‘If you get info on one in the Finder, it says "Mac OS X Preference Pane" (note the case).’

This doesn’t really tell you anything, though, since title case is the de facto standard for file type strings in OS X, although I’ve never seen it documented anywhere. Of course, it was pretty common in OS 8/9, where sentence case was mandated.

I suspect you’re wrong in your assumption that Adobe and MS don’t get constant complaints about these issues. It’s just that they’ve got a nice big support department to ignore the complaints professionally. :-)

First, give grammar lessons when you've mastered English. Preference Pane. The noun is Pane, preference refers to what kind of Pane. It isn't a preference pane - not preferences pane.

Second, if you stopped bitching about Apple so much by now your customers might have upgrades. I wish the internet had a huge PLONK pile for you and your never ending complaints.

Third, have you considered the possibility that professionals don't shit in their own environment? All this Apple bashing surely doesn't help when you need to contact Apple about issues with your software or bugs that you've found. You are probably referred to in Cupertino as that fucking Russian shit.

"It isn't a preference pane - not preferences pane."

What? That makes no sense.

And who's russian here? You? Me? No?

What?

David, are you agreeing with me? I don't get it...? If you meant to say "It is a preference pane - not preferences pane." Then you are agreeing with me. So is Apple the one giving grammar lessons in this case?

I don't understand what "First, give grammar lessons when you've mastered English." refers to. If you meant it to refer to me, then you didn't read any of the post...

It kind of makes you wonder why we needed a plug-in architecture for the preference panes anyways? Apple had started moving towards just small individual apps for Control Panels in the OS 9 days - why they then to these panes for prefs seems odd to me. What benefit was there?

David is right, stop bashing Apple so much, if you don't like it let us know and start writing software for Windows.

Is all this mambo jambo just a prelude to Unsanity charging for Universal upgrades that us paying customers are waiting for for 5 months now? If that's the case tell me so I can sue, as I remember buying your software with "lifetime upgrades".

And stop calling the Macs ICBMs, they are MacBook Pros and iMacs. After checking your page regularely for Intel updates, and after reading all your crap, I don't even care anymore for your haxies, the system runs so much better without them.
Thank God for Uno and MoofMenu.

Bye bye unprofessional people.

Because having a plugin architecture allows there to be a common place to change all these settings and a common framework to do it in a manner that's consistent. Remember the Mac OS 9 days when there were 50 control panels on your machine, all will different UIs?

Although I imagine if the number of preference panes increases, the current method won't be adequate.

As we've repeatedly said to you, they'll be released when they're ready and not a day before. We're not going to risk stability by releasing something before it is ready.

Stef, not once did we promise free upgrades for Silk or ShapeShifter (the two products you bought).

Number on my name is John Ksiradakis and I don't know why you changed it on my comment.
Number two I am a registered user of Shapeshifter, Silk, Fruitmenu, and WindowShadeX.
Number three, you don't seem to comment on your hate relation with Apple, your costant whining, and your inability to produce software for 5 and a half months now.

Keep faith, Rosyna, I understand exactly where you're coming from. Even though Apple has the best OS out there and some of us border on evangelical, it's sad that so many people are blinded into thinking Apple's perfect, because no giant corporation like Apple is perfect and you definitely have a right to complain.

And, to all those people who are complaining because forthcoming Intel upgrades might have a pricetag and not be free... the argument could be made that you purchased "WindowShade for Mac OS X PowerPC" and that a Universal or Intel-specific version is a new product line. You have a computer with an entirely new OS and processor architecture, the OS builds on PowerPC and Intel are entirely different. It's absolutely unsane to think that a promise for "free upgrades for life" extends to a rewrite of code for a system architecture that wasn't even dreamed of at the time this promise was made.

If I ever get an ICBM (I love that acronym, btw), I'll be sure to upgrade my haxies, paid or free. Keep up the good work Unsanity.

Thanks, dmsmac. But perhaps I have been super negative lately. Then again, after working on Silk and Menu Master, along with other things, for 12 hours straight. I find writing posts like these an excellent way to blow off steam and relax a little. It helps even more when I realize I was working so much, I didn't even go outside yesterday. At all. The only human I saw was the pizza delivery guy. I wonder if that makes me a workaholic?

Also, the comments help remind me that I do all this work for *real* people that really use our software, and that helps the work all the more satisfying. Yes, I included posts like what Stef and David said above in that. Their opinions are still real and appreciated.

