One Problem In Leopard:

[Guest Reimar]

Here's how to do:

Remove the Windows BSOD icon in Leopard, make OS X a little less smug

It's pretty clear that Apple left no stone unturned in Leopard, making changes and fixes throughout the new operating system. Unfortunately, that also included an upgrade to its crucial smugness subsystem: the image you see above of an old school CRT monitor with a blue screen of death is actually the not-so-subtle gag icon Leopard uses to represent Windows machines on your local network. (Is it any wonder why PC and Mac fanboys tend to get in so many fights?) Granted, many Leopard beta users have seen this icon since the early releases, but we didn't actually think the shipping version would include something so pompous and galling to the other 90%.

We'll save the missive on the subject (although if that's what you're looking for, Anil Dash wrote a pretty good one), and skip straight to the problem solving: hidden away deep within the recesses of Leopard, far, far away from the reaches of Spotlight, is an unassuming icon file that's doing a great job at perpetuating the myth of Mac users' disdainful sense of self-superiority. Luckily it's an easy fix, and we'll show you the three easy steps necessary to get rid of the BSOD and make your Mac a little less condescending.

Ok, so the file in question (public.generic-pc.icns) lives in /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/, which is basically a pretty boring place to cruise around (unless you like looking at hundreds of sets of icons). And unfortunately for us, boring places like this are usually locked down tight in Unix systems, so we'll need to use the command line to make some changes.

This is a pretty easy process, especially if you know your way around a command line. First, open up Terminal (it's at Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app), or the terminal app of your choice (we also like iTerm).

Then, type in the following three commands:

• cd /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/
  
• sudo mv public.generic-pc.icns public.generic-pc_lame.icns
  [enter your admin password]
  
• sudo cp com.apple.mac.icns public.generic-pc.icns
  

That's it! You've backed up the BSOD icon and moved the generic Apple Mac icon to where the system was expecting it, which, if we're not mistaken, should stop it from showing up when browsing your local Windows network. (Of course, you're also free to use another icon instead of the generic Mac icon.) Enjoy, and try not to go around telling people how much more amazing your Leopard machine is than their Vista laptop (and vice versa), ok? It's unbecoming.

Source

Edited November 1, 2007 by Reimar

[DaffyDuck]

Now, why would I want to remove such a cute, appropriate icon :-)

[billp]

I have no objection to being condescending to windoze.... I agree with #2. The icon is appropriate.

[cdnvic]

Funny, with many installations of Windows I haven't seen a bsod in years. Last time was due to a disk failure.

But if it gives fanboys another excuse for a mutual leg humping session, why ruin it for them?

"windoze"...... real original (in 1994)

Edited November 1, 2007 by cdnvic

[billp]

"windoze"...... real original (in 1994)

Maybe not original, but less offensive than what I call the windoze system I'm forced to use at work when it crashes for the 3rd time in the runup to a tight deadline. Don't get me started....

You're talking to a guy who's quite proud that he recently erased the last remaining Microsoft program from his Mac.

Edited November 1, 2007 by billp

[DaffyDuck]

Funny, with many installations of Windows I haven't seen a bsod in years. Last time was due to a disk failure.

Like everything Microsoft considers improvements, they fixed the BSOD by simply removing it -- though I'm sure you're one of the handful of Windows users that never needs to worry or be concerned about virus, spyware, or having to perform regular maintenance on your computer to keep it 'safe'. Good on ya!

You're talking to a guy who's quite proud that he recently erased the last remaining Microsoft program from his Mac.

High-Five's all around!

[nikster]

Funny, with many installations of Windows I haven't seen a bsod in years. Last time was due to a disk failure.

But if it gives fanboys another excuse for a mutual leg humping session, why ruin it for them?

"windoze"...... real original (in 1994)

Huh?

"In years" is somewhat exaggerated. I see about 2 or 3 a year - not much, and always surprising when it happens.

Modern OSes, be it OS X or Win XP (or Linux though I have less experience with that) hardly ever crash. Instead, you have to restart them for various reasons.

OS X, I have to restart for system updates.

Win XP, I have to restart because it gets screwed up for one reason or another. Mostly WiFi ends up not working anymore, or the Explorer goes to 100% or suddenly looks like Win2000. Or some other bit or piece stops working correctly. There's also the great slowdown that happens with every Windows install after 1 year or so regardless of defragmenting the disks.

If you look for Windows performance tips online many experts say that the most important performance tip on Windows is to restart frequently. That keeps it running happily. And it's true - many problems occur, but most of them can be resolved by restarting Windows. Restart XP every day for best performance.

Microsoft's solution was to dramatically increase restart speed in Vista with ReadyBoost - make of that what you will

On topic - I don't see the problem with the icon - most of the time this Icon is going to be 32x32 pixels on your desktop so you won't see the BSOD text, it looks just like a normal monitor that happens to be blue. You have to either set your Finder to run with huge icons, or dig through the system files to even see the text. Looks like an innocent little joke, maybe even an easter-egg done without management's knowledge. Blown all out of proportion by Engadget which was somehow outraged by this. It doesn't need to be "fixed".

I would even go so far as to say things like this show that Apple is still alive, and not all taken over by corporate.

Off topic, but I spent 2 hours yesterday getting Vista to connect to a WiFi network that 3 other machines connected to just fine. I can honestly say that the Wireless connection info is much worse than before, and the whole thing was just unable to get a DHCP address for no reason. After 2 or 3 restarts and endless tinkering, it worked. The day before I had spent 3 hours uninstalling crapware from the same brand new laptop.

Edited November 2, 2007 by nikster