SwitchRes is a totally configurable Control Strip Module. You can define which resolutions are really accessible, and which will require a confirmation.
You can save the position of the icons on your desktop, independently from one resolution to the other, unlike the Finder. The position of the icons is restored at startup.
You can also create ‘display sets’ which will allow you to change the resolution and the depth of all your monitors with one click.
You can assign a specific set to an application, so that every time you use this application, your Mac will automatically switch to predefined resolutions.
Configuration
SwitchRes will require a Mac with MacOS 8. A PCI PowerMac is required to access to the ‘extended resolution feature’.
Shareware
SwitchRes is distributed as a $9 shareware. This version is an evaluation version. You can use it, but the preferences saving on disk is deactivated in the unregistered version.
To register, you can use the included ‘Register’ application. Don’t forget to write your address or eMail address, so that you can get the key to register.
Usage
Installation
Just drag and drop the ‘SwitchRes’ and ‘SwitchRes Control’ elements on your system folder.
Then you have to restart your computer to use SwitchRes.
Note: If you have a PowerMacintosh, you can safely replace ‘SwitchRes’ with ‘SwitchRes PPC’. In this case don’t forget to delete an older version of SwitchRes. Never use both control strip modules (‘SwitchRes’ and ‘SwitchRes PPC’) simultaneously.
Principal menu
After installation and restart, the principal menu will look like this:
Each hierarchical menu give you the detail of each monitor:
You can choose the resolution and the depth of the all monitors.
The resolutions in italic (like 640 x 480, 120Hz) will require the traditional confirmation box. This dialog will be displayed 5 seconds.
When the ‘ctrl’ (control) key is pressed, you can switch into a grayscale mode instead of a color mode.
Secondary menu
The secondary menu will be displayed by clicking on the SwitchRes icon while holding down the ‘’ key:
This menu allows you to open the Control Panel. The Control Panel can also be opened on the Finder with a double-click on its icon.
The Control Panel has 4 parts, each represented by a button on the left side of the dialog.
Preferences are saved when quitting the Control Panel or closing the dialog. Settings are applied immediately.
First part: Resolutions
You can see the resolution list of every monitor. The button under the list allows you to display all resolutions your video card is capable of. Warning: your monitor may not support all these resolutions. I’m not responsible of any damage caused to your monitor.
If this button is grayed out, no other resolution is available.
From left to right, in the list, you can see:
• the resolution itself
• the vertical refresh rate of this resolution
• if this resolution is allowed or not
• if this resolution is displayed in the menu or not, or if it requires a confirmation alert box
• if this resolution owns an icon setting
Under this list, the options allow you to:
• Configure the menu: by displaying the refresh rate in the menu
(Example: “640 x 480” or “640 x 480, 120Hz”)
and by displaying the complete monitor type
(Example: “Multiscan monitor” or “21” Multiscan monitor”)
• Keep same color depth – You can specify to keep the same depth or to use the deepest available when switching in a new resolution.
Second part: Preferences
The buttons shown in this part of the dialog allows you to:
• save automatically the positions of the icons of the desktop when a switch occurs. The button on the right or the last command of the menu is devoted to do this manually, which can be time saving if you don’t change your icons frequently;
• set the resolution of every monitor attached after restart, or use a specific display set (see below);
• change the delay of icon repositioning at startup. In order to wait for external hard drives to mount on the desktop, this delay is modifiable.
Third part: Display sets
In this part, you define the settings of all your monitors that you want to figure in a set. Each set can contain up to 7 displays settings. That will allow you to use a preference for non-permanently attached displays.
All sets can be displayed in the principal menu.
Fourth part: Applications
In this part, you define which applications will have their own settings. The settings are the display set used and the sound level.
Various
Comments
For all comments, you can email me at:
madrau@kagi.com.
Thanks to David Nine, Christoph Sahm, Tobias Jachmann and Tom Sabourin for beta testing.
Thanks also to Olivier Gutknecht for giving me the idea of a PowerPC version of the control strip module.
New in version 1.3 (30/3/98)
• PowerPC version of the control strip module
• All monitors are handled (maximum 6)
• Resolution changes now occur before the application launch, not after
• The color depth is correctly set on MacPicasso cards
New in version 1.2 (28/1/98)
• Complete program rewritten from scratch
• Saving and restoring of icons position
• Association of an application to a specific resolution
• Display of all available resolution on PCI PowerMacs