Finally, likely anyone that is reading this blog already knows what makes OS X the best, they don't need me to repeat it ad nauseam. They made the choice, whereas most (but not all) Windows users are just following the flock (not all are aware of this, but you can tell it by what they say). But how many people have actually seen that dialog I posted a screenshot of above?

Well said, dmsmac!

Stef (or John Ksiradaki, or whatever): since you don't care about haxies anymore, I hope we won't be hearing from you again. Don't worry, you won't be missed.

Don't pay attention to me, I'm just a salamander.

I have to wonder if the people who spend so much energy bitching at Unsanity realize that programmers have lives and feelings outside of their jobs.

Personally, I would much rather have the developers be frank about what they're feeling (ESPECIALLY when it pertains to software that I'm interested in) than to not have this blog exist at all.

You're threatening legal action for software that costs a ten spot, which you most likely bought before the Intel Macs were even announced? That's absolutely pathetic.

David: I have a solution to your need for a PLONK file. It's called "quit reading this blog." If Rosyna's personal comments are so offensive to you that you want to plonk them, then why do you keep reading them?

Personally, the reason I'll let the big guys get away with waiting for the next major release, whereas I expect (and have gotten, with only one or two minor exceptions) universal binaries from the smaller shareware authors is that, for the most part, all they've had to do is click a checkbox and recompile. Whereas Microsoft and Adobe are shipping massive apps descended from a lot of legacy code and on top of all that they've been using the "wrong" development environment and have to do a lot of work to move to gcc/Xcode.

Another important point is that most of those free upgrades haven't been upgrades at all, just equivalent universal versions. If all it takes is clicking a button (yes, I know it's often a little more work than that) then why NOT make it available? I'd be seriously concerned if universal binaries of Transmit, OmniOutliner, NetNewsWire, and other fairly straightforward Cocoa applications hadn't appeared by now.

Your stuff, on the other hand, is somewhere in between. They're not hulking behemoths of code, but they're not simple Cocoa API apps either. And while I don't actually use any of them (it just doesn't appeal to me to customize OS X very much), if I did, I wouldn't be giving you a hard time about the delay. I might get a bit pissy if you charge for upgrades that _only_ provide Intel compatibility, but if you're going to roll that into a major feature upgrade as well, it's perfectly reasonable.

Another thing that occurs to me is that your users are a self-selected group of people who apparently don't like the way OS X looks and behaves, so losing all those customizations is more likely to annoy them than, for example, not having something like Snapz Pro (one of the few apps I'm stuck waiting for).

As usual, Rosyna sparks controversy in her analysis, and as usual she further chronicles Apple history. The Mac ICBM nickname is in a way an endearment of sorts; witty, smart, poignant better surmise the endearment. Paying for the further/future advancement/development of software is of no consequence to the end-user if said software is beneficial. Default Folder recently released version X 3, and without waiting for the Developer to send an announcement email I simply upgraded. The Default Folder gripefests were rabid as how dare the Developer charge for an upgrade. There appears to be a correlation to the value of the software and the amount of griping: More griping, the more the software is actually used and needed.

Rosyna, some of us understand and appreciate the work you guys do for us. Sure, we all want our haxies working on our new Intl-based machines, but I would rather have a stable version later than a Mac that resembles Windows as far as stability problems.

As far as paying a reasonable fee for Intel-compliant upgrades, I certainly don't mind -- I'd kind of like you guys to stay in business.

i am sorry, rosyna, you just wasted your time typing all this up to get flamed, but really, you can see how we are dying to get universal updates or the software we paid for, even if we will have to pay for it again. dont get me wrong, i will be the first person to buy them when they come out, but damn, you have no respect for us. not even an update on a progress, not even an alpha/beta version. not even "hey guys, we are working on universal binaries. thanks for your patience!" post. all we see in constant bitching about apple. yes, we know you are not happy with them, but enough already. shut the fuck up and move on. this is the only choice you have, unless you want every Mac user as a vaporware comapany.

correction:

unless you want every Mac user to know you as a vaporware comapny

Any information on the progress? Your customers should be informed better.

Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow.

I have to agree with David. I'm getting tired of your complaints about Apple. So the company isn't perfect; any of us who have been around for a while realize this. But it is counter productive for you customers to read this. Blow off steam? Sure - write it and then dump it.

I think the point David was making is that while we might change the preferences of a program, we open up a preference pane to do it. And so the proper plural is preferance panes, not preferences pane - or preferences panes.

