Aqua-Soft Forums[development] FlyakiteOSX v3.0
More Tiger like Control Panel (NO) - This will not be included for a couple of reasons. There is no way to make the real Control Panel truly look like System Preferences. It can only be done with an extra program. Even with an extra program, you cannot change the Control Panel item in the Start Menu to open up the System Preferences look alike program, it will always open Control Panel.
And what about Tiger System Preferences?
http://www.osx-e.com/downloads/application...references.html
chris this time i am using the x64 edition of xp. please include that x64 version there is reshacker like program in the net. you can find it here:
please include x64. thanks a lot.
im running true wide screen 1680x1050 and i hope that will be supported thx for ALL the hard work
must wait !
UPDATE:
I have developed a tool to hack the bootscreen for users of any XP based operating system or any language.
In previous FlyakiteOSX versions the boot screen has always been set by using the switches /NOGUIBOOT and /BOOTLOGO in the users boot.ini file. This overrides the animated XP boot screen and instead uses a bitmap image. With this method you can't have a progress bar and you do not see preboot scans like checkdisk and stuff like that. However it is completely safe and there's no way to mess up the system.
The reason I did not use a hacked ntoskrnl file like in old Flyakite versions, is that to do it universally would be extremely hard. I can't include an ntoskrnl.exe file for every possible version and cpu out there. And to universally hack it would be difficult, because the color palette is embedded into the file. So I would have to figure out a way to hex edit the palette with a new one, for any and every version. But I've done it. I use a script for XVI32 to search and replace the palette. Then use a normal Resource Hacker script to replace the images.
However I need some people to test the tool for me. If you are interested, PM me please. I will give you full instructions on what to do and how to fix it if it doesn't work. It is very easy and cannot harm your system.
wow, thank you flyakite for breaking it down like you did, amazing what a little feedback can do to the soul. This is certainingly turning exciting. I have a request that I hope is feasible: Could you implement something like "Special Folders" which, when you drag a ico/png into it, and then run the updater, flyakite app will replace the resource of that special folder's designation with that custom user defined resource.for instance: you would have a folder called "System Folder" in your program's directory. By dragging a new icon into that folder, and then launching the Updater, that icon would replace the one presently used in the system. With some of the more common stuff covered in this fashion, your program would become that much more endearing to the customization centric folks. *crosses fingers*
And thanks in advance for your amazing program. I do not do installs without it anymore, and have yet to have a problem.
Also, could you make the installer be usable to selectively check and uncheck componenets without having to do a complete uninstall and then reinstall in order to remove just one tweak or mod.
Seems that TuneUp WinStyler 2006 have some feature like that. It presents a directory treeview (like Windows Explorer does) and let you choose each folder's icon. Take a look: http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-winstyler/
flyakite: Is it possible to replace all 'Windows' strings in system files with 'Mac OS X' or something like this?...
I know ResHacker has an ability to batch change string resouces, however when I had no luck trying to make it work...
I also found an aqua skin for Reget download manager, maybe you can include it into Flyakite 3... It's only 220 Kb. See attachment. This skin is made by Russian aqua community, their site is http://step-ahead.narod.ru/ (in russian, use bablefish), and their e-mail is step-ahead(at)narod(dot)ru. If you have any questions or difficulties PM me.
Hi guyz !!
Something that will interest guyz zho have widescreen laptops !!!!
I found how to fix ALL Flyakite v2 display troubleshootings on a Dell XPS Gen2 laptop. I guess that works on every widescreen laptops with a screen resolution at 1920x1200 (and nVidia graphic cards).
fixes :
- Taskbar, and taskbar icons
- Logon screen
- Logout screen
When re-installing Windows,on first Windows boot,set max screen resolution and then install Flyakite v2. Restart your computer, and then install your nVidia drivers !!! That's very important to install nVidia drivers after installing Flyakite v2 and restart your computer.
It works fine one my laptop, and I hope that it will works on yours widescreen notebooks too.
Flyakite v2 has ALWAYS been working smoothly here with my widescreen (1440x900).
