So it seems a large number of users think that the UI facelift in OS X Leopard leaves much to be desired, and developers have responded swiftly to such complaints. Here is an almost complete list of what you can change in Leopard:

Dock

Some like the 3D Dock, some don’t. The problem, I think, lies with the light gray shade of the Dock shelf. Since the gray shelf reflects windows that are close to it—and windows are gray—it gets really hard to see the glowing dots beneath Dock items.

Rev. Mitcz apparently thinks so too, and whipped up the Leopard Dark Glass Dock mod. This mod alters the look of the Dock shelf, such that it is a grey-black gradient. With his modification, the Dock is so much more visible now. The link to download can be found in his post, or you can download from here (hotlinked).

Alternatively, you can choose to change the color of the Dock with DockColor by Elgebar Studios.

Speaking of the glowing dots, if you prefer the black triangles that are in OS X Tiger, try Dock Delight by Mark Allen.

And, finally, if you prefer to have a 2D Dock, there is DockRestore by Space Software or DockChanger by Whimsically Plucky Software. DockDoctor by InnermindMedia takes the concept further by using a Dashboard widget.

Did you know that if you have Dock magnification turned off, you can momentarily enable it by holding down Control+Shift as you mouse-over the Dock?

Menu Bar

Ahh, the semi-opaque menu bar. I don’t get it. It’s pointless. While there isn’t yet a way to directly change the opacity level of the menu bar, there are applications that can take your desktop picture and apply a white band (or any other color you like) that goes beneath the menu bar and effectively turning it opaque.

Try LeoColorBar by md softworks or OpaqueMenuBar by Eternal Storms Software.

Also, have you noticed that there are no longer rounded corners in Leopard? If you miss that, Displaperture by Many Tricks can bring back the CRT goodness.

Stacks

In OS X Tiger, you can control-click on any folder in the dock and get a pop-up menu listing its contents. In Leopard, such folders have been replaced by Stacks. Now, control-clicking on a Stack brings up a new Finder window with the items in the Stack.

Ross Carter came up with DockAppsMenu; it is still a work-in-progress, and some users have reported it does nothing, so your mileage may vary.

Alternatively, you can drag a folder alias to the right of the dock, but you won’t get a pop-up menu.

Did you know you can open an item in the Stack and still keep the Stack opened? Just hold down the Option key before you click the item.

Default Desktop Picture

Windows XP has its ugly ‘Bliss’ desktop picture. OS X Leopard has an equivalent in the ‘Starfield’ desktop picture. To change the default ‘Starfield’ wallpaper you see at the login screen, open a Finder window and look into:

/System/Library/CoreServices/

There, you will find a file called ‘DefaultDesktop.jpg’. Replace this file with your desktop picture of choice; just remember to rename that to ‘DefaultDesktop.jpg’. Do a logout/login.

And if you really want to customize the login window, such as replacing the Apple logo and adding a custom login message, try Visage (US$9.95) by Sanity Software.

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Scrollbar

The UI in previous versions of OS X 10.4 was, quite simply, a mess. iTunes had one look (the ‘Plastic’ look), iSync had another (the ‘Brushed Metal’ look). With Leopard, the appearance of windows has finally been unified into one consistent look.

Strangely, someone at Apple seemed to have forgotten about scrollbars. The scrollbars in Leopard still sport the candy Aqua look. Now you can replace them with iTunes-like scrollbars, courtesy of the folks at MacThemes.net.

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