And please, stop the ICBM bullshit. They are Macs and will remain Macs whether they have Intel, Motorola, or Chocolate chips in them.

Finally, release the updates when they are ready - and if you plonk down a donate button on the haxies you promised for free, I'll donate. And by the way, personally, I'm looking forward to them - WindowShade, FruitMenu, and ShapeShifter in that order.

Peter, and I repeatedly said the plural is preference panes. So I'm not sure what that entire comment is about...

About Universal upgrade fees:

Why punish your customers because apple switched architectures? I think they've paid enough for a new computer nevermind having to pay for all their software again.

Binary,

So you can afford new hardware and not the new software to go with it?

Binary,

Is it Unsanity's fault that you bought an ICBM? When Apple transitioned from 68k to PowerPC in the early 1990s, 68k programs either didn't run or ran like crap and there was a wait for those who bought the "cutting edge" to get PowerPC native. Same with the OS 9 to OS X transition. And now again with Intel. If you're going to buy the latest and greatest Apple has to offer, you're going to have to expect that there's going to be a transition period while developers get their code working. And that "working" requires time, manpower, and money. Is it fair to expect Unsanity to foot the bill because Apple decided to force them to rewrite their code?

In 2005's WWDC speech, Jobs made it seem like it'd be just a check of a box in XCode and boom you'd have a Universal Binary; I think Rosyna's rants are helpful in letting the common man know that it's not that simple. Rosyna and Unsanity had nothing to do with the decision to transition to Intel, and Apple certainly doesn't provide funds to help facilitate the transition of code to Universal Binary; in fact, Apple charges for that transition, for membership in their developer connection and for computers to use as development kits.

Fact is, even Apple believes you should have to pay for Universal Binary; even though they made money off your ICBM purchase in the first place, Apple is charging for upgrades to its apps such as Final Cut Pro and Logic because porting the programs wasn't as simple as "click the checkbox."

When companies like Apple can get away with charging for their Universal Binaries, and companies in general charge outrageous upgrade prices -- $129 per Mac OS X major update, $169+ for any Adobe application upgrades, $300+ for Microsoft Office upgrades -- why is it that we rail on a small developer who has nothing priced above $20 in their product catalog?

^^ That was me again, btw... forgot to sign, lol.

Man, I haven't heard the term PLONK in a looooooong time. :) Thanks for that.....Rosyna, the current progress of UB apps is flawless. ;)

I don't own any of your products yet. I'm waiting to give you my money so I can buy shapeshifter for my icbm. So you just let us know when I and the rest of ICBM people can buy it. Beyond that, sorry dude, not really payin attention to what other people think about apple. Already formulated my opinion of them.

So yeah, I wanna give you my money in exchange for some software so I can theme my desktop. You just let us know when you're ready to close the deal.

Good luck w/ the blogging and all that.

I may not have programming experience but I got my Macbook Pro fairly early, and the first thing I did was email Unsanity and offer to test anything they might need tested.

If you want Unsanity to finish Intel-compatible software then stop complaining and offer some help!

we have been offering our help all along, but all we get is bitching about apple.

losers

This entire blpg post boils down to a primer to prepare for upgrade costs. Nothing more. Funny how the FREE software is already nearly all universal binaries.

I'm not opposed to update pricing. Hell, at $7 a haxie I'll repay for all of them but come on Unsanity, get on with it already.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. I suck, you suck, we all suck. The pro-Apple people need to stop being so cultish. The pro-Rosnya people need to stop seemingly smacking down ALL dissent. The anti-Rosnya people need to learn some basic manners. Who is the worst of them all? Probably the anti-Rosnya people, since the largest proportion of namecalling and fake "different people" posts are obviously from them.

While I do agree that the dialog is a little strange and very unusal for Apple, I'm actually very impressed that it's there at all.

First of all, whoever wrote the dialog probably never expected a new architecture to be the reason it's shown. If you ask me, they went above the Apple norm by handling this error with an actual error message (useful or not.)

Obviously it's getting it's getting an error code or an exception while initing the module. The developer who wrote the message (and yeah it was definitely a developer) probably assumed that this would happen most commonly in the case where there's some dylib or newer version of a dylib required that's not available on the current version of OS X. Or, maybe for some reason the plugin doesn't conform to the NSPreferencePane protocol. This message could also happen as a result of an broken install of either the pane or the OS. Therefore, it cannot run and you need to go check out the developer's webpage and read the system requirements.

