WindowShade X for Mac5.0.7

Unsanity have GONE BUST! There's a new kid on the Block... RGB World with their brilliant, "actively developed" (works on Lion, ML, and Mavericks from Nov 2013) called "WINDOWMIZER" (v3.0 is latest Oct 2013 version), which now does the same thing, but much enhanced over what Unsanity did with 'Windowshade'. They've learned from Unsanity's mistakes though and not hacked the system but it's run as an app... so no more Unsanity instability! Go Google it... "WINDOWMIZER". It's awesome.

Unsanity appears to be gone. When I try to go to their website I just get a page that says: Forbidden, You don't have permission to access / on this server. So all those cool tweaks are no more :(

Before you dash out and buy WindowMizer (since there's no demo), you should be aware of several matters. First, it's not going to give you the Unsanity experience. Windows do not merely collapse; the collapsing is always preceeded by the screen going completely to black and then returning with your minimized window. (I was tempted to shout "ta dah!" when it happened.) Second, the command keys do not always work. Although I can windowshade when double clicking the toolbar, I have yet to find any key combo that will windowshade. The "restore" key works okay, though. (However, Unsanity allowed the exact same key combo to windowshade and unwindowshade.) Also, any key combo I tried that involved the letter "M" minimized the window to the dock. Finally, if you use any kind of program that modifies the screen color, etc. (such as RedScreen), WindowMizer will shut it off or otherwise override it. In short, the program is far from the elegance you experienced with Unsanity. At the same time, I recognize that it's in its infancy and could perhaps overcome these problems. That's why I'm opting to comment instead of rating it at this time.

I found a replacement for Windowshade named WindowMizer. It works with OS X Snow Leopard(10.6), Lion(10.7) and Mountain Lion(10.8). It is available at Mac App Store or from the developer's website: http://www.rgbworld.com/windowmizer It is the best replacement for Windowshade that I have been able to find that works with Mac OS X and is reasonably priced.

This is a fantastic client. It does exactly what I like and need for my goofy work behavior. The Option, Double Mouse Click opens or closes all of the windows in that ap. Totally cool! In fact, this client is one of the main reasons I haven't left Snow Leopard. The problem, of course, is that the developer has been really slow with updates, and it now looks like that has dropped to less than slow... more like, None. I've read that the developer suffers from depression and that can be as debilitating as can be. I wish him luck. I gave this great ap 5 stars because it's an awesome ap and deserves more than the piddly rating it has...

So Mountain Lion is out and this utility is dead. From an idea in OS6 bought up by Apple and used in 7.5 it died with OSX except Unsanity brought it back. How hard would it be for apple to have this in the OS along with tabbed (edge of screen windows). RIP unless you want to communicate with us all and tell us different.

Ask anyone who made a "good faith" donation to MacTheRipper how that turned out. Or to "Synergy Advance." Thanks, but no thanks. Unsanity has a product and a customer base. They either develop their product and trust their customers, or they go out of business. Check out Deskovery. http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/36082/deskovery No, it is not as full-featured as Unsanity's program. Yes, it is more costly. No, I do not work for them or get kickbacks. I've ripped on them as much as I've praised them. But they are, at least, responding to comments and e-mails, and they are, at least, actually working on their product. Their latest alpha release is mostly good; they're working with me on some programs that have a few problems. For the most part, their program will do basic windowhading. (It has other features that might well interest others.) I find windowshading critical to the way I work, so I was willing to pay the higher price. But I'm optimistic.

I got an early morning email from Unsanity stating "Currently, none of our products are enabled to work on Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion." Any developer knew that since Lion's release in BETA in 2010 - I suppose Unsanity doesn't care to pay the small price to be an Apple Developer and just noticed. Well the really odd thing is the email says Lion version will be worked on but to encourage development they want us to purchase the current version of our favorite Haxies NOW (at a discount) even though those still won't work. Give them $$$ in advance and then not had to "pay again" for the updated version. (Last time we got "donation nags.") Seems rather shady / risky to me. The old "take the money and run" or as I often wonder about the developer "take the money and die again never to be heard from." I really have depended on WindowShade and FruitMenu for many years and many versions but I have no respect for Unsanity as developers or their lack of support.

