ESPIRIDION  There's a Clockwork application that has been around since 2005, so perhaps this developer will want to choose a different name.  
(Version 1.6)

ESPIRIDION  I don't see it at bowing down to anyone, but rather about being fair when it comes to feedback. While I'm sure there was money to be made by Microsoft developing software for the Mac, they have done so at times when Apple's market share was not significant and have provided Mac users with a great Office suite before the days of viable open source alternatives and iWork came along. Even Apple has not truly offered the "next" AppleWorks, and iWork has constantly lagged behind with the exception of Keynote. Apple's interfaces are beautiful, and the most recent iWork is a huge improvement. For critical work I still prefer Office.

Regarding VBA, Microsoft announced in advance that Office 2008 would NOT have VBA support, and that VBA support would be a part of the next release. I did not like it, but kept my previous copy of Office for those times when I need VBA.  
(Version 12.2.3)

ESPIRIDION  The update went smoothly, and this time Microsoft Auto Update detected and downloaded the newer version.

Given AWADO's comments, I immediately tested drag and drop. I don't recall Word crashing in the past when dragging and dropping text, and I'm happy to say that the latest version did not crash at all. I even dragged text across different documents with positive results.

I have not checked how my documents look on a PC, but Office offers various options easily accessible via the Toolbox, and one option is the Compatibility Report. Users can select to check for compatibility with various versions of Mac and Windows versions of Word. This feature can also be accessed when saving a document.

I was also curious about ERIC WOEHLER's negative comments and multiple 1-star ratings within a month. According to Eric himself, "the fault was a font with two copies in two different libraries." (From his review of Font Doctor). For some reason he did not update his comments here.

It's easy to criticize Microsoft and call them M$ and Windoze, yet one of the advantages of today's Macs resides in their ability to run Windows. Maybe in the future there won't even be a Mac version of their software.

Microsoft was among the first software developers for the Apple computer, and Bill Gates invested millions in Apple. Other than the absence of VBA in Office 2008 I'm quite happy with the software.

As a side note, the only iWork application I prefer over Office is Keynote. Apple did a great job on that one.  
(Version 12.2.3)

ESPIRIDION  The information here at Macupdate is a bit outdated.

JIRA is currently at version 4 instead of 3.8, and prices are as low as $10 instead of $1200.

Regarding the software itself, I'm using it for project management with positive results. Support is great, and their prices for Starter Licenses are amazing.

Configuration was a bit of a pain, and the learning curve is steep particularly for more advanced features.  
(Version 3.8)

ESPIRIDION  I was curious so I downloaded the older 3.7.2 and created a document.

The file did not appear in the Open Recent menu under 3.9.0, but it was in the exact place where I saved it (Desktop).

I opened it, and now it appears in the Open Recent menu.

There was no data loss with 3.9.0. As mentioned in the post above mine, it was simply a matter of the file names not appearing in the Open Recent menu.  
(Version 3.9.0)

ESPIRIDION  Being critical of RapidWeaver will probably result in multiple "frowns" but here's my review.

I recently created a website, and used Freeway Pro, Sandvox, and RapidWeaver. RapidWeaver 3.5 was my first web design application, later on I purchased Freeway Pro. I may buy Sandvox but I'm not sure yet.

The best tool for the job -FOR ME- was Freeway, without a doubt.

Here are some of the issues I had trouble with while using RapidWeaver 4.3:

-Not very intuitive. This is not always a problem. I believe in reading manuals and watching tutorials. Still, there aren't many options under "Preferences." The "Page Inspector" yielded more options. "Setup" was another option that did not address what I was looking for. "Setup" does not have a Cancel button, so there's always some processing going on even without making any changes.

-Preview did not always work for me. I tried 3 times to Preview my site in Firefox, and RW took me to Firefox but there was no website to preview. It worked fine when I chose Safari. Still, it has a severe limitation; Preview seems to offer a single page preview, but it was impossible to actually preview the whole website and navigate through it. I just got the following when clicking on a page: "Safari can’t find the file."

Previewing in Freeway worked fine and allowed me to preview the whole website while navigating through it.

-I could not find a theme that worked for my simple needs. For example, I wanted a Menu which expands when the cursor is placed over it, and displays the submenu items. Modern Grunge, Tiger Pop, and other Themes have this functionality, but the finished product looked terrible, perhaps because of the narrow columns and long submenu text.

I'm sure I could do a lot of things if I spend more time using RapidWeaver, and spend some money on Themes and Addons. But why?

When I first got RW it was a $50 application, typically available for much less. Its price then increased to $79. Themes and addons are still extra.