It's certainly a lot better than what happens when you try and run an app that's suffering from the same problem. (Bounces once on the dock and goes back down with no error message at all!)

It's an ICBM only dialog. If the preference pane cannot load (due to things like dyld errors), a different, far more generic dialog is shown.

I have been a customer of Unsanity products for a few years. In 2003, I started using their products because specific Macintosh System 9 user interface elements disappeared with the release of OS X. I purchased both WindowShade X and FruitMenu to recover/increase my productivity. If Apple had not transitioned to OS X, I never would have heard of Unsanity. As a self-employed professional who uses a computer every day of the year for work, I was faced with a decision about upgrading my hardware. Do I stick with the old architecture knowing that eventually that hardware will be obsolete and unsupported or do I purchase the new architecture with the possibility that some of the software I use will be unsupported. I opted for the new architecture and feel as if I have been rewarded as the vast majority of my old applications work on my new machine faster (even being emulated) than my old hardware. There, of course, has been a downside. My productivity has taken a hit. I can tell you that waiting close to 6 months for a hack to collapse a window into a bar is frustrating. I live in New Orleans so you should know I have a strong idea what waiting and being frustrated is all about. I would happily pay for a new version of WindowShade X but cannot until the Universal Binary is released. Instead, I troll the blog a couple of times a week to see if there is any progress. I don't see any confirmation or denial of forward movement. I don't know about most people but I would rather be told "This desired piece of software will be available in X months at a cost of X dollars" and make it happen.

talk about a tempest in a frckin' teapot? THere seem to be no limits to which THrid-party Apple developers will go to whine about a lack of perfection in lieu of actaully rollig up their shirt sleeves and producing something one their 'one-trick pony' creativity has run its course. An analog to some musical group: 'one-hit wonders'. Okay, so in this case, a few hits and some real creative energy--ONCE. What happened? Seriously, if thrid-arty M$ deveopers let crappy implementations from M$ divert their energies so much, the Windows platform would have no third-party apps. Period. Shup up, code, and release. Damn it. Now!

I write blog comments bitching that blog posts are bitchy. La la la!

Dude, you guys write unsupported system hacks, and you're complaining about Apple's dialog? My guess is it was written like that just to piss off some whiney bitches.

With regard to the grammar discussion about the part of speech of "Preference" in "Preference Pane":
"Preference" and "Pane" are both nouns in that phrase. "Preference" is being used as an implied dative of reference, equivalent to "Pane for [a] Preference". However, "Preferences Pane" is just as grammatically correct, as it is equivalent to "Pane for Preferences". In fact, since a given pane will often contain multiple preferences, "Preferences Pane" seems more logical.

This is probably the worse blog I've ever read. And for a medium with no central authority or quality assurance, that's saying something. I didn't agree or sympathize with any of your arguements. If there is a new intel version of a plug-in you need to go get it. It's not a perfet message but it's not like Apple's dialogues can fix the problem anyway. Either the update exists or it doesn't. People expect small apps to be native sooner because they are simpler and dodn't require the massive rethinking that porting OS X or Photoshop requires. They want you to be quick and nimble like a small software vendor. Either you can give them what they want or not. Feel free to charge for it but if your customers decide your product isn't worth 10 dollars plus 5 dollars when something changes, they won't buy from you again. They pay for it somehow, either in higher margins so you can handle things like going universal or in extra fees. Explain that to them and both of you stop whining. Normally I allow people to vent but I felt this one was simply pointless.

Lastly I agree that it should be Preferences Pane. You use it to specifiy more than one preference.

Jay, Brownlee, except that each pane is for a single preference domain.

Also, excuse me if I don't take grammar suggestions from someone that uses "worse" when they should have used "worst". This is the worst blog you've ever read.

PowerPC for life!

My Fruitmenu registration code doesn't work with the beta. Is this just an attribute of the beta software, or is it your not-so-subtle way of saying you intend to charge for the release? You've bitched about upgrade fees charged by others but you have not made your policy clear. Do you intend to charge for the univeral binaries?

Can zealots and ex linux nerds move back to their nerd distros and slashdot?

I have right to say it if you "send" one of the most advanced Macintosh software houses to windows because they dare to tell what Apple does and why it is wrong...

They don't have exclusive agreements/contracts with Apple so they can easily tell what is wrong. Live with it. If you can't live with it, block unsanity.org with geekest tool available, from terminal.

Hear me now?