)flyakite has worked well on my emachines m5105 laptop with its lower widescreen res (1280x800)
only issue i have had
widescreen laptops are great and all...it is just some things dun support widescreen and it is quite annoying
but i will test flyakite v3 if needed to make sure it works so well again
plus i like testing software(i am in i dun know how many MS beta programs)
yeah flyakite works fab on my laptop 1280x768
Thanks for the updates...if you ever need a beta tester i'd be happy to put my computer's welfare at your disposal 
wow, this should be cool, looking forward to this 
Okay it's been awhile so I guess I should probably post some updates.
First off, either today or tomorrow there will be an input form allowing you to subscribe to the FlyakiteOSX Mailing list. This list will be used to notify everyone about new releases, current release date timeframe and any delays if any, beta testing requests, specific bug fixes, patches and updates, etc. I highly recommend for everyone interested to sign up when the link goes up. No I won't spam you, quit being so paranoid 
.
Second, for those of you with widescreen bugs, I would REALLY appreciate if you can send me any and all screenshots of the bugs you have. You can send them to my normal e-mail (flyakite19 AT hotmail.com). Since I don't have a widescreen it's very hard to fix problems I can't reproduce or at least see.
Now on to some progress updates. The project is moving along nicely. The target release date is mid december, before Christmas.
The boot screen patcher has been confirmed to work on all systems that it has been tested on, so what this means is that in v3.0 you can expect a bootscreen with progress bar support, and it will no longer interfere with bootup procedures like scan disk and partition magic. However, you still cannot have the spinning wheel. That just isn't possible with the XP boot kernel.
I'm also adding a lot of files. For instance, in v2.0 there are approximately 35 EXE files included. In v3.0 there will be 70+. That being said, any files that aren't included that you want, please make a request, especially for control panel files. If you have a Control Panel item you want added, please find what file it is (normally a .cpl file), and send it as an attachment to the e-mail listed up above. Make sure to include the path where the file is located (eg: C:WINDOWSsystem32).
Initially I had planned to include AveDesk 1.3 and had received permission from Ave to do so, but unfortunately this is going to be cut. The reasons though are that AveDesk is a very difficult program for most people to understand at first. Any program I include, most people first come to me for support even though I had nothing to do with the creation of the app, and I don't have time to help people with AveDesk. Not to mention, with how much people's systems differ, it is hard to install and auto-configure something like AveDesk for a user. However, there will be something to help with stuff like this. Read on:
One thing that I think most everyone will enjoy is the new introduction guide I am writing up. Basically, when after the installer runs you will get an option to display the "Welcome to FlyakiteOSX" guide upon restart. This guide will cover a lot. It will start out teaching you about what has been installed and how things work. It will tell you how to keep your icons up to date after Windows Update, how to apply skins, sounds, cursors, etc. to other users and more. It will also discuss additional programs. There will be a section on Expose clones, a section on Finder clones, a section on widget apps and more. The main idea is to address most of the questions I receive all the time. I constantly get questions about how to get the finder menu, why the min/max/close aren't on the left, how to do the expose thing etc.
Now onto some stuff that is probably not as interesting to most of you, but it benefits everyone. There have been MAJOR internal code changes and restructuring. What this should "hopefully" allow is for me to maintain the installer and release future updates easier, as well as possibly different packs (Vista, Gant, Snow, whatever) if I have the time. The major change is that now files will NEVER be left out of the uninstaller or updater. The way v2.0 worked, I have to maintain file listings in 4 seperate code pieces. For the 1) installer 2) uninstaller 3) file updater 4) batch restore script. After a good 5 hours of restructuring, I've shoved all of the file code into one file. Then, for each application that code is referenced with the correct parameters, so that it knows whether it should be using the update, install, or uninstall function on the file. This will save me A LOT of time, as a good chunk of development would go into cross-checking each file code to make sure that the files were the same and that none were left out. The new method allows me to make changes to one file, and it will then be updated in the installer, uninstaller, etc. So for those of you who uninstalled FlyakiteOSX and noticed that the notepad icon did not uninstall, this is why. It was an oversight and was left out of the uninstaller. This will never happen again with the new system.
There are a lot of other updates being implemented as well of course, just not all are being listed. For those of you with 64bit processors, you are out of luck, sorry. I am also adding the ability for silent installation with switches and adding an option to run the updater silently at every startup. It will only notify you if your files need updating. This will allow you to make sure you always have the OS X icons and that any Windows Updates will be moddified back. I will also be adding a /forceupdate switch to the updater. This will allow you to replace icons in the WINDOWSFlyakiteOSX folder with specific ones you want and then run the updater with the switch, which will essentially update all files regardless of whether they need to be or not.