For creating some websites quickly and easily it does work. For MY needs it was frustrating. More importantly, the finished product was not as professional as the one I got with Freeway.

RapidWeaver seems to be more comparable with Sandvox, and I preferred to use Sanvox.

The RW community is great, so it's relatively easy to find answers from other helpful users.  
(Version 4.3.0)

ESPIRIDION  I finally got around to building my website, and I'm very pleased with the process as well as the results.

I had done the tutorials, but maybe a year ago so this was like starting from scratch.

In a matter of minutes I had the foundation for my website. In a matter of a few hours -spread across 2 days- my website was completed. I guess actual work in Freeway took less than 5 or 6 hours.

My website has:

-Perfectly aligned images and text.

-Rollover menus.

-CSS Menus.

-Contact form with anti-spam measures.

-PayPal button.

-YouTube video.

-Around 100 pages of content.

I may buy Forms To Go in the future, but everything I did was without any additional expenses.

Negatives:

-There is an Undo function, but as MEMPHISBIRD mentioned there's no multiple Undo. I simply made a copy of my work before making any drastic changes. If anything went wrong, I could use my copy. Nothing went wrong, though.

-Using the Sleek theme, when moving a menu item in the Master Page and returning it to the same position, 2 of the items would appear in wrong places. To edit those menus I had to use the Bring to Front/Send to back options, to avoid any movement.

-Freeway crashed once.

I also have RapidWeaver 4.3, but prefer Freeway. I may use Sandvox in the future just to try the most recent version, but so far I'm very pleased with Freeway Pro.  
(Version 5.4.2)

ESPIRIDION  Indeed there are cheaper alternatives out there, and some are even free.

Having said that, I'm glad I purchased Merge. Customer support is impressive, and the application has saved me enormous amounts of time.

I just did a brief test with DiffMerge, since it is one of the free alternatives. I compared 2 files. One of them had 5 changes.

DiffMerge identified blank spaces I added. Merge did not.

DiffMerge did not support drag and drop of the files. Merge did making the work flow faster.

DiffMerge would not compare the files initially, since one was xml and the other txt. Merge compared them.

I then made the txt an xml file in order for DiffMerge to work.

DiffMerge has a single scroll bar. Merge has 2, one for each file.

DiffMerge used 2 colors, black for the whole document and red for the differences. Merge used black plus 4 other colors, making it easy to view different sections and/or type of text.

DiffMerge is definitely not bad, and as mentioned it is free. Replacing text from one file to another is quick and easy. I'm keeping it :-)

I was going to try other applications but did not want to run installers so I skipped them.

This was just a very brief test, focusing on a single feature; comparing 2 files. Araxis Merge is still the one for me. It has many additional features, is very fast, supports a wide variety of file formats, and offers superb customer support.  
(Version 2009.3793)

ESPIRIDION  I recently had some issues with the default application for segmented files. I remembered RCDefaultApp and installed the older 2.0.1 and my problem was solved.

It's great to see this update. Thanks!  
(Version 2.1)

ESPIRIDION  It's sad that QuickTime is called "The multimedia cornerstone of Mac OS X."

It is a terrible application. For years I've had to rely on alternative programs to play different media, and as of version 7.6.4 this is still the case.

Fortunately there's VLC, MPlayer, Perian, WMV Player, etc. QuickTime is not good enough on its own, and the lack of upgrade path for Pro users adds insult to injury.  
(Version 7.6.4)

ESPIRIDION  I have to agree. Great price, great company, very responsive and friendly.

Highly recommended.  
(Version 2009.1568)

ESPIRIDION  People using Java based software may want to contact the software developer(s) to confirm that the software will work with this update.

From what I've seen, (for me) so far only Araxis Ketura has been affected:

"We have reason to believe that this update might be incompatible with Ketura and thus render Ketura inoperable...We strongly suggest that, until we can test Ketura with this update, you do not install it on a Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard machine hosting your Ketura server..."

Araxis provide wonderful support so I'm sure they'll get this fixed soon.  
(Version Update 5)

ESPIRIDION  From what I understand, Stickshift Software, LLC was created by a person (or people) from Bare Bones.

As has been mentioned, it seems to be a case of too little too late.

I purchased Mailsmith years ago. IMO it was worth it considering the alternative email clients back then, and the inclusion of SpamSieve.

After 4 years without any updates this new version is available, now free of charge, but I have no desire to go back to Mailsmith.

Once upon a time Mailsmith and PowerMail were two of the best email clients on the Mac platform. PowerMail's fast searches were impressive, and Mailsmith's sophisticated filtering/processing/scripting is great for power users dealing with text-based email.

