Unsanity rides again onto Leopard

I gotta come to Unsanitys defence here. I Shapeshifter and obviously the things that come with it installed for a long time and have never had any issues with it. Had a theme called Crystal Clear which I loved. When Leopard arrived I never had the issues people report. Shapeshifter just refused to work on it. End of story. It'll be much missed.

Wow, such negativity. Let me first agree, your fears are not unfounded, Unsanity products can bring down your entire system... if you think like a first-grader. Let me explain.

The main problems that occur with Unsanity and APE happen when a user installs a major upgrade, i.e. going from 10.4.x to 10.5.x. If it isn't common sense to disable any system hacks before revamping your operating system, it should be, and it is recommended by Apple.

APE has the potential to be dangerous, but when used judiciously many of their products do add genuine functionality to OS X. And while some of their products are overpriced, as in $10 per feature, many of their best products are completely free. I use CeePeeYou (a menubar CPU monitor), ClearDock, Dock Detox, and occasionally ShadowKiller. All of those are free, and the only other one worth having IMO is WindowShade. I almost bought that for 10.2.8, but since I moved on long ago to 10.3.x and 10.4.x, it's functionality has mostly been replaced by Exposé.

Yes, I agree that OS X is the best OS in the world, and if that's something you want to mess with, you ought to be competent in UNIX first. If you are not, don't hold grudges when you mess up your own system!

Here are my recommendations for safely using APE:
1) Save the installers! Each installer includes an uninstall feature, which deletes all of the files created by default during the installation. I made put a folder called Saved Installers at ~/Library, and I keep them there.
2) Use APE in 10.4.11 - I have used it for six months now and have never had a problem. I found minor problems in 10.2.8, but from my experience it is stable in 10.4.11.
3) If you have not used it before and are concerned, install it first on an older computer with the OS you would use on your newer computer to prove to yourself that it works without hangs. If your concerns persist, back up your important files to CD or DVD and proceed.
4) When installing, use the "Create Installation Log" check box, then copy the list of a created files to a text file on an external drive or CD. If you do manage to muff up your computer, and you somehow can't get the uninstaller to work, simply search for the files mentioned in your text file, and use the UNIX command rm followed by a space and the file name or file path+name. This can be done from the terminal, and can even be done from another Mac if you boot yours in Target Disk Mode (hold T as you boot).
5) Carefully remove all traces of APE before you upgrade to 10.5.x. There will eventually be a stable APE for 10.5, but until the details have been ironed out, don't attempt to use any APE under 10.5. When that day comes, install it using the above precautions.

Now before any of you bombard me or fill me up with horror stories from your personal experience, realize that I am not recommending APE to any beginner. A beginner could confidently and use ShadowKiller and CeePeeYou, as both are regular applications that run without APE. I would recommend ClearDock, Dock Detox, and WindowShade to any power user who prefers OS X but craves the customizability of Linux.

I see the programmers at Unsanity as competent, but the idea of forward compatibility (read, compatibility in OS 10.5 for an APE designed for 10.4) is a difficult thing to achieve when you are working with an OS from a creative, unpredictable company like Apple. Thanks to all of you for giving the n00bs fair warning about APE, but your fear of it indicates to me a bit of a n00b attitude on yourselves. APE is not pure evil, it is more like a 50/50 blend. :D

APE is not the problem. The problem (as HM mentioned) is that Logitech is installing old versions of potentially dangerous software and not letting it update automatically.

POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
This means that it allows editing of the way things appear to happen. The reason so much broke in Leopard is because so much changed right down at the engineering level, which only developers/power users have to worry about as normal users don't see it. If you remove the foundation of a building, it will collapse. Same applies here.

Wow what hate

Ok Let's get something perfectly straight for the people who seem to be unable to properly research things

APE works at an application level . NOT a system level. This means you can quit it's process and all the haxie things disappear. It's also the same method the Apple's debugger MacsBug uses ...As I understand this is provided as part of their SDK kit developers download. So it's not a buggy method of inserting code at all ... how can it be if Apple themselves are using it for their debugger ?

The Logitech fiasco is all about Logitech installing software without notifying the user in any way - I installed it myself .. It wasnt mentioned in the install process and indeed the only way I knew it was installed was Ape coming up going "ummm are you sure you wanna install an old version of me" . That and I had to pull apart the bill of materials file (.bom) in the installer file - something the casual user does not know how to do

I think the people blaming Unsanity don't seem to be able to read a crash log for the thread that says " Thread X crashed" ...That is the one causing the error ...Not APE ..That just means its running at the time (and given it runs at an application level that is perfectly logical...it needs to be running for the haxies to work)

Such ignorant vitriol. Read their blog. APE is not the devil. 99% of the issues I've heard attributed to APE over the years have had little or nothing to do with it.

I find Windowshade and Fruitmenu very useful, and am so happy to have Silk back so that I can replace the fugly Lucida Grande.

If you're not interested tricking out your mac with aftermarket mod's, don't do it. But don't slam those that do, or the company that makes this possible.

Being a 'newbie' Mac user (but a long time Windows user - so, I guess that makes me a 'switcher'), I've been reading the comments here with interest.

Whilst almost none of Usanity's 'haxies' interest me, one has gotten my attention; MightyMouse.

On the Mac I've found the pointer hard to see, so, I used the accesibility features to make it bigger - but that results in a blocky, ugly looking pointer. So far I haven't found any other way of customizing the mouse pointer, and the only solution so far out there seems to be Usanity's MightyMouse.

Reading the comments though, if MightyMouse relys on the APE which everyone seems to describe as having such a big destabilizing effect, I'm in two minds as to whether I should just put up with the blocky pointer, but i have to ask - surely with something like this, Usanity are only trying to fill an /obvious/ void - the Mouse Pointer should be something that users can easily customize, instead it's locked down to a default.

Wow - I've never read so many flaming reports about an app except MS Word. I used unsanity's WindowShade and Shapeshifter for years without problems. As for "useless" software, it may not have added function to my machine but I enjoyed it's features nonetheless. Surely every app doesn't need to be useful. Do you play games???? And we should really be asking APple why they take away features that other developer's must add back in. I've found Apple to be unresponsive as a company to requests for obvious improvements and often what they have taken away makes no sense. Its' better to give and to offer options than take away functionality.

Does someone know of a quality replacement for FruitMenu? I've used it for quite a long time -- never with ANY problems -- but if unsanity's APE is as "hide under your bed" scary as many have stated here (and I have no reason to argue that point, other than my good experience with FM), then I'm happy to look elsewhere if there's a comparable utility that plays friendly and lets me make the Apple Menu actually useful and organized to my needs.

I'm still wondering what crashes people are attributing to APE (besides the infamous APE 2.0.1 -> 10.5 login hang).

And it's a shame Logitech didn't keep their users up to date with software. Most of the users afflicted by the bug seem to be Logitech users, so why have they not received any blame for sending out out of date software without an indication that they were installing APE?

APE is way safer than the alternative (Patching the code on the hard drive).

And please for the love of god don't let Appe remove InputManagers. There is far too much out there that Apple refuses to add to their applications but are a great help (Inquisitor/PithHelmet/SAFT/iChax).

Wow, so much hostility. I used WindowShade (so by association, APE) for years, loved it and never had a problem. Ever.

The only thing I really used it for was double-click to hide the app. Surely there must be a terminal command to do that instead of minimizing to the dock?