OSXplanet: Live Desktop

When we recently mentioned the release of EarthDesk 4.0 from xeric design, many of the commenters suggested we check out the OSXplanet Project. OSXplanet is a Cocoa port of the Open Source program Xplanet and like EarthDesk puts a "live" picture of the earth on your Desktop. However, like Xplanet, OSXplanet can also display other planets in the solar system (though perforce with not quite as much live data). You can choose from a variety of map projections, see cloud formations, mark cities on the map (and even center the view on one of them), track storms, view earthquakes and volcanoes, and even some satellites (as I write this, the International Space Station seems to be about over Chicago). Surprisingly, it doesn't even require too big of a memory hit (I'm at about 54MB real).

OSXplanet is a free download though its author (who is all of 17 years old) requests donations ($20 suggested).

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Source: http://www.gabrielotte.com/osxplanet/main.html

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Software Education Odds and ends Freeware

When we recently mentioned the release of EarthDesk 4.0 from xeric design, many of the commenters suggested we check out the OSXplanet...

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John Perry

Please help, someone. I downloaded this OSXplanet monster, and most times it won't let my iMac boot; that idiotic little globe just sits there winking malevolently. When it does consent to load as wallpaper, I can't find any way to access controls or options for it, and when I found a "quit" button it didn't quit. How do i get rid of this pest?

March 04 2007 at 2:06 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jason

So far so good on my MBP. I think this is an awesome idea. My only issue is that I can't seem to get any of the updates (cloud, satellites, etc.) to update properly. Although I have an active internet connection I'm still getting a "failed" message next to the update information. Anyone else having similar issues?

February 23 2007 at 1:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

B Money

This is a neat idea, and a great start, but I should mention that this program has *completely* fucked up my Cube. I hate to point fingers, but I've never had any of these issues until I just installed this program. Video started freezing, then nothing but blackness, and now I can't even get past the Gray Apple startup screen. 4 Kernal Panics and counting. Install at your own risk.

As an FYI, I am running 10.4.8 on a 1.7GhZ Sonnet G4 with a GeForce 5200.

February 23 2007 at 11:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

(01)

Are there any apps like this that will work with virtual desktops, specifically were there are different wallpapers on the desktops? That's the only thins really preventing me from using these...

February 22 2007 at 3:30 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Wow, this'll be cool.

February 22 2007 at 2:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Allan Leedy

#6 you forgot about the international dateline. ;P

February 22 2007 at 2:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Greg

1988 would make him 18.

February 22 2007 at 1:21 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jonas

http://web.tiscali.it/osxplanet/osxplanet/OSXplanet1.0.1.dmg

February 22 2007 at 12:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply