETFIREDX  Stays on "Please wait..." on my MacBook 2.0.   
(Version 1.0.3)

JETFIREDX  Great app. If you are worried about PowerPC compatibility, uncheck them for removal from the "Architectures" tab. I have used it several times to remove unwanted language files and hasn't caused me a problem yet.

Developer: Perhaps there could be an option to not touch PowerPC code in system files and libraries so that PPC only binaries could still run under Rosetta?  
(Version 1.3.2)

JETFIREDX  Absolutely brilliant. I've been watching Pixen develop slowly and the last beta was still pretty sluggish for speed. This new 3.0 version is jaw dropping to me.

Flood fills with 0% opacity color works like I think it should - fills the color regardless of it being transparent. (other apps seem to think that transparent color shouldn't replace what is being filled...)

Whipped up a PNG to turn into an icon with a nice transparent background in no time tonight in a few short minutes without having to bother with alpha channel masks or anything.

Undo function can be a little slow to respond still but I am okay with it. I had no crashes or problems in 30 mins of use.

I can't wait to see future releases of Pixen. Reminds me of the good old days with DeluxePaint4.

(MacBook 10.4.6 2.0ghz 1.0gb RAM 80gig HD)  
(Version 3.0)

JETFIREDX  Not sure I trust this little app. (Though nothing else will give me a reading at the moment.) The window will report that the temp is around 140 deg F when I am "idle" as in just browsing the net. But the display I had set up in the menubar? It was showing 166 deg F or more. I was thinking my system was possibly running too warm which was why I opened the main window. Not sure now. I have AppleCare and I will watch it for any problems but like I said, I am not sure if I can trust this apps reading of the temps.  
(Version 0.9)

JETFIREDX  Crashes on my Dual 1.8 G5 768meg RAM, ATi X800, OS X 10.4.6... spew from the end of the log:

GL_ATI_text_fragment_shader GL_ATI_blend_equation_separate GL_ATI_blend_weighted_minmax GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ATI_texture_compression_3dc GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_SGI_color_matrix

oglflags : 0x0

SetModelView(): 640x480

SetStates()

HWR_Startup()

InitMD2()...

Error while loading md2.dat

I have the file copied to my Applications folder and I copied all of the contents of the archive folder to \Library\Frameworks\

I was looking forward to checking this out. I enjoy fan made stuff. Hope the information helps.  
(Version 10.9.3)

JETFIREDX  Very cool. Both my Dad and best friend were shocked when I showed them the effect it has on the screen. (Used to have a program to do this on my Amiga oh so long ago.)

I agree that being able to utilize the space where the menu was with moving windows to the top of the screen would be an excellent option if possible.

I would also like to see MenuShade add itself to one of the normal menus in the menubar or have an icon in the menubar like the Airport, Bluetooth, etc...

A great program though. Please keep working on it.  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  Wow... taking steps back. I agree with other posters - what the heck is going on with the text as you enter it? Try zooming on the page... characters start overlapping and don't get updated correctly.

I recall earlier versions being slow, but in a visually working state. This is just broken.  
(Version 2.4.4)

JETFIREDX  Lots of potential, but not very usable at the moment. Slow...very slow. I am running a dual 1.8 G5 and working at all in a zoomed state is intolerable.

It also has some very easy to find bugs lurking just under the surface.

Example Steps:

1. Select the line tool.

2. Start drawing a line and drag a length.

3. Move the end point around the canvas.

4. Select UNDO from the edit menu.

Result: Each position the end point moved to is recorded and must be undone individually.

I would suggest doing everything possibly to tighten up the speed on this program and fix obvious bugs. It "feels" like it is spending a lot of cycles doing nothing or doing too much when nothing needs to be done. Please keep working on it and I look forward to another release.  
(Version 1.5.2)

JETFIREDX  Very cool idea. I have started messing around with it and noticed one serious problem - it doesn't refresh after hitting "Load URL" if you have saved a new local file over your old one.

I had an error in my page (it was trying to load the wrong filename for the next frame) and I eventually just clipped it to the first frame and attempted everything I could to load it. It kept immediately opening my page in FireFox before displaying anything and in the html FireFox was showing were the links to my next frame. Finally I had to close the widget, open a new one, and re-enter the location of my first frame with file:///somefolder/test/test.html and it worked like a charm.

If you get wonky results, I suggest closing that instance of the widget and open a new one and try again.

Keep up working on this though - definitely a neat idea.  
(Version 0.7.5)

JETFIREDX  Will this continue to run as a cron task like Wimp if the system is restarted or does it only work while it is running?  
(Version 0.2)

JETFIREDX  Awesome! I love the level of customization you have with this! Lighting, camera, card shape, board type... really cool. Played several hands of Klondike and messed around using some vacation pics from Japan to make a few boards. Any hope of making card sets too?? (Then it would be everything Reko Solitaire was on the Amiga and more!)

You may want to change it to say FREE on here instead of demo... I tried it anyway with the name Free Solitaire 3D even though it says demo.  
(Version 1.8)

JETFIREDX  Very cool indeed. Makes it so that the small icons shown while using Xfolders actually represent the image. Thanks for creating this!

A couple things I would love to see (either added to this or from Apple, since it seems like it should be an option somewhere...)

1. Search inside of selected folders and convert all images. This would make batch processing a huge amount of images easier.

2. Would it be possible to hook into the finder somehow and anytime it creates a temporary icon, just save that to the file as its icon? First time you open a folder it would be slow, but then it would only have to do it for new images that don't have their own icon after that.

