ThemeKit "Metro" Preview

The next version of ThemeKit, codenamed "Metro", provides support for additional file formats (including guiKit, iContainer, and DLTA), future versions of Mac OS X, 64 bit compatibility, and additional compatibility for the Intel and PowerPC platforms. Existing ThemeKit software can be ported to the new version of ThemeKit with little to no changes.

Watch this page as we announce additional features and details for "Metro".

64 Bit

• Metro will compile as a 64 bit target under Leopard, and run under Leopard 64 bit applications.

Compatibility

• Metro will improve support for vector based PDF images.

File Format Bridges

• New Bridge Manager allows developers to query available file formats from ThemeKit, and automatically import and export theme files in a wide variety of formats to and from .skin sources. Bridges are implemented as plugins to Metro, and can be added and removed from ThemeKit depending on a developer's needs and size concerns.

• GuiKit read/write support via Metro bridge codenamed "Broadway". Broadway is based on guiKitLib, a library that exposes the guiKit file format via a C API. guiKitLib is available to developers for use seperately from ThemeKit, and is already in use via available applications from 3rd party developers.

• DLTA read/write support via Metro's DLTA bridge, which is codenamed "Marquam". Marquam is being written using code from both Catalyst's existing DLTA exporter (which has been fine tuned for ShapeShifter compatibility), and Duality 4.0's DLTA reader.

• iContainer file read/write support is available via "Burnside", Metro's new iContainer bridge. Burnside is being implemented from scratch. There are currently no plans for iContainer support to be provided via a seperate library, as we have done with guiKit.

• Support for applying themes on Mac OS 10.4 based systems is provided by a new read/write bridge codenamed "Hawthorne". Hawthorne can import and export Tiger themes from native 10.4 resource file formats. This bridge is based on ThemeKit's existing resource file import/export code.

• Additional bridges will be announced at a later date.

FAQ

Q. What license will Metro be available under?

A. Metro will be available under the same license as ThemeKit 2.1, the LGPL v2.

You may view the most current version of ThemeKit's license here, in our SVN repository.

Q. Will Metro support Objective C v2.0?

A. Metro will be written using Objective C 1.0, for Tiger backwards compatibility. The next major release of ThemeKit will be re-written in Objective C 2.0.

Q. What changes will have to be made to existing ThemeKit 2.1 applications in order to use Metro?

Backwards compatibility with ThemeKit 2.1 programs is still being evaluated, although any changes that have to be made to existing code in order to move to Metro should be minor.

Q. When will Metro be available?

Initial commits to our source code repository of the development code for Metro will take place in June. Developers will be able to begin to use beta versions of Metro at this time. Final relese of Metro will coencide with the release of Leopard to the general public.