It's great to see a new release, but I'll keep on using Entourage.  
(Version 2.2)

ESPIRIDION  I don't have trouble printing. Many crashes occur when closing a Tab, but sometimes it crashes without me doing anything. I could have Firefox open and it will crash on its own. From what I recall, it is usually when I have multiple (3 or more) Tabs open.  
(Version 3.5.2)

ESPIRIDION  I love Firefox. It became my main browser for a long time after I stopped using OMNI Web.

Unfortunately, the latest releases -including 3.5.2- crash constantly on my system. I don't have Firefox full of themes or add-ons.

OS X 10.5.8, Dual 2GHz PPC G5.

I send multiple crash reports each day, and constantly get the following message:

"Well, this is embarrassing.

Firefox is having trouble recovering your windows and tabs. This is usually caused by a recently opened web page."

On the positive side Firefox usually recovers my tabs just fine, but I have not experienced so many crashes with any other browser.

I hope it improves. I really like using Firefox. For now I'll go back to iCab, OMNIWeb, and perhaps even Opera.  
(Version 3.5.2)

ESPIRIDION  Sad indeed.  
(Version 9.0)

ESPIRIDION  AutoUpdater was a bit slow but the update itself went smoothly.

I did not have to re-enter any information and had no problem with fonts.

I have Font Explorer X Pro set up to allow font requests from Entourage, and did not receive any odd message.

Regarding the "bloatware" comment, my MS applications are smaller than their iWork counterparts. Apple's Mail is also larger than Entourage. Not that it matters that much these days since hard drive space is cheap, but I would not call them bloatware especially considering the amount of features they offer. The downside is that not all users need (or use) all of the features.  
(Version 12.2)

ESPIRIDION  I agree with the comments. Great program, great support, and as I mentioned from the start it is not expensive. I've recommended TinkerTool System to many mac users and techs.

Other developers offer great programs as well, provide excellent support, as well as an upgrade path. I simply don't like it when developers do not offer an upgrade path to customers.  
(Version 2.0)

ESPIRIDION  Months ago I mentioned that I've used Speed Download since before it became a Yazsoft product and found that version 5:

1. Lacks the options to Hold and Queue downloads in the toolbar. Accessing these options via a contextual menu is not as efficient as it was before.

2. The small, unobtrusive floater from version 4 is gone.

3. There's a "Web" menu with an item to "Buy Now" even after a person has purchased the application.

4. Adding files from a URL has been problematic.

This is the fourth update since I posted my comments and they were going to "be taken in consideration"

Nothing has changed regarding this issues. In addition, I recently emailed Yazsoft regarding another problem with the "Adding files from a URL" feature. Nine days later I still have not received any response.

Speed Download receives many 5-star reviews and praise from people who have never reviewed anything else. I really wish I could rate version 5 with 5-stars. I like the software and the company. As it is, I have to deduct 1-star from my previous review given the lack of customer support.  
(Version 5.2)

ESPIRIDION  I'm a fan of TinkerTool System and was ready to upgrade to version 2. In this case I was disappointed by the lack of upgrade pricing for version 1 users.

It is not an expensive application, but developers typically reward users who support their software by offering a discounted upgrade path.  
(Version 2.0)

ESPIRIDION  Automatic update does not install the update.

Download this update manually and then run the installer.  
(Version 12.1.9)

ESPIRIDION  Let me start by saying that I hated ConceptDraw products when I tried them many years ago.

More recently I tried ConceptDraw MindMap, after being disappointed by NovaMind's pricing and XMind's direction. I also tried ConceptDraw Office. ConceptDraw PROJECT was the only program that I found a bit disappointing, but it was evident that the quality of their software had vastly improved since the last time I had tried it.

Just like they did with MindMap, ConceptDraw offered a previous version of ConceptDraw Pro for free.

I have not used it that much yet, but given the previous reviews it is important to clarify some issues and give potential users a different perspective.

I'm using version 7.6 and there's an auto save option under preferences.

So far, I have not experienced a single crash.

Macworld UK gave the program 5 stars and it's an Editors' Choice.

MacCompanion have it 4.5 stars.

Yesterday I created a document using OmniGraffle Pro 4. I've used OmniGraffle probably since it came out, and always upgraded, but the upgrade to version 5 seemed too expensive for what it offered.

Today I decided to try ConceptDraw Pro for this particular document, and I'm very happy with the results. Some things were not as intuitive as with OmniGraffle, but I don't mind spending some time reading the Manual or the Help. Formatting the final document was faster in ConceptDraw Pro, and the end result was much nicer. For me it was hard to believe. ConceptDraw's software has definitely improved in the past few years.

