Is CCI 2.8 compatible with Lion and Mountain Lion?

Yes, this version of CrystalClear Interface supports Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.8), Lion versions 10.7.4 or 10.7.5, and Mountain Lion to version 10.8.5. It does not support prior versions of Lion.

CrystalClear Interface seems to slow my system down, and launching apps is slower. What gives?

If your system seems sluggish when running CCI, your Mac may not meet or exceed the minimum system requirements (see that section of the User's Guide). One thing you can do to reduce CCI's impact is to turn off some of its options — particularly those in the "Extras" section under "Fluff."
When launching apps that spawn multiple windows, CCI will definitely slow down the time it takes for the windows to finish rendering. If your system meets the system requirements, it will still take a second or two for CCI to theme any window opened when the application launches. However, CCI will theme subsequent windows opened within the application pretty much instantly.

The text color doesn't have the right contrast on some of my windows. Why?

If you find that text on window elements no longer sets its color to the correct contrast (either black, or white), check your setting for "Desktop Brightness." You may have selected "Dark Desktop" or "Light Desktop" earlier, but now need to change that setting.

CrystalClear Interface isn't loading into Google Chrome, but it used to. Why?

I don't know what Google did to Chrome, but you're right... Chrome no longer loads either of the Mars Themes. If you're using Chrome, you may also have problems with black text showing up on black buttons. If you do, you may be able to fix this by loading a custom style sheet. In general, I don't think Google does a good job in supporting Chrome for the Mac. Use Safari instead -- after all, Chrome borrowed Apple's open-source browser engine, WebKit, to build the guts of Chrome.

How do I get the white menu icon to show up for iKey?

The menu icon for iKey must be installed within the iKey Editor application. CCI places the icon in the Editor's Resources folder, but you must replace the default icon with CB's to see the change.

When using the Black Gloss buttons, why doesn't the text on buttons in my web browser turn white?

If you use Safari, CCI should automatically enable a custom style sheet (the same on used in Crystal Black). If it doesn't, you can enable it manually by adding it to the Advanced Preferences pane's "Style Sheet" option. The style sheet, named "styleForBlackGloss.css," is located in the /Library/Application Support/MarsThemes/Common folder.

If you use Firefox or Chrome, CCI won't theme the buttons correctly because neither app loads CCI and because neither provides an option for using a custom style sheet.

Some applications, like GarageBand, don't seem to get themed by CrystalClear Interface. Is this normal?

Yes, some apps have custom window frames that aren't affected by CCI.

I just installed CrystalClear Interface. Why don't I see custom graphics for some of my applications, like Safari or iTunes?

CCI uses a Spotlight search to find your applications. If you don't have Spotlight indexing your boot drive, CCI won't find your apps. Also, if you have multiple copies of a given app on your Mac, CCI will only find the first instance, and that's where the graphics will be applied.

When using one of the very dark menubars, the text for the Battery and Airport indicators on my menubar is black, so I can't read it. What can I do?

The solution is to use some alternative, free menubar apps that provide the same information. You can find these by searching on MacUpdate.com or other sources.

Why are so many functions in the CCI global menu disabled in TextEdit and Preview?

On Lion, CrystalClear Interface disables all of its functions in TextEdit and Preview that modify CCI options or require authentication (e.g., uninstalling CCI or managing graphics). For some reason, the Lion versions of these applications can't handle any tasks like these. (Note: The problem doesn't affect users on Snow Leopard.)

CCI isn't theming many of my applications, such as Firefox, Quicken 2006, BBEdit, and Adobe Photoshop CS4. How come?

CCI will not run in Mac OS X applications built with Apple's older “Carbon” frameworks. It runs only in applications developed using the “Cocoa” frameworks introduced in 2000 as part of Mac OS X. Nearly all new Mac apps built today use the Cocoa frameworks, but a number of long-running, high-profile apps are still built with Carbon. In this latter category are all apps from Microsoft, Adobe and Intuit, as well as some older apps from Mac vendors that are now building with Cocoa, such as BBEdit (BareBones) and Snapz Pro X (Ambrosia). Another high-profile example is Firefox and related applications such as Thunderbird, Flock, and Nvu.

Note: The latest releases of MIcrosoft Office for Mac and Adobe Photoshop CS5 use the Cocoa frameworks, but in a way that appears to be incompatible with CCI

After installing CCI and logging back in, TotalFinder's titlebar and toolbar look funny. Is there a fix for this?

Yes. Quit and relaunch TotalFinder, and the problem should go away.

I tried installing some of the Crystal Docs icons, but for some of my apps, the icons didn't change. Why?

This is similar to the question above about missing custom application graphics. If you have multiple copies of an application, the icons will be installed in the first instance Spotlight finds. That's probably where they are. To fix, find the duplicate copy and either trash it or compress it so Spotlight won't find it.

These are both major releases that introduce new graphics and theming options.