Okay well that's about it for me, as I'm tired of writing and I need to get back to work.
super! very curious to see the result once more.
gee...i guess now i gotta stop calling you a slacker!
I will also be adding a /forceupdate switch to the updater. This will allow you to replace icons in the WINDOWSFlyakiteOSX folder with specific ones you want and then run the updater with the switch, which will essentially update all files regardless of whether they need to be or not.
Thank you so much for listening to this request! This means that we can now add our own custom icons that flyakiteOSX will use to patch the system? Very nice.
the silent update sounds great, plus all the extras it sounds like this is going to be the most complete shell pack out there, awesome job
Sounds as fantastic as you say it will be, ooo early christmas come early present me thinks if things go according to your schedule : prays :
hey guys
i`m from germany and i just wanna thank flyakite for this great program. I`m really looking forward to flyakite 3. i`m running v 1.0 because 2.0 doesnt work and i really love your work.
there are a lot of people in germany that use your program.
i thought maybe theres a possibility that you can show the cpu temperature and the fan speed on the desktop in flyakite 3. probably its not working but anyway whatever you will do in that version i`ll love it :-)
Sorry for mistakes but my english could be better i guess
Buggi
"For those of you with 64bit processors, you are out of luck, sorry."
Bah thought there was a program to replace x64 resources with..? Some guy spoke of it earlier in this thread.
Isn't 64-bit the future? I mean it is just a matter of time to when it would be massive pressure to impliment this feature isn't it? But maybe it's harder than I know to code thething to work with x64 to.
Other then that I can just say that you do a terrific job on these packs...
"For those of you with 64bit processors, you are out of luck, sorry."Bah thought there was a program to replace x64 resources with..? Some guy spoke of it earlier in this thread.
Isn't 64-bit the future? I mean it is just a matter of time to when it would be massive pressure to impliment this feature isn't it? But maybe it's harder than I know to code thething to work with x64 to.
Other then that I can just say that you do a terrific job on these packs...
64bit is the future. I'm sure in due time everyone will be on 64bit. Here's the problem though. There are currently no editing programs that support 64bit through scripting. To give you a very brief overview of how FlyakiteOSX works, essentially all the raw resources (icons, bitmaps, etc) are extracted to the users machine. A script is ran through Resource Hacker, which tells it to take a file, and inject the resources I want into it, then save the file. This makes the patch dynamic, in that it will work on any file for any language. Great. However, Resource Hacker does NOT work on 64bit excutables. The one app out there that does, does not support scripting. What this means is that I would have to manually hack all of the 64bit files, and include the file itself in the pack. This would mean not only would the file only work for 1 specific file version (eliminating any type of dynamic update feature like in v2.0), but it also means I would have to maintain and release a seperate pack for 64bit.
While I would love to release a pack for 64bit, it just is not feasible. I do not have the time or resources. I work, go to school, my girlfriend lives 2 1/2 hours away and I often spend my weekends visiting her, or spend my weekends visiting my mom and little brother who live 2 hours away from me. Working on FlyakiteOSX is hard enough as it is. Now, if everyone wanted to chip in and help me buy a new 64bit system, I would gladly release a 64bit pack no question, even if it couldn't be dynamic.
That's the other kink, to moddify the 64bit files, I need access to them. Without 64bit Windows it's near impossible for me to have access to all the files I need. Someone would have to upload them, and it's just a pain. Not only that, but I can't do testing for 64bit without a 64bit proc, and uploading a new installer for someone else to test is not good, because most people don't spot little bugs that I see. VMware can run a 64bit OS, but only if the HOST is also 64bit. You can't run a 64bit guest OS in VMware if the host is 32bit.
Hopefully though this clarifies why I won't be releasing a 64bit version. It's not that I'm lazy or don't want to, believe me I do. It's just that it is much harder from a technical standpoint, and needs it's own installer, which requires much more time for me, and without a 64bit OS it makes constant testing like I do now impossible.
Sorry 64bit users.