ConceptDraw Pro includes a wide variety of very useful Templates, including science, engineering, landscaping, management, and many others. I plan to eventually upgrade to ConceptDraw Office which includes newer versions of the applications I have, but I'll wait until the next release since I was not thrilled with their Project Management application. Merlin 2 or FastTrack Schedule are still the ones I would choose for that purpose.

For people interested in this type of software, I recommend that you try their demo and then decide. So far it has worked great for me.  
(Version 8.0.5.2)

ESPIRIDION  I actually got the upgrade for free. :-)

As I said, I'm a fan of your company and the support you offer. I think that the first Koingo products I purchased were Password Retriever, Contact Keeper, and PTE, many years ago and I'm a VERY happy customer.

Still, there may be people using version 8 who don't get the free upgrade and are left with a program that is buggy. I prefer paid upgrades when new features are added, but not for bug fixes. That's just my opinion, and I hope you see it as constructive feedback.

Again, I'm a happy customer and often recommend your company and your products.  
(Version 9.0)

ESPIRIDION  I'm a fan of Koingo Software. They offer many great products and excellent customer support.

Having said that, I'm surprised that this is a paid upgrade considering that it consists mostly of bug fixes.  
(Version 9.0)

ESPIRIDION  Just a brief update:

Thanks for removing the old $10 price.

@MARINECORPSVET,

I also got the email with the discount coupon, but in March the upgrade was $10 so I did not feel like paying more than that and even with the coupon the final price was $15.

iClock is now $20 and according to Julian's email will be $30 shortly. I was willing to pay $10 for my upgrade, but to me it's not worth more than that. The upgadeupgrade would come only IF I liked it better than You Control which has been pretty good for the last few versions.

I tried to post in their forum and was asked to register. IIRC this is the 3rd time I've had to register there. I never got an email to activate my account, even after asking them to re-send the activation link which I never received in the first place. I did get a message saying that the activation code had been sent to my email address, but no email arrived. I also checked my spam folder.

I stopped using their software years ago, and little seems to have changed. Moving on...  
(Version 1.0b11)

ESPIRIDION  I think that the pricing for applications like this one was influenced by OmniFocus and its $80 price tag.

Then came Things at $50 and THL at $70.

Kinkless, the precursor to OmniFocus, was free. Thinking Rock -by far my favorite GTD application- is free although I gladly donated.

Entourage Daylite, and Contactizer Pro are more expensive but offer much more than Task Management.

But many people are willing to pay these prices. I got it through the MacHeist bundle. I would not have purchased it at the regular (or sale) price.  
(Version 0.9.3.12)

ESPIRIDION  EDITOR NOTES at Macupdate mention:

iClock Pro is $20, but only $10 during beta.

Their store only shows the $20 price.

I used iClock for a long time, and in 2006 upgraded my copy for OS X. I actually had different versions of iClock, and encountered a few issues. I remember there was a Ten for X version, a MacLinkPlus Deluxe version, and their regular version.

I decided to upgrade in 2006 since You Control was very buggy. After upgrading, iClock did not evolve much and I eventually returned to an improved You Control and have not used iClock at all for the last couple of years. IIRC, the last version prior to this "Pro" version is from January of 2007.

In contrast, You Control evolved nicely during 2008 and 2009.

My initial experience with ScriptSoftware was positive, but this was before OS X. I encountered bugs and odd behavior, and customer support was very inconsistent. It's also worth noting that back then there weren't that many alternatives out there. But today I'm happy with PTH Pasteboard and You Control.  
(Version 1.0b11)

ESPIRIDION  IMO this application is overpriced. I got my license from the Macheist bundle, otherwise I would not have purchased it.

I use Snapz Pro X. LittleSnapper seems to include some useful features, such as taking screenshots of an entire webpage. Unfortunately this did not work for me using iCab or Firefox. It did work using Safari, but I don't use Safari.

I may use it eventually if I want to quickly add some shapes, arrows, etc., to a picture. Text annotations are useful, but customization is important. I could not resize the text boxes, or separate text within a box using "Return" or "Enter"

Not bad for a version 1 application, but far from being worthy of 5 stars, especially considering its price.

Hopefully it will become a more polished application.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  They're mentioned here:

http://ffmpeg.org/shame.html

I think that they have corrected this issue, but still I'll pass on this one. I tried again with another video and got poor results.  
(Version 0272)

ESPIRIDION  Two years have passed since my previous TR review.

During this time I tried Things and got a license for The Hit List. Both are very good task managers, although a bit over-priced IMO.

My choice for a GTD tool is still Thinking Rock.

Great support, truly a GTD-centered application, and continuously improving.  
(Version 2.2.1)

ESPIRIDION  I won't rate it since it's a beta, but it's great to see so many bugs being rapidly addressed by the developer.