What I miss most from WindowShade (since Lion made it stop working) is the click-to-hide option for the minimise button. I'm still doing this automatically, and then having to retrieve the app from the dock again! Does anyone know an app that allows the same configuration? I can live without the other things WS does, but this is a hard habit to kick.

I do wish they'd fix this. Deskovery is useless in Lion. If you shade a window, you can't do anything unless you unshade it. Can't scroll background windows. Can't even leave the unshaded window to go elsewhere. What's the point of it? I like Unsanity's version better. Sigh.

Unsanity can very easily update APE here for Lion. Despite appearances APE does not depend on Rosetta. The site's not written very well there. Since APE 2.6 all APE modules and hence Windowshade have PPC code , Intel code and 64 bit Intel code in their module. They need to have that otherwise APE won't load their module. No what's happening is APE is seeing there's a new major point update to the system and is automatically turning itself off. All Unsanity need to do here is update APE with a new key certifying that a module can run an Lion and update Windowshade with that key. Work of an afternoon IMHO.

In knowing from past history how each new Mac O/S breaks Windowshade, this time around I'm "not" updating to O/S X Lion until there is a new updated Windowshade for it. For me, its just not worth upgrading to a higher O/S if I don't have Windowshade (Its a feature Apple should never have dropped since O/S-9). - Russell

WindowShade X is once again broken in the new Lion update. Found out via this link: http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

I'm torn. I bought a license for Deskovery, but I ended up going back to Unsanity. First, there are limits to what Deskovery can do. It cannot minimize in place; it doesn't shadow a windowshaded window, and that can make it difficult to discern which window is which; and I like being able to hit the command key twice to quickly shade a window. I've also had Deskovery quit on me at times, not sure why. A quick restart gets it up and running again. On the whole, it's a decent program, and as I said, I did find it useful enough to buy a license. The Deskovery people also told me that their program is Lion-ready, which is particularly important for a lot of people. That's where the biggest dilemma comes in for me. We know that Unsanity will take forever to come out with a Lion version, if they do it at all. (Lion will lack Rosetta, and I don't anticipate a third-party Rosetta program for some time.) And it will be too much to even ask Unsanity if they plan to do a Lion version. Their last website blog goes back to 2010. Still, they have had updates to this and their other programs, so they are doing something out there. Guess we'll see.

WindowShade without using Haxies? I now use Deskovery

I like WindowShade but the arrogant absence of any kind of support or any response to emails with detailed descriptions of problems makes Unsanity into a huge suck and bunch of a..holes! Therefore just half a star to bring the average down a little.

This is the only app of its kind in OS X. If you want to windowshade windows or pin them on top with quick shortcut keys this is your program. Very handy. This version seems quite solid. Let's hope the Lion version comes out in a timely way.

Interesting. Check this out: http://macupdate.com/app/mac/36082/deskovery It's not as full-featured, of course, but it does allow rudimentary window shading. For free.

To the Developer: I appreciate your software. Keep it coming because it is much needed! I am glad that you are taking 'Classic Mac OS' features and making them still available in OS X! On a different note, if the guy is really suffering from Depression---give him a break!!! That said, I have no issues with Windowshade X 5.0.6 I am just glad that it is Snow Leopard compatible...

Bummer. OS X Lion comes out in summer, 2011, which means the Lion-compatible version of Windowshade comes out in fall, 2013.

This one quote from the developer really troubles me. "The depression is not as crushing, but I do want to sleep for 15-20 hours." I would hope this person is getting treatment for their depression as it may explain why he behaves the way he does.

I'm on a G5 in OS X 10.5. Thanx to UnSanity for this update that sorta kinda fixes it so that WindowShade sorta kinda works for iTunes. It's pretty ugly looking, but it works. Thanx guys! So what the difference between Application Enhancer SDK 2.6.1 and Application Enhancer 2.6.1?