Thanks for making this!  
(Version 1.1)

JETFIREDX  Looks straight forward, but I kept getting authorization errors after I enter my password. Wouldn't remove anything. I'd like to give it another try later though.  
(Version 3.0b3)

JETFIREDX  I can't wait to see the Qemu CPU emulation built into this... probably wouldn't be as bad as running a full emulator because Wine can redirect 3D to the hardware and you aren't emulating everything that the full system hardware has to be doing right?

Sample applications worked flawlessly on my dual 1.8 G5 under 10.4.5. Get the CPU emulation in there (until I can afford a new Intel Mac) and I can dump the PC next to me that has been giving me trouble! (As almost everything I want to run works in Wine under Linux anyway.)  
(Version 0.9.9 DP)

JETFIREDX  Recently upgraded to 1.2.3 and videos are still great on my iPod. However, newly converted files will not play properly on my Xbox anymore running XBMC. Nothing else on my system has changed significantly. (I stream videos to my Xbox for viewing on TV from my Mac.) Old videos I converted using iSquint play fine while newly created ones all show a few frames and then stop. Any ideas?  
(Version 1.2.3)

JETFIREDX  Awesome. Getting far better rates than with Tomato Torrent which I had been using until now.  
(Version 0.5)

JETFIREDX  While I agree that having the option to specify a server to use would be a sweet feature I am not gonna whine if its never added.

If you have concerns about the devs or anybody else logging information, why not just set up a dummy hotmail or other email account for wimp to send its notifications to? Your IP address isn't static afterall (otherwise why are you using wimp or similar software) and unless you are for some reason putting your system outside of any firewalls or have messed with security settings you would probably be better off worrying about what information websites are recording/ trying to do to your system rather than what could be recorded with this.

By the way devs, wimp rocks. Please keep working on it. Thanks to this I don't have to pay to have a static IP through Comcast. ^_^  
(Version 1.1.2)

JETFIREDX  Neat. The few animations I have made have been kinda cool looking.

Suggestions: A color picker and fill option would be nice. Also being able to pick how many frames of animation are created would be good. Change the cursor pointer to a crosshair or something similar... it's difficult to pinpoint where you are drawing.  
(Version 0.5)

JETFIREDX  Bug: Input fields are not limited to numbers only and accepts any text as "0".

Step(s): Enter any text into the field.

Result: Text entered is considered "0" when the game continues.

Expected: An error to be thrown telling the user to enter a number.

Been having fun playing the game with my gf while she knits next to me. Might be worth improving the graphics some and like others have said, expanding on the scenarios. Keep it up!  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  Works great. Used to use it on Windows before switching to Mac. Interface really feels like JAVA, but it runs well enough and can produce some great results. (Even with pics from my cruddy digital camera.)

Couple things I would love to see:

1. Haven't been able to figure out how (if possible) to open another image from inside the program.

2. Adding a batch processing option for a whole folder of pics would rule!

Otherwise, great program and the price is awesome.  
(Version 1.2c)

JETFIREDX  Wish the servers were working properly...I get between 10 - 20 megs and the download always stops with a corrupted file.  
(Version 2.0)

JETFIREDX  I have LotsaWater installed as well and OS X refuses to let me use / preview this screen saver in full screen... LotsaWater just keeps activating instead even though LotsaGlass is selected. Small preview in the window looks cool, wish I could use it right now.  
(Version 1.0)

JETFIREDX  I respect good and clean design. This has neither. I am not trying to belittle the program or its developers, I know that it is extremely powerful. But there are many that agree with me that using software that punishes you for being new is just silly. I would rather pay the money for a program who's developers carefully balance easy of use and easy of ability to learn along with the power of the tools, than use a free one just because it is free.

Just a word from the devs saying "We know a lot of people are put off by the difficultly inherent in learning Blender. We plan to offer an easier / more standardized interface in version 2.X or 3.X. This will allow the experienced user of other software a place to transition their skills set and for completely new users who may have difficulty with Blenders default interface to turn to to lean with." However, I have never read such a thing and the one word I have gotten is that "We (the devs and long time users) like it the way it is and won't change."

Again, I don't think two years is too long to have to use a program to get really good with it... but in one to two weeks of a couple hours a day not being able to adequately manipulate the geometry of an object when other programs have taken me little more than an hour to get comfortable with? Its just poor design, because I really want to use Blender, I just don't have the time to sacrifice to unlearning.   
(Version 2.40)

JETFIREDX  This may very well be the most powerful piece of free software on the planet, but its interface is so backwards and awkward that you may never get through it. With 2.34 I picked up the $50 Blender book and sat down with it for a couple hours a day for over a week. I had used 3D Studio a couple times at an friends who is an artist and that was a steep learning curve... this is crazy. I know they say that the user interface was designed to be efficient once you learn it, but would it be so bad to have options for a learning mode? Sure it might be less efficient working with menus rather than confusing and obscure hotkeys, but it would allow learners to find out what the program offers and learn the hotkeys for the menu functions as they need them.

If you have problems using Blender and want something easy and free, check out Wings 3D... its free, cross platform, has lots of good support on its forums and is a true pleasure to use. Its not nearly as powerful as Blender, but then I didn't need to sit down and work for two years to learn it. Nor did I have to throw out everything I have ever come to expect from how programs work. (I actually had a response to questions about the Blender interface answered with "After two years of working with it you will really begin to understand the program and respect it." Sorry, I don't have two years.  
(Version 2.40)

JETFIREDX  Neat idea. Reacts a little slow, but that could be worked on. Preferences window didn't close when I selected OKAY like I expected it to... just had to press the close button in the corner.

One thing I would like to see would be an option for it to run in the menu bar rather than in the dock. (toggle in prefs maybe?)

Good work though.  
(Version 1.1.1)