It looks like a promising Task Manager and I look forward to the non-beta release. Task management is a part of GTD, but this is not likely to replace Thinking Rock as my GTD application.

Lists are also part of GTD, so I hope to eventually integrate THL into my workflow.

As many others, I got it via Macheist. At the regular price or the current sale price I would not have purchased it.  
(Version 0.9.3.8b)

ESPIRIDION  I did look at all the information from the original file, but I don't recall the bit rate.

I could play around with the settings, but even if I get a smaller file next time, the time it takes for the process to end and the CPU used by KandaluLite are enough for me to skip this one.  
(Version 0271)

ESPIRIDION  As mentioned by the previous reviewer, the price is certainly affordable. It would be a bargain if it worked as expected.

Yesterday afternoon I downloaded the software and began converting a 900 MB file. The progress bar quickly showed 20% progress, but after that it advanced extremely slowly. I quit my other applications, including many background applications, and left KandaluLite running. Even though the program is a CPU hog progress was still EXTREMELY slow so I left it running overnight.

I followed the instructions regarding the optimal settings for their codec, and my 900 MB file became a 2.06 GB file. I then exported this file using their Exporter and the file size was greatly reduced. It went from a 2.06 GB mov file to a 1.22 GB m4v file. Still, both were larger than my original avi.

Ideally I would try this again, use other settings, and play with it until I was satisfied with the results. On the other hand, my time is worth more than $6.99 so I'll pass.

It's interesting that 5-star reviews both here and at VersionTracker are from people who have never reviewed another applications. I'm not even going to rate it since I only tested it with one file and the suggested settings, but I will definitely uninstall it.  
(Version 0271)

ESPIRIDION  I've used a variety of browsers. Years ago I paid for OmniWeb since it was the best option for me. When other browsers improved I switched. Eventually Firefox became my main browser, but version 3.0.8 crashes several times a day. I've sent crash reports so hopefully the developers will address the current bugs. In addition, there's some incompatibilities with SpellCatcher.

For now I'll go back to iCab and hope that Firefox 3.0.9 fixes these problems.  
(Version 3.0.8)

ESPIRIDION  AutoUpdate identified the new version and the upgrade went smoothly.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-009.mspx  
(Version 12.1.7)

ESPIRIDION  I purchased my last version of Stuffit Deluxe many years ago. The upgrade fees were not worth it to me, and I ended up using the Finder (or PathFinder) as well as RAR Expander, The Unarchiver, and more recently Springy which became my main application for expanding and compressing files.

Since I found a very attractive offer I decided to purchase Stuffit Deluxe 2009. Here are some observations:

1. At the regular price I would not have purchased the software. Even at $30 which is the upgrade fee it was not worth it to me.

2. For some purposes, the free alternatives are sufficient. For example, in terms of size and time I found no significant advantage using Stuffit when compressing or expanding ZIP files.

3. SITX files were smaller. That's a plus.

4. Browsing through archives and previewing files is a time saver. Springy has similar functionality, but I liked Stuffit better.

5. Expanding multiple archives at once is DANGEROUS. I expanded 4 archives, each one with 4 parts. Once the expansion was over, three of the archives were Zero K in size. Only the first one was expanded correctly. Expanded the archives individually worked fine.

6. The progress bar is deceiving. While expanding a multi-part archive the progress goes to full when the first part is expanded, even though expansion of the whole archive is not complete.

7. It did not work with some segmented files I received, with extensions .001, .002, etc., although these files are supported according to the manual.

Overall I'm pleased with Stuffit Deluxe. It supports multiple formats and has some useful features. It does have some shortcomings, including the price.

For an application that has been around for so many years, I was surprised by some of its behavior and errors. Hopefully these issues will be fixed and provided as a free update.  
(Version 13.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  ConceptDraw Mindmap Pro has the option to export to PowerPoint, OPML, RTF, Text, and other formats.

They offered version 5.5 for free a few months ago.

IIRC, MindView 3 integrates nicely with Word and PowerPoint. A bit expensive, though, and the Mac version does not have the same features as the Windows one (MindView 2 Business).  
(Version 3.0.2)

ESPIRIDION  BUYER BEWARE!

This is probably the worst developer I've ever encountered. I purchased licenses for 10 of their applications (DiscBlaze, Footlights, Illumination, DeskDoodle, DoThisNow, RadicalPhoto, Macabinet, RadicalSqueeze, RadicalSafe and Zephyr).

As can be seen on their Web site, they now only have 2 applications. There were many promises regarding updates but those promises were never fulfilled.

Their forum was filled with user complaints, and instead of addressing the valid criticisms they removed the forum.

