Today marks the release of the latest version of The Iconfactory's professional icon construction filter, IconBuilder Pro for use with Adobe Photoshop. Version 5 adds several important features including support for building 24x24 pixel Windows toolbar icons as well as custom 128x128 Windows icons. Other additions / enhancements include:

• New stand-alone application - IconExaminer included for examining Mac & Win icons in the Finder
• Movable grid positions
• Increased compatibility when opening certain .ico and .icns files
• New command-keys for common functions

These, plus other additions are outlined on the IconBuilder Pro homepage. Registered users of IconBuilder Pro 3.x / 4.x can upgrade to IconBuilder Pro 5.0 for $20.00 USD. Users who purchased the filter after October 1st, 2003 are entitled to a free upgrade. IconBuilder Pro 5 is available today for $69.00 USD.

MacThemes has announced the winners of its Theme Mockup Contest. Paul Johnson won first place with his NickelCobalt mockup. Rounding out the top three were Harold Harmon with Pro LCD and Sascha Hohne with Calabi. The top six out of the 46 valid entries will be realized into actual themes by Max Rudberg, Harlan Lewis, Joe Kohlman and others. The themes are not yet available for download, but the winning mockups can be viewed here.

Announcing the immediate availability of "Radiant", the latest addition to the growing collection of ready-to-use icons at Stockicons.com. Created specifically to work across the widest possible group of application environments, Radiant is both technical and approachable. Skillful use of color and shading, combined with professional detailing gives this collection the edge that will help web or software applications stand out from the rest. Radiant is available today as an electronic download for $349.00.

The Iconfactory has released a new icon set from artist Anthony Piraino - Take A Hike. This fun and colorful icon collection is a perfect companion for those who enjoy camping and hiking in the great outdoors. Take a Hike is available as Macintosh or Windows based icons or as a handy Pixadex iContainer.

Panic and The Iconfactory have updated the popular icon storage and organization software for Mac OS X, Pixadex. Version 1.5.1 includes several improvements and bug fixes including support for recognizing and importing older iControl icon packs as well as better support for Apple's iChat buddy icons. For a complete list of what is new as well as to download the software, head on over to the Pixadex home page. This release is a free upgrade to registered users and is available from The Iconfactory for $18.95 USD.

Unsanity has released MightyMouse 1.1.3. MightyMouse is a preference pane for Mac OS X which enables you to safely install custom cursors. Version 1.1.3 brings compatibility with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther along with numerous bug fixes. The full version costs $10.00.

Geekspiff has released ThemePark 1.3, an application that helps you create a new theme for Mac OS X, or modify an existing one. Version 1.3 enables several additional resources to be modified, adds support for application skins, and fixes various bugs and glitches. ThemePark is available for $20.00.

Reinhold Penner has released Safaricon 2.0. The freeware utility makes it easy to change the look of Safari's interface. Safaricon includes 10 themes and more can be downloaded here. permalink

Unsanity has released ShapeShifter 1.2, a significant update to it's wildly popular theme-changing utility for Mac OS X. Version 1.2 dramatically improves load time, re-enables metal window texture support, and includes built in support for application skins, among many other new features and bug fixes. ShapeShifter is $20.00 shareware and requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later.

Welcome the official launch of InterfaceLIFT. The new site will replace Xicons.com. In addition to the usual Mac OS X and Windows XP icons, we now offer high resolution wallpaper and Mac OS X themes. Coming soon is an icon section for Linux users! Please take a moment to browse through the site and send us feedback if you have any suggestions that could help make the site even better.