How do you edit the 'About this mac' window?

Question

Hi,
I need to edit the about this mac window - pictured here to remind you of what exactly it is ( http://www.pluggedinmac.com/Picture%201.jpg )- in order to further my understanding of how this aspect of Macintosh works.
I will be extremely greatful of all replies
Thanks
James

Answer 1

You'll need to be a bit more specific about what you mean by "edit".
If you want to edit the actual .nib file (the archive which describes the window), it's at
/System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Ab outThisMac.nib
Nib files can normally be edited by using the Interface Builder application that's part of the Xcode developer tools.
However, since you're on an Intel-based Mac, you won't be able to edit the nib unless you first find a version from a Power PC Mac. The reason for this is that .nib files aren't actually a file, but a package that includes different parts inside the primary folder. For example, if you Control-click on the AboutThisMac.nib mentioned above, and choose Show Package Contents, a new Finder window will open which shows a single item "keyedobjects.nib". That is an actual file which holds the archived user interface objects (using key/value coding/archiving, hence the "keyed" in the name). To be able to open and edit a .nib file in Interface Builder, however, you need two additional files inside named "classes.nib" and "info.nib". These provide Interface Builder with the information necessary to properly open the nib. By removing those two files from the nib, a developer can essentially make the nib "read-only", meaning it will work fine when the application it's a part of needs to use it, but an end-user (or their competition) cannot open the nib file in Interface Builder to see how the objects were constructed. Most nibs that are part of an OS X install on PowerPC-based Macs include the necessary files and can be opened in Interface Builder. Most of the nibs included with Intel-based Macs, on the other hand, do not include those files and can't be opened in Interface Builder without first copying the "classes.nib" and "info.nib" files from a PowerPC-based Mac's nib to the Intel version of the nib.
Hope this helps....
Dual 2.7GHz PowerPC G5 w/ 2.5 GB RAM; 17" MacBook Pro w/ 2 GB RAM -   Mac OS X (10.4.7)