I'm surprised to see an update to DiscBlaze, since 6.1.6 is from 2006 and Bryan Lund supposedly abandoned the Mac platform.

For those recent switchers and people unfamiliar with Radical Breeze, AVOID THEM. At the very least, read the comments about Radical Breeze and Bryan Lund at various Mac-related sites (e.g., VersionTracker)

Probably their best application was Formation. It was not developed by Radical Breeze. They acquired it and announced that they would add many enhancements and promised a free upgrade to version 2. This was over 3 years ago.

http://forums.realsoftware.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2130&p=12343

They took people's money and did not deliver on their promises. The software itself is nothing special by today's standards. The free Burn may be a better option.  
(Version 6.1.7)

ESPIRIDION  This should be a free update. I purchased iClipboard and used it probably one time.

I have no problem with Chronos and their other applications. I did wait many years after using Chronos Consultant under OS 9 and SOHO Organizer 6. I even got a free upgrade to version 7. I probably should have done the same with iClipboard and waited until version 3 or 4. Version 1 was pretty bad. I'm not upgrading to version 2.

PTH Pasteboard is still my choice for a clipboard application.  
(Version 2.0)

ESPIRIDION  When/how did support improve?

I'm really curious, considering that they never replied to my questions from over two months ago. This has been a typical behavior from them.

As soon as Devonthink Pro Office goes out of beta I'm making my purchase. So far it seems to be superior to FoxTrot both in terms of functionality and support.  
(Version 2.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  VEGGIEDUDE, Apple's Java support also affects Intel users, but for PPC users it is just worse.

In addition, Apple typically cares too little about backwards compatibility. This Java situation is just a current example. Recent switchers may not have experienced this yet.  
(Version Update 3)

ESPIRIDION  I just installed it and love it. I donated back when I used it in OS 9. Turly is not only friendly and helpful, but also quite funny :)

I had tried previous versions in OS X but for some reason I always removed it. This time it's staying.

With a single click I have access to specific Folders, Desktop, Applications, System Preferences, etc. And that's just scratching the surface of what can be done with FinderPop.

Thanks Turly! You certainly deserve another pint. :)  
(Version 2.2)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the replies and for clarifying my post to EAN.

WERFBLAU, I recently installed OpenSUSE http://www.opensuse.org/en/ but removed it after a couple of days. Installation was relatively easy. Yellow Dog was another option I considered. One of the Java programs I'm interested in is not ported to Linux, though. But check them out, they may work for you.  
(Version Update 3)

ESPIRIDION  As a PPC owner, the version of Java that is currently available is just an insult by Apple. Some programs will simply not run on PPC machines, since they require Java 1.6.

The current version for PPC machines is 1.5.0_16.

I can either buy an Intel-based Mac, or a PC. Considering the cost of Apple hardware, a PC seems like the best alternative for my particular situation. I currently have 2 Macs. I won't buy a 3rd Apple computer and reward Apple's arrogance and/or incompetence. (I get the feeling that this comment won't be popular among fanboys)  
(Version Update 3)

ESPIRIDION  I've used Speed Download since before it became a Yazsoft product. I upgraded to version 5 a few months ago, and will probably go back to version 4.

Version 5 lacks the options to Hold and Queue downloads. Accessing these options via a contextual menu is not as efficient and can become annoying.

The small, unobtrusive floater is gone. SD5 in minimized mode is larger than the old floater and only displays the selected download. I miss having the old floater displaying the number and speed of all downloads.

There's a "Web" menu with an item to "Buy Now." I already bought the program, so in essence that menu is a waste of space. Checking the Registration Details my name and number of licenses appear, but the Name and Serial fields are blank. I don't know whether this is the correct behavior.

Adding files from a URL is a great feature, but it is provided by some (or all) web browsers these days. I just used it to download some files, and after clicking "OK" the downloads began as expected, but the "Add files from URL" window remained open. I clicked OK again expecting the window to close, but the files were downloaded again. Trying to stop the duplicate files from downloading was futile. I managed to stop a few, but it became easier to just let the downloads finish and remove the duplicates later. Fortunately these were only 70 files, no bigger than 5MB.

Through the years I've been pleased with Speed Download for the most part. Version 5 feels like a big step backwards. Hopefully these issues will be corrected.

I would rate version 4 with 5 stars, but this one is not as good. To me this one is definitely not worth the upgrade from version 4.  
(Version 5.1.1)

ESPIRIDION  I've used and recommended HoudahSpot for a long time. I seldom used Spotlight, and tried a couple of programs that provided a better UI for Spotlight. My search ended as soon as I tried HoudahSpot.

