Coherence mode and more mac-alike Windows UI

What are you going to read here:

I will show you a tool I've been using for a quite while now, which turns the windows user interface into a more mac-alike interface. Ex-specially in conjunction with coherence mode this results in a much better visual integration of Microsoft Windows apps and windows with your Mac OSX interface.

The app is called flyakiteosx. It's not really new and I've been using this app in my pre-parallels times when I used to use a real PC for the little windows stuff I couldn't migrate over to my Mac (sic!).

What is flyakiteosx

flyakiteosx is a transformation pack. It will transform the look of an ordinary Windows XP+ system to resemble the look of Mac OS X. The installer simply automates the process of replacing critical system files, setting registry tweaks, and installing extras such as cursors, sounds, visual styles, etc.

flyakiteosx is developed by Chris Kite - therefore the name "fly"-a-kite. Version 3.5 is the latest version as of feb. 2006. It seems to be outdated which is not true actually, at least not for WinXP and Win2000.

Get an impression of how it looks like:

My screen-shot with task-bar, IE, Firefox and Win Explorer open and Mac-Firefox in the back in coherence mode:
http://www.wittrodt.com/images/fullscreen_2.png

Have a look with googles image search:
http://images.google.com/images?svn...resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=FlyakiteOSX&spell=1

What else you might want to know

Flyakiteos is freeware. There is a short article to be found at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyakite_OS_X

flyakiteosxOSX does not contain any spyware or ad-ware of any kind. All files needed for flyakiteosxOSX are stored in the Windows directory in a folder named ‘flyakiteosxOSX’ that is hidden by default. All registry values for flyakiteOSX are written to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\flyakiteOSX.

In case you are not happy with the results of flyakiteosxOSX, everything is completely removable. Just run the uninstaller from the Start Menu or from Add/Remove Programs. But read on below for compatibility issues.

Compatibility

All versions:
When installing make sure to uncheck the "Y'z Shadow" in "Software". Y'z Shadow produces a good looking shadow around windows. However this looks a bit strange when you're using coherence mode as you will always see a border with your windows background image shining through around every window. Also check if you really want to install the dock replacements for windows. I guess you don't want to. So uncheck "Docks" in "Software" when installing.

Windows XP:
Fly a kite works best with Windows XP. Install and uninstall work smooth and without glitches.

Windows 2000:
Install works smooth. Uninstall might cause trouble in matter of system crash or leftover parts of flyakiteosx.

Windows pre 2000:
Doesn't work.

Windows Vista:
I'm not sure about Windows Vista. It's not build with Vista in mind so I guess it won't work.

Get a copy of flyakiteosx

The homepage of Chris Kite seems to be down. You can load the file here:
http://www.osx-e.com/downloads/misc/flyakite_osx.html

or as a direct link:
http://www.osx-e.com/files/misc/FlyakiteOSX v3.5.exe

Have fun.

 

I can concur that flyakiteosx does the job and does it well. I've been using it for a while now, without any problems. The original site went down, and I could not find a download link (had to dig into the archives for it), so I'm glad someone found a download link again.

 

I don't know this program -- haven't used it at all -- so my comments are not directed at what it actually does. To me it sounds like a rather elegant solution. However, based on the above description, this program may very well not run in Vista as expected, unless it is told to "Run as Administrator". The issue concerns where it "lives" and the Registry values to which it writes. If any write operations are needed to either of those locations during runtime, the write operations will be blocked.

 

Interesting one, does anybody tried with Vista ?

http://venublog.com/

 

Alternate Method

I use this:
<http://www.studio7designs.com/studiotwentyeight.com_kols_graphics.cfm>

along with the widgets at:
<http://www.deviantart.com/view/17625638/>

-Bob