With Mac OS 8, it seems that several extensions can be dimmed, even if they have no foreground windows. In some cases, there is inconsistent visual feedback about control panels. What is going on?

Mac OS 8 has a new feature where extensions that launch background only processes, like the File Sharing Extension, are dimmed the same as an icon for an open application. This happens to give users feedback indicating there is a process running with the file.

This new feature also is confusing with control panels that launch background only applications. The control panel is initially displayed with a dimmed icon, but upon opening and closing, a normal control panel icon is displayed. This is a purely cosmetic issue and will not affect performance of the process or the control panel.

Since this is a new element to the Mac OS human interface, the intricacies are still being worked out, therefore there is not a preferred method for dealing with these types of control panels. Examples of these types control panels are the Express Modem and Microsoft Office Manager.


This article was published in "Information Alley" on 16 September 1997.