I'd hate to double post, so here: http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=8807 are some comments I've just posted about Unsanity's approach to customer care in general, and the bugginess of the last version, allegedly Snow Leopard-compatible, of WindowShade.

Afloat is free and rather than use a haxie you can use a nice mac cocoa app. Rather than shade just drop the opacity of the front window with Afloat. Afloat is nice as you can keep windows on top or pin to desktop etc then drop opacity on one. Try it is is better than shading. Has key combos also which you can map to your multi-touch device with one of the many apps doing this now. Make yourself a gesture and it is very quick and intuitive for a peak underneath. I actually really like the idea of shading also but I found this is working a bit better for me. YMMV of course...and I think this app is actually very good and seems pretty popular with those from the linux world.

I love these haxies from Unsanity. Work great on my machine. Been using them for many years.

I just installed this and it works fine just like it always has in all my previous Macs going back to when this first came out. If there were any bugs they were minor and Unsanity fixed them without me even having to write them.

Warning Warning Will Robinson Haxies are dangerous to your system. They are not stand alone applications. When the install they install in one place they have no business fooling with: THE SYSTEM. I did an install of APE. After having problems with my Mac I did an archival install. Once done I had to go through every major system to make sure they match what was in my previous system folder. Before doing that I did an uninstall of APE and a one or two or Haxies made by Unsanity. It seems for some reason they are about the only company that write Haxies. Anyhow as I scanned my System Folder I still found pieces of Ape and other Haxies that were made by Unsanity. Nobody who writes utilities has no business writing SW that places unauthorized material in the System. To me, the System is hands off to any third party developer unless they work for Apple or are an Apple developers. You have no Idea the damage that can be caused when unauthorized components are placed in the System. What if a System Upgrade comes up and those part are incompatible with the upgrade? It can begin to make your Mac to act strange, freezes, Kernel Panics and more. It has happened on my Mac when I was first green to Haxies. Unsanity should be boycotted for placing unauthorized components in the System. They do not belong there and I for one will never use an Unsanity product until they can get it through their brains to stop putting components in the System because somewhere down the road you will get bit. The only company that should do ANY MODIFICATION to the System is APPLE. End of line...

Perfect ! works now with everything i have... including Photoshop CS5 and Acrobat pro 9.3.4 and the ugly iTunes 10 bar :-)

Unsanity ignored their customers while failing to fix their haxie to work with Snow Leopard for so long that I just got used to living without them. Unsanity's insistence to charge an upgrade fee for a previous lifetime purchase after being AWOL for nearly a year was the final slap in the face. I deleted all remnants of their old System 7 app and my computer runs just fine. Who do they think they are… Micro$oft?

Under parallels, I have ubuntu 10 working. That has a windowshade feature already built in. Isn't it about time that Apple paid Unsanity lots of money and bought windowshade from them. Then it would be updated at source and always work. Those of use who remember System 9 and earlier, had windowshade built in.

New site looks great... but..er.. How about making FontCard .. YOUR MOST USEFUL PRODUCT as far as I'm concerned (just before MenuMaster).. 10.6 compatible ?! I'm sure a lot of graphics designers would be happy..

For home users, who cares. For enterprise, not on your life. If you call Apple, one of the first questions they'll ask you is "Are you using haxies". If you are, you'll need to remove them before any troubleshooting. Read between the lines... Don

Update working fine here. Thanks for it. I love WindowShade!

Doesn't work with Firefox, iTunes, Google Chrome, Quicken, Adobe Reader, and the list goes on. And of course no reply from Unsanity--they got my money, so why should they care.

It's always a roller coaster ride with Unsanity. I decided some time ago that I wasn't going to bother with their haxies any more, but when the Snow Leopard compatible WindowShade update appeared I caved in and started using it again. So far I've had no issues with stability, and I'm really glad to have its capabilities back after a long time without them. I know the future is uncertain with haxies, but at least I'll be able to enjoy WindowShade (and maybe FruitMenu when it's released) for the lifespan of Snow Leopard. I can live with the upgrade price for that.

