Back in the days before I ever thought I would be using a Mac as my only computer, I did everything I could to make Windows something different. With programs like WindowBlinds, DesktopX and ObjectDock you could completely change the look and feel of Windows XP. I can still remember staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning designing and redesigning various themes to make my operating system something cool and fun. Looking back now, I realize that I was trying to turn XP into OS X.

Fast forward to the present.

I recently found a program called Shapeshifter 2.4 by Unsanity for OS X. This cool little program allows you to change the general theme of the OS X interface. Let me say at this point that I am in no way unhappy with OS X, nor will I ever be as far as I can tell. If I have any say in the matter actually, I’ll never go back to Microsoft unless it’s to play a game that Macs don’t have. However, when I stumbled upon Shapeshifter I was a bit curious about how it could change something I already considered to be great.

Now I know.

After a few days use, I have to say, I really like this program. With Shapeshifter you can either drastically change how OS X looks, or just make some minor changes here and there. There’s a massive amount of themes available online, or you can make your own. I chose to download some themes and play around with those simply because I wasn’t feeling like designing a whole new one from scratch.

The big changes Shapeshifter brings about with themes are to the look of the windows, menus, apps and buttons. You also have the option to completely change almost every aspect of a theme on your own with the guiTweak app. Some of the themes will also change icons, most have desktop pictures included, lots of them have various color schemes to choose from. I ended up going with a very simple theme, just a few visual and color changes to the windows and menus, different glyphs for minimizing or closing windows, and a different icon set.

Overall I don’t see this program as a tool to turn OS X into something else, it just gives it a makeover. I’m still in love with my Cube, and with Shapeshifter I’m able to make it really shine.

For me computers tend to be very personal things, so why not personalize them to your tastes if you can?

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