Although I still use other search applications, whenever I need to do a Spotlight search I launch HoudahSpot. It makes my searches more efficient. I get more relevant results and spend less time looking for information.

Great application and great support.  
(Version 2.4.1)

ESPIRIDION  I was going to wait before posting a review, but felt compelled to address the previous comments.

AFAIK, people have been using Panorama on Intel machines for years.

Regarding a specific version for Intel processors, this is from ProVUE's Website:

"For 2009 we're working on new versions of Panorama for Intel processors (for both Mac OS X and Windows)."

It seems that version 5.5 is from December 2007, and 5.5.1 is from July 2008.

It would be nice to have a more "modern" interface, but given the power and functionality of Panorama it definitely deserves more than 3-stars.

Bento has a prettier interface. FileMaker 10 too. I would rather use Panorama. In my limited experience, Panorama's databases are smaller than FileMaker's, and work is faster and more accurate. For example, when importing records, finding data, etc. And this is just very basic stuff.  
(Version 5.5.1)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the information.  
(Version 0.1.1)

ESPIRIDION  The "Smile" ratings are peculiar here at Macupdate.

Even though my brief review has a "minus one" rating, apparently the issue I addressed will be fixed by version 3.0.4.

There are various additional problems with Billings, some of them are mentioned in their forum:

Marketcircle>Forums>Billings>Troubleshooting

But some people want to rate it 5-stars and/or give negative ratings to factual comments. Maybe that makes them feel better about their purchase decision :)

For anyone seriously considering this type of application, I would recommend that you download it, try it, visit their forums to learn about additional concerns other users have, and then make an informed purchasing decision.

As of 01/21/09 the upgrade price is $25, which is quite reasonable for a paid upgrade, and $40 for a new copy. If/when bugs are fixed I will consider upgrading my copy. For now I'll still pass.  
(Version 3.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  I was pleasantly surprised when I found this application. I loved using SoundApp. It was an amazing tool.

But I'm a bit confused. Is this mostly a SoundApp interface? Or is this a port of the SoundApp application, with its playback and conversion capabilities?

From what I read, my impression is that SoundApp's engine has not been updated to work in OS X.

Anyone knows?  
(Version 0.1.1)

ESPIRIDION  So far two programs refuse to work on my system; Consideo Modeler and Quantrix Modeler.

Both seem to require Java 1.6, however the latest Java version for PPC computers is 1.5 and 1.6 is for Intel machines only.

The developers seem to be very responsive, but I don't know whether there's much they can do.  
(Version Update 2)

ESPIRIDION  Raddle, $179 is better than my upgrade price. I have version 7 and was a bit shocked when I read "FileMaker Pro 7 or earlier. Purchase full version for $299.00" :-)

The new interface looks nice, but for me the upgrades after version 7 -although good- have not been worth the asking price.

I only checked the upgrade price out of curiosity, though. I purchased Panorama last month, and it's more than enough for my needs. I don't know about speed, but their databases are smaller than FileMaker's, and the price was VERY attractive thanks to a promo they were having (Panorama Twenty Year Anniversary Sale). It ended December 20, but who knows, maybe it still works.

The interface looks a bit outdated, but it doesn't bother me.

Panorama's upgrades for older versions are also quite expensive, though. Overall I'm glad that my money went to ProVUE. I don't know their current prices, but 4D is also another option.  
(Version 10)

ESPIRIDION  I am impressed with Things' evolution, and may eventually purchase it.

Kudos for offering academic pricing, a well-designed interface, ease of use, and continual development.

One of the aspects I REALLY liked about Things from the start is that it is advertised as a Task Management application. I've read reviews and probably watched screencasts praising Things as a GTD application. This "GTD" factor is also mentioned here at Macupdate's reviews. My opinion will probably be unpopular, but I would NOT use Things for my GTD system. While I agree that it's great for managing some tasks, it is NOT a true GTD application, particularly for people who really follow David Allen's methodology.

Can it be used for GTD purposes? Sure, to a degree. Just like Excel or Word or a Notebook or a paper and a pen can be used for GTD. In fact, I often use the DIY Planner kits with my GTD system http://www.diyplanner.com/

But I would not call it a GTD program and I'm glad the developers call it a Task Management application.

Since this is a Release Candidate, some features are not yet implemented (e.g., delegating). Unfortunately I don't know whether these will be implemented for version 1.0 or 1.5 or 2.0. This is one reason why I'll wait before making my purchase. Also, some behavior is not what I would expect. For example, when entering a new To-Do, if I hit Tab to move to different fields, once I get to the Date field, today's date is automagically selected.

New To-Dos show up in Today's Smart List by default, but I found no preference to modify this behavior.