The issue I have with Unsanity is that I am pretty certain when I paid the shareware fee that they had said they would never charge for upgrades. If I am correct, they are therefore violating that pledge. I can see changing that policy for future customers, but not for those who purchased on the condition of no future charges.

Luv it. No problems, very stable. It's worth twice as much as the $10-15 upgrade fee, especially when you consider that some lesser utilities charge upwards of twice as much. BFD that it uses Rosetta. /eyeroll

Why is Rosetta being considered such a hideous evil? Apple provides it, and it's been very useful to many of us who need it. It doesn't muck up or otherwise slow down my daily operations. So, what's the big problem? I honestly don't understand the concern.

One word to all the enthusiasts : Rosetta

Ah, it's like an old flame come back to give it another go. She's still attractive you still have many fond memories, but there is that little queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, especially since you've adjusted and moved on. I would return to WindowShade, but a little while ago, I found TotalFinder (not in competition with WS, just totally different and very feature-filled), and I doubt the two utilities would be compatible. Still… I'll need to think about it a while.

How do you upgrade for $10?

For all the nay-sayers and anti-Unsanity brigade, you'll be over the moon to hear (not) it's stable and works a treat on Snow Leopard (running on MacPro 1.1): Tried it with: Final Cut Studio - check CS4 suite - check Quark 7.5 - check Toast Titanium - check Font Explorer X Pro 2.5 - check OmniWeb - check Office 2008 suite - check All my old Classic soundsets loaded back in from Tiger and worth the wait. Upgrade fee (To the folks knocking them for asking for payment -- when was the last time you paid them anything? I got 6 great years out of my original $7 bucks a pop. Do the begrudging naysayers expect 20-30 years of updates for free?) already paid both for this and Xounds... with thanks. Hopefully Unsanity will now have a chance to restore proper Customer Service (and credibility with the masses) with regular updates for the rest of us who have always and (now) will continue to still support them now that they've hopefully got their house in order. I, for one, welcome them (and their product) back with open arms and my few dollars show my appreciation. If I get a few more years out of a $10 piece of (to me anyway - essential) productivity software (Final Cut Studio has been a bitch to use without Windowshade) I'll be delighted. Just Fruit Menu and Menu Master to go now for me and my joyful days on Tiger OSX will be a distant memory for me and I'll fully embrace my other Snow Leopard partition.

I, too, am delighted to have this back. Not having WSX on my Mac for all those months drove me nuts. But now I've got a stack of images all minimised down one side of my screen and the half dozen web pages I'm working on all neatly shaded at the top and normality and efficiency has returned at long, long last. The app works great, as it always did, and I'm happy. Along with everyone else, though, I was soundly cursing Unsanity for their dithering but they still got my ten dollars as quick as I could send it. I hope they invest some of the new money they'll now be making into running their company properly and not pissing off their customers so badly in the future.

is this company still around?

'Registration information for WindowShade X version 3.5 and up..' I paid for all Unsanity's Haxies back in the day, and while I know they regret it - they said 'all future upgrades would be free'

Sorry, but i am not paying for this again. I was stupid enough to do it once, just to have the app broken 2 weeks later when Leopard came out. Waited months and months and months to get it working, but it became unusable as soon as Snow Leopard came out. 9 MONTH(!!!!!!!) release cycle, non-existing support and the general asinine attitude of developers towards paying customers put every single Insanity app on my "thanks, but no thanks" list forever.

OMG OMG. *Finally*... can't wait to get home and install on the SL MacPro. Using SL Apps (especially FCP) without it has been killing me for months. If it works and it's stable, they'll have my dough in their account tonight... along with Xounds fee as well. Now (as of this date) just FruitMenu to go...

Am I missing something? Intel only but requires Rosetta? No thanks, I'll pass. If it wasn't for Microsoft Office I would not have installed Rosetta in the first place. Get rid of Rosetta and you get more people wanting your software.

