Remove Shadows & Lighting Effects from Mac OS X Lion

Many people have wondered how to, or if it was even possible to remove the shadows that appear in Mac OS X windows for all operating systems. Though there isn’t a terminal command or setting you can change yourself, there is a way to do it.

Now before we begin, it is important to note that doing this will alter system files, so it is not recommended. This is a design of the operating system. If you don’t like it, it’s best to just leave it be. We are not responsible for any damage done to the system. We are simply pointing out a resource of how to go about doing this. Any questions regarding the software should be directed to its manufacturer. Also, this software was designed for older Macs, though it has been known to work on some computers running 10.5 and above. There doesn’t appear to be a specific version for Mac OS X Lion.

Having said that, ShadowKiller is a free App that you can download that will remove the shadows that appear in Mac OS X windows. It can be found at: http://unsanity.com/haxies/shadowkiller

ShadowKiller's Website

All you need to do is launch the App, and it will take care of the rest. If you don’t like how it looks, launch the App again and the effects will return to default. If you do like how it looks, and you want the effects to be permanent, you will need to add the ShadowKiller App to your list of Login Items. If you are unsure how to do this, here are some easy steps:

1)   You just need to go to your Users and Groups screen from System Preferences (or the Accounts screen if you’re running any OS earlier than Lion) and click the Login Items tab.
2)   Click the “+” button and search for ShadowKiller

ShadowKiller will now launch every time you start up your computer. If at any point you change your mind, simply repeat the steps, but select the “-“ button with ShadowKiller highlighted.

ShadowKiller also claims that it can speed up older Mac computers by running this software. Though it is not proven, it might be worth a try if you are experiencing extreme slowness on your power PC machine.

Feel free to let us know how the program works on your machine, and which version of Mac OS X you used with it.