• Custom Themes. CCI 2.8 adds functionality to let users create and save their own custom window themes, in addition to the 10 built-in, preset themes.
• Embossed Nickel Theme. For Snow Leopard users, CCI 2.8 introduces "Embossed Nickel," a new button theme based on the classic "Nickel-Cobalt" theme for ShapeShifter.
• Smooth Black Theme. CCI 2.7.6 introduced "Smooth Black," a brand new button theme that complements existing designs for window theme, menubar, and desktop picture. It's that matte-black theme that users have been asking for.
• Black Gloss Theme. Also new is "Black Gloss," a button theme like the one in Crystal Black
• Menubar options. Users can mix and match among eight different menubar styles, to complement their chosen button theme, desktop picture, and window theme.
• Quick theme switching. A new "Customize A Base Theme" panel provides an interface for selecting all components of your CrystalClear Interface at one time. Here you can set your choices for button theme, menubar style, windows preset theme, and crystal desktop picture. Of course, you can change any of these individual settings later using the CCI global menu and the CCI Preferences panel.
• Application graphics. CCI seamlessly swaps custom application graphics that match the chosen button theme. For example, if you switch to Black Gloss buttons, the custom graphics for Apple and Third-Party apps remove the previous theme's graphics and installs those for Black Gloss
• New window frames. To take advantage of the new menubar and button theme options, CCI adds two new window frame styles — "Black Gloss" and "Black Gradient."
• New preset themes. You now have two more preset themes — "Black Gloss" and "Smooth Black" — to take advantage of the new window styles.
• Icon previews. Besides adding numerous new Crystal Docs icons, CCI now lets you preview the various icons in the updated Icons tab.
• Automatically install third-party Crystal Docs icons. CCI now automates the installation of third-party Crystal Docs icons, so the user isn't interrupted and prompted to install for each app as they open it.
• More desktop pictures. From the CCI Global Menu, you can quickly switch to a new set of Crystal Desktop pictures, mainly for users who want a dark desktop. This set of "Deco Bubbles" desktops has six dark variations and four light ones.
• More readable statusbar text. CCI has added code to enable readable statusbar text for the clock and username "menu extras." (This function is still iffy on Lion.)
• New graphics tab. With all the new graphics options, the CCI Preferences panel has a new "Graphics" tab — with four sub-tabs — to incorporate them.
• Manage installed graphics. The Graphics tab adds a new set of functions, derived from Crystal Black, for reinstalling and uninstalling the sets of custom graphics for Applications, Preference Panes, and System frameworks. This "Manage Graphics" tab shows, for each button theme, which apps are affected by the changes.
• Colored lights. Two of the button themes — "Black Gloss" and "Glossy" (Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion only)— now have a set of three-color "stoplight" buttons for the Close, Minimize, and Zoom functions on window titlebars. This feature has been frequently requested in the past, and users can now use the colored buttons by selecting the "Blue" appearance theme in System Preferences -> Appearance.
• Force CCI theming. On Lion, apps sometimes fail to load CCI, so the CCI menu has added a new item, "Relaunch MTLAgent," to make them do so.
• Localizations for CCI Text Tools. CCI 2.7 adds localizations for 13 languages, plus English, so that non-English users can utilize the built-in CCI Text Tools.
• Collapse the CCI Preferences panel. In the latest version of CrystalClear Interface, you can collapse the CCI Preferences window to a tiny square, keeping it onscreen but unobtrusive.
• Better tips window. CCI includes a much-improved "Usage Tips" window, which now lets new users directly open the CCI global menu, the CCI Preferences panel, the CCI System Preferences pane, and the new Base Themes panel. Like the CCI website, the window now also includes a separate section for users "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)."

• More menu extras. Over 40 third-party apps now have white, in addition to the default black, statusbar icons. Supplementing the 21 included in CCI 2.5, the latest versions add:
  • Alfred,
  • Anxiety,
  • Autopilot,
  • BusyCal,
  • Caffeine,
  • Cloud,
  • Default Folder X,
  • Dropbox,
  • HardwareGrowler,
  • iClip.
  • I Love Stars,
  • Last.fm,
  • Linkinus,
  • MenuPop,
  • My Living Desktop,
  • Nocturne,
  • Overflow,
  • Proxi,
  • ScreenFlow,
  • Tags,
  • Tracks, and
  • XtraFinder
• More custom app mods. To extend its theming wizardry, CCI has added custom graphics and other modifications for
  • Finder,
  • Fresh,
  • VectorDesigner,
  • iCal,
  • iPhoto,
  • CoverSutra,
  • Endicia,
  • PathFinder,
  • Packages,
  • Pages,
  • Keynote,
  • Numbers,
  • TextEdit,
  • Springy,
  • Safari, and
  • Automator.
• Enhanced core graphics. CCI now adds custom graphics to enhance various core elements, including disclosure triangles, the "overflow" icon, the lock icon, loading animations, the eject icon, and icons for resizing window elements. Most of these modifications are designed to ensure proper contrast with dark window and view backgrounds.
• Crystal Black font and color panels. As part of adding the Black Gloss theme, CCI also adds Crystal Black's buttons to the the Font and Color panels, as well as to the "Time Machine" system preference pane.
• More Crystal Docs icons. Numerous new Crystal Docs icons have been added for Mac OS X "Core Types" (e.g., toolbar icons for Font panel), as well for various apps, including
  • Dashcode,
  • QuickLook,
  • PlistEdit Pro,
  • Springy,
  • VLC,
  • Candybar,
  • DEVONthink,
  • Packages,
  • InterfaceBuilder,
  • PackageMaker,
  • Xcode (including Xcode 4),
  • Archive Utility, and
  • AppleScript Editor.
• Better "disabled apps" table. The CCI Preferences Pane now has a "Refresh" button for the "disabled apps" table, letting you force the table to update if it doesn't do so automatically.
• Improved text contrast theming. One of the hardest things CCI does is ensure that text is readable no matter what color background it has — including buttons. Each version of CCI makes some progress in this task, and the latest is no exception. One example is improved theming of text colors on buttons in disabled apps.
• Prompt for changing window color. When you change from one window frame style to another, in some cases the new frame style also changes the window's color setting. CCI now includes an alert letting users know that they may want to change window color when changing from certain frame styles.