I missed WindowShade and am glad to have it back running on Snow Leopard. Worth the $10 upgrade IMO.

I broke the "haxie" habit a long time ago, recommend that others do the same. The devs have a lot of gall charging for this upgrade, they have such a dismally poor record as far as timely updates there is no guarantee that this update would last very long at all. Typically months go by after each OS update - months Unsanity's users are left holding the bag. Steer clear of these apps.

I agree about the upgrade fee being wrong, particularly given the total absence of customer support (at least in terms of update progress notices) and the inordinate amount of wait time between updates. On the other hand, I just gave this a spin, and I have to say that it's very responsive and seems a lot more stable than any version I ever tried under Leopard. It actually seems to work, and to work properly. This may be the 5th sign of the apocalypse.

I've stopped using this only because it has not be available for snow leopard users. Now that is here I'm perplexed as to why the charge? Maybe my memory is going but I'm pretty sure it used to be a 1 charge fee for life? I'm I wrong?

There is a beta (windowshadeX 50b2) that's working great for me on several machines under 10.6.3. Unfortunately it's hard to get that version as you need to follow Unsanity on their Twitter feed (to get the DL link) and they don't allow people to join said feed, even loyal registered customers... So, here is another way to get your hands on this beta version : http://bit.ly/bWimKS Register with your purchased windowshade 4.x serial (the one that worked on 10.5.x) Enjoy !

Wow. Go here: https://www.unsanity.com/uss/ And then click on the "INFO" link for WindowShade. Kids, don't try this at home!

Hooray! At last. I wonder how many other people have been waiting for Unsanity to announce upgrades before installing Snow Leopard. It is probably unrealistic to expect a small company to combine public relations skills with those required to write nifty software, but it sure would be nice if someone with some sense of how to quell the anxiety's, and often expressed angry frustration, of their customer base would contribute a couple of paragraphs that they could post on their website to explain the difficulty Unsanity has in trying to stay abreast of Apple.

The download link to Windowshade 5 beta is available on Twitter. http://www.unsanity.org/archives/betas/betas_twitter_and_wtf.php

I have written twice to Haxie's support team asking how to uninstall WindowShade from SL until they come up with a workable update. I have been greeted with total silence.

Continuing at a glacial pace: UnSanity now says that there is a beta for SL compatibility, but surprise, surprise you can't have it. Nope, not publicly available. But it exists. Trust them. http://unsanity.com/products/compatibility/ Oh, I can't wait. No really.

Night after night I check out MacUpdate to see if Unsanity have at last got their fingers out and released a Snow Leopard compatible version of my beloved WindowShade- and night after night I am, unsurprisingly, disappointed. How can such brilliant software be the exclusive possession of such a bunch of... well, supply your own expletive. I apologise for my uncharacteristic rudeness, Unsanity, but really... we'll be welcoming in OS X 10.7 before you lot get off your useless arses to release an update for 10.6. Really. Surely they mst be another developer out there who could take on creating something that does the same job? (are you listening Apple? For God's sake- you had it and threw it away, you idiots). Make a decent go of it, charge a reasonable fee and we'll come flocking in our thousands. You'll be a rich man- or woman- before you know it. I wish I had the technical expertise. And then we can all collectively extend two fingers (an English gesture- for Americans, just one will suffice I gather) in the general direction of Unsanity that they so richly deserve.

MacUpdate should revise the requirements for Unsanity products like WindowShade X to state that their products are NOT compatible with Snow Leopard. "10.4.x and above" is incorrect!

Windowshade is so good at what it does that I remain disappointed that I didn't know ahead of time that it wouldn't work with Snow Leopard.

wow... this is what makes you not want pay for shareware. This kind of attitude is going to bite unsanity in the @@s

For the fun of it I just checked Unsanity's website and what to my wondering eyes appeared? "Unsanity is still hard at work on Snow Leopard compatibility for the rest of our stuff and will be announcing availability as things become ready. Look for posts from Slava and Rosyna about WindowShade…" Wow.

