Aqua-Soft ForumsFirst off if you have ANY interest in the Flyakite transformation packs what-so-ever please read this entire first post because what I am about to do will require some help from the community.
Okay so many of you are probably thinking "FlyakiteOSX? What happened to SP1 and SP2?".
Well here's the deal. Some of you know I have been planning a new version of both series for this December. However, I've been giving it a LOT of thought lately, and after some help from my good friend XalCore and a resounding agreement from theunknown, this is what we have come up with:
OLD WAY
The current packages are service pack dependent. Meaning you have to have either SP1 or SP2 and use the right pack. It also requires to have everything updated from Windows Update, etc. It also means if an international user installs the system files normally (opposed to extracting and using batchmod), he ends up with english files on his system, and most of the regular dialogs and text are now all english.
NEW WAY
The new way will have one package possibly titled FlyakiteOSX (unless anyone can come up with another name still involving the word Flyakite). It will also not include any physical system files. Instead, I will use Restorator to make a ResPatch that contains only what has been moddified in a file. This patch is then applied to the file on the users computer, and now that user has their same original file with new icons, AVIs, BMPs, etc.
THE BENEFITS
Using a patch instead of a file has enormous upsides. It first makes the need for specific file versions unneccessary. It can be applied on XP Home, Pro, SP1, SP2, non SP, Windows 2003, and any language version available. It will cut down on the size of the installer. Also it can be reapplied multiple times. If you visit Windows Update and a lot of your icons change back, just reinstall the pack, and viola, the new files with the os x icons again! Not to mention, now for those of you who still want to extract the files, because you only want to install say one dll, you can apply the ResPatch for that file, with no need to worry about using BatchMod or Replacer! Then comes MODULARITY (read below)
MODULARITY (FlyaPacks)
The main pack is going to be just like the current packs, but with NO modded dialogs or strings etc. However, there will be two additional addons at time of release, called FlyaPacks (thanks to XalCore for the name). One will be a pack for moddified text strings, another for moddified dialogs. This allows international users to install the main pack and have ALL of their text be in THEIR Language, then if they want, at their choice they can install the addon and will get the new stuff like strings and dialogs, with some text being now in English. It also allows those of you who don't like the strings being changed in context menus etc, to keep it the default XP way. And these packs will be much smaller downloads compared with the main pack.
THE DOWNSIDE
For the user, there is no downside. The real downside is only on my end. This new method requires a TON of installer code rewriting as well as a lot of extra work and an abundance of testing due to the new methods being used. Not to mention everything has to be more than perfect the first time around since big updates will be less frequent.
WHAT I NEED FROM THE COMMUNITY
1) DEDICATED mirrors for the FlyaPacks. Dedicated means you aren't going to pull the download on me after a few months and never host it again. The installer will, if I have dedicated mirrors, be designed to allow you to download the addons from within the installer and it will automatically choose a mirror to download from. This means the mirrors need to stay constant so that the installer can properly download the add ons.
2) Ideas. If you've ever disliked something in the flyakite packages, wanted something added/changed etc, now is the time to speak up. Want an Object Bar/Firefox/etc. etc. theme included? Well if you know of a good one, give me a link to a thread with what you want added and if possible the authors forum name so I can contact them.
===================== Translation Update:
Polish: daviddalion & Pe8er
Italian: altoprofilo
French: bondjames
German:
Russian: Strange_Fish
Spanish: Seph
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