It would be nice to be able to edit multiple Tasks simultaneously. For example, if I want to change their due date. BTW, contextual menus would be great for this type of quick editing.

Hitting "Delete" works as expected; it deletes a To-Do, and the Trash count goes up. In this case, it would be nice to have a preference to get a Warning display before moving items to the Trash.

The Quick Entry and Tags options suffer from the ubiquitous Darth Vader interface syndrome. I really like Things' look, and truly dislike those black interfaces.

I only used Things very briefly, and overall I found it very fast and easy to enter a few tasks. I will definitely keep my eye on this program. For my GTD purposes nothing (so far) has been able to replace Thinking Rock 2, but Things may be a nice addition for the times when I need to quickly create a list of tasks. I would like to see if I can integrate both programs through export/import options. I have not used TR2's import functionality, though, but I'm sure something could be done. (Although it's free, I'm glad I donated years ago to TR. Now I get to enjoy the benefits of a paid membership :-) ) I understand that Things uses or will use XML, but apparently Exporting data is not yet implemented.

Things reminds me a bit of OmniFocus, which I own but never use. Price wise Things is more attractive. Hopefully feature wise it will keep on improving. For a release candidate -and compared to previous betas- it is looking very good.  
(Version 1.0rc2)

ESPIRIDION  It is interesting indeed, but performs like an early beta and it's not at the same level as alternative programs.

For example, to uninstall applications I prefer TinkerTool System.

For finding duplicate files, I prefer Araxis Find Duplicate Files and FileBuddy.

Both TinkerTool System and File Buddy offer dozens of powerful, well-implemented features.

I'm not mentioning the Disk Hogs option since it crashed on me, but I also have programs that have that specific feature.

I will not rate the software, but in its current state it is not something I would use.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  I've used this application quite a bit, both to capture screen shots and to create movies. I'm very satisfied with Snapz Pro X.

I had not seen its reviews here or at VersionTracker, and -based on my experience- was surprised by some of the low ratings.

It's been interesting to read the comments, as well as Ambrosia's responses to many of them. Many software developers don't even visit these type of forums. I prefer to first contact customer support directly. Later on I may post about my support issues and experiences in a forum and/or a review.

I searched for more information regarding Snapz Pro, and found an interesting site which has reviews for iShowU HD 2/ShowU HD Pro 2, Screenium 1.0, Screenflick 1.6.2, Screen Mimic 2.1, Snapz Pro X 2.1.0.

http://machouse.mhvt.net/

Notice that Snapz Pro's review is for an older version, but as recently as September 2008, they mentioned:

"We have reviewed several screen-capture applications in the past. So far, none of them except Ambrosia’s Snapz Pro X functions with our satisfaction..."

They do point out some of Snapz Pro's issues and limitations, but as far as I could tell Snapz Pro still got the highest rating of 5 stars.

And although I tend to disagree with many of their reviews, I think that Macworld also gave Snapz Pro 5-mice.

The only issue I've had with Snapz Pro came up one or two days ago. I had to take a screenshot of a website's pulldown menu, but as I switched from my browser to take the screenshot the menu went away. I ended up timing the shot using Grab. Maybe Snapz Pro can also do it, but using Grab was quicker than contacting support or reading a manual :-)

So based on my experience, after trying maybe 4 or 5 other screen capture applications, I'm giving Snapz Pro 5-stars.

It's not perfect, I don't like the installer approach, I don't like that some bugs remained present for so long, but for my needs it has worked extremely well.

I'm also happy that this was a free update, and not a paid upgrade to 2.2 or 2.5 or 3.0 as many companies tend to do these days.  
(Version 2.1.3)

ESPIRIDION  I don't mind that they made it free. However, with each release the program seems to be losing some functionality and since I did purchase the Pro version of XMIND 2008 (2.3.0), these latest releases have been a disappointment.

With version 2.3.0 I imported many custom markers. I've been unable to export them and import them to XMIND 3.

XMIND 3.0 had the options to export as MindJet MindManager Map, PDF Document, and RTF File (Word Compatible). I did not see these options anymore under 3.0.1's Export menu, although it now has the option to export as an XMIND 2008 Workbook.

Under the View Menu, 3.0 had a Gantt Chart option. This is not present under 3.0.1 The same applies to Task Info.

The application's size has gone from 67.4 MB (2.3.0) to 34 MB (3.0) to 31.2 MB (3.0.1). I don't know whether this is a reflection of more efficient coding or just loss of features.

I used to recommend XMIND, and for people who have no similar software this free version is pretty good. I would probably rate it with 4 stars.

But as someone who paid for the Pro version I'm not happy