Don't buy WindowShadeX if you intend to use Snow Leopard. It doesn't work. Besides, I'd like to warn everybody for the lousy support offered by the manufacturer: none at all. I've been trying to contact them to report bugs, no reply. Report anything as often you want, to any of their e-mails published on their website (support, feedback or sales): one thing is guaranteed: you will never get a reply, whatsoever. I decided to ask my money back (they offer a 90 day money back guarantee, but... you guessed right: no response). I think this is a one person company and the developer either doesn't care at all about customers after they paid or he is suffering from the mexican flew and rotting away behind his overflowing mailbox.... (maybe we are even better off that way, no need for such rip-offs in this world).

Out of curiosity, and I'm probably out of my league here, could the PowerPC only version of Windowshade (from days of yore) possibly work via Rosetta? I don't have that anymore, but maybe someone who does would be willing to try?

I have a proposal. Given how long Unsanity took to get this program to even start to work in Leopard, and given their current (apparent) indifference to Snow Leopard, I hold very low hopes of seeing any development in at least several months. (That's not unrealistic; look back on how long it took to get a Leopard version.) And even after several months, I don't expect a fully working version. Even their last Leopard version still had bugs despite their claims to the contrary. And it seems we are all tired of this. So, there must be a slew of competent developers out there who could also come up with some means of window shading. I don't know if we could have all of the bells and whistles. For myself, I just need the ability to collapse the window with either a hot key or double-clicking the title bar; but I do recognize that others like minimize-in-place and so on. Anyway, I doubt that any one of us has the money to pay a developer, but perhaps if we could arrange some kind of PayPal (or something) donation, then collectively we could entice someone to take on the project. Honestly, I don't know if this is even a plausible or good idea, but if you think it has any merits, let me know which developer(s) you think would be trustworthy and up to the task, and I would be willing to contact them with the proposal. I can't see that we'd have much to lose by asking.

Running 10.6 Snow Leopard and windowshade doesn't work. I was hoping for a smooth transition (concerning the move from Leopard to Snow Leopard) concerning WindowShade but of course that wasn't the case. Why Apple never carried the windowshade feature from O/S 9.X to OS 10.X to begin with is beyond me.

Well, APE works in Snow Leopard, but WindowShade et al all say this has not been tested in 10.6 and has therefore been disabled. Let's hope the wait isn't very long - I'm on autopilot using the amber blob for Hide.

Get ready for the next round of endless waiting. Last I read, this does not currently work in Snow Leopard. (http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/) Given that it took them literally years to get a version that sort of almost kind of worked with Leopard, I'm not optimistic. Wish Apple would just put this back into the OS. From what I've heard, if your machine has APE installed, Apple does not want to mess with your machine if it has problems. So, Apple abandons a great feature and then punishes anyone who so much as even tries to get that feature back. Pretty rude.

Wasn't this just released a week ago? What's the deal?

Awright! Yippie! Way to go Unsanity! Haxies-R-Us. Why this never made it into X is beyond imagining ... unless you know Apple's one-track-mind. Five Stars! Joe Bob says Check it out.

Count me as another that has never had an issue with any A.P.E. add on. Of course, the fan boi's already knew that. I'd be really interested one day to see your Transmission running, Clip Menu, 1000 Safari plug in Mac's. I'm always up for a good running joke.

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.)

This is clearly the 5th sign of the apocalypse. For the first time since Leopard's release, I can finally get windows to minimize in place at the edges of the screen without the windows disappearing. It looks to me like the Unsanity people actually got this fixed. Whereas the updates have been exceptionally slow, I do have to say thanks to them for addressing and fixing the problem. Hope they're ready for Snow Leopard.

I've been using both WindowShade (X) and FruitMenu (X) forever. There were some issues early on in the OSX versions, and the Leopard version suffered a long birth, but I have been happy with the increased functionality that the programs provide since Apple itself strayed from earlier UI standards - I've accepted and have learned to use / live with the Dock, Spaces, Stacks, and Exposé, but its just more efficient for me to roll up a window the old way (or currently, like Linux). And FruitMenu, to me, is the best Contextual Menu tool I have - plus I just prefer the old style, highly customizable Apple Menu. And I kinda like the Developer's dry but truthful approach - although I agree this can be frustrating to many. Thanks for a useful tool for my OS X Macs - G4s, G5s, and Intels - all work well.

Wow, 153 reviews. This is obviously a popular piece of kit- or used to be, judging by some of the comments.. I must have been one of the lucky ones as I've never had a moment's problem with WindowShade- or with Unsanity's FruitMenu, two programmes I absolutely adore and couldn't be without. As has frequently been observed, why windowshading was ever removed from the OS remains a mystery so I, for one, am very grateful for this excellent piece of software.

Does not align windows properly along the left edge of my screen. Unsanity apps used to be great, but the developer has left the users in the cold for too long now. Years without proper updates and support have forced me to deinstall APE and all Unsanity apps. Buyer beware!!

Years back, this used to be a GREAT program. Now for several years, the developper has stopped providing any support, or even any simple answer to emails. I spent several hours installing and uninstalling the program and ape under Mac OS X 10.5.6, but am still unable to make it "windowshade" at all. Dont spend your money for nothing!

I've tried at least 4 versions of this under two versions of Tiger. For about an hour or so it worked perfectly each time, and then even though loaded and active, it just stopped working... even across reboots. It's behavior is consistent on my computer regardless of the system and many other situations. Don't know why, but sadly I cannot recommend or use a program which stops working very quickly, and then never operates again. And cleaning up after it to remove it is a pain. Such a great idea and implementation... too bad it doesn't work on my computer.

I have had lots of small problems with WindowShade... but nothing too terrible. My biggest problem is their newfound non-involvement with their own client and it's subscribers. I've written them twice in the last two weeks with no response at all from them.

Where are the spring-loaded MIP windows? That would take this shareware to another dimension ;)

Running OS 10.5.5 on an Intel iMac, I find that Version 4.2 of Windowshade X still has Apple's TextEdit on its "Exclude List". Which is a great pity, because this is one of the applications where I used WS most often. Surprisingly, I do not find this problem on a PPC iMac running OS 10.5.5.

Thanks Unsanity. Glad the annoying Firefox 3 bug was sorted. Now if you'd just address Adobe Acrobat Pro 8 that would be awesome.

Maybe, but certainly not a god I want to worship. Minimize in place is still very problematic. Considering that I tell it to force windows to the bottom, starting at the left, and it immediately puts them at the top left of my screen, I'd say that's a pretty deficient deity. Especially since it's taken them this long just to get it to this point.

There is a god, after all.

Works Great! No Problems. Great to have it back in Leopard.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Had no problems with any of the beta stages or this final release of my all time favourite OSX add-on. Wish Apple never took it out, but glad Unsanity brought it back! As for the people complaining about crashes with programs most of us never heard of or used, use the exceptions options to turn it off for them, simple and easy. Thanks for the best OSX software line-up Unsanity!

thank you for this. I've never had a significant issue with any of your sw (and I have used/owned most) and for some, like WindowShade, I find them indispensable. It seems that so many negative comments get thrown your way and I just wanted to cast my vote amongst the howlers. again, thanks.

BEWARE OF THIS UPGRADE!!!!!!!!!! It causes MoneyDance to totally crash and not open!! Although I have backup, IT SCARED THE BLOODY S--T OUT OF ME! All my financial data evaporating in front of my eyes, and the thought of reconstructing this started pains in my chest. Stay with the previous beta version (b1). It worked fine.

The main problem for all of us is that Apple is not likely to re-implement this, and I know of no developer that is working on an alternative version of what this program does. There is an outfit called Slight Pretentious that's working on what looks to be a good Shapeshifter replacement: http://www.slightlypretentious.com/ Maybe we can convince them to try their hand at windowshading as well.

Thoroughly disgusted with Unsanity, I just tried to disable WindowShade. Well, guess what? The program now IGNORES me when I uncheck the "WindowShade X Enabled" box. I can't disable WindowShade X at all. I keeps reverting back to "enabled" status. Unsanity, you really need to get out of the software business.

lol funny comments about the developer's note on improving the application.. Strange just the fact none has noticed the menubar items totally disappear :D made exception for spotlight & stuffit Nice Update!!! hopefully i never gave a cent to them.. and i think never will since i'm not too fan of those "enahancements" funny to try for a little while, now even less...

It's kind of improved but not there yet. Minimize in place does seem more stable. But I set mine to automatically go to the bottom of the screen, starting at the left. And although it did that once, it quickly started forcing everything to the left side of my screen, starting at the top. Sheesh.

STILL GARBAGE: I'm on Leopard (10.5.5). MIP windows still stack on top of each other in the upper, left-hand corner of the screen (regardless of my settings that direct MIP windows to line-up from left to right at the bottom of the screen). Clicking on the top window in the stack brings that window to the front, but all other MIP windows behind it disappear. I regret ever having paid for ANY products from Unsanity.

WindowShade X works fine for me in Leopard 10.5.4, but now in iTunes 8 it doesn't. Of course that Apple appliaction is against all Apple HIG guidelines with it's custom scrollbars and custom everything (propably so it ports easier to Windows). Anyway, when I doubleclick on the 'titlebar' (at least the region that used to be the titlebar) the window minimizes into the Dock, and doesn't minimize in place. Pressing the yellow 'minimize' button does work. This is new behavior, iTunes 7.7 still works as expected.

I had hoped that the new APE would fix some problems with WS, but no. I have two significant problems. 1. I cannot seem to add a new event/action in the "Settings" tab. I double-click, but I cannot enter hot key. I have to quit System Preferences just to delete the new entry. 2. Minimize-in-place competes with Apple's double-click title bar to minimize. Doesn't matter if I turn off Apple's feature under "Appearance." It eventually turns itself back on. And even when I can get windows to minimize in place, they eventually disappear from my screen completely. Even if I try to reactivate them from within an application (where they do still appear in the Window menu), they do not reappear. And trying to pin them to the side or bottom of the screen is a joke. So I agree with other posters. This software is crap, and Unsanity seems utterly indifferent to it all. I really hope some other developer(s) come along and give us a product that works (and put Unsanity out of business).

It seems that Unsanity has completely abandoned all of it's loyal users. As for PROFINITE's comments... I'm not sure what he/she means... Unsanity posted that comment on Feb 24, 2008, 6 months ago... and they haven't posted anything since... except a new Ape that seems to mess up Windowshade. As this poster says, these are all BETAS... I think it's unconscionable business practices to leave their users with only betas rather than fully functioning apps. 7 months is too long a wait. I have problems with a few clients: Windowshade or APE seems to affect Preview... every time Preview crashes it asks to report to Apple and Unsanity... I assume this means Unsanity is the problem.

Doesn't work at all under 10.5.4 on my MBP. Tried reinstalling, and nothing seems to work.

For those who believe that Unsanity does not respond to inquiries, I suggest that you read the announcement in the yellow box at the top of their blog page that has existed for months now: http://www.unsanity.org/archives/betas/enthusiastic_trepidation.php I own FontCard, FruitMenu, Menu Master, and WindowShade. All of their betas have worked well with Leopard on multiple Mac's.

Now I have to correct somethings that I have said on the previous comments. Just out of curiosity, I reinstalled APE and WindowShade X on my Titanium PowerBook G4, OS X 10.5.4. But this time, I logged in to a new user account instead. Guess what, all of the sudden WindowShade X works like old time, no kidding! What a great feeling to see it alive again! Also this experience taught me that it must be some preferences on my old account that prevents WindowsShade X to work properly. So for anyone who claimed it doesn't work for them, I suggest to try this method too, maybe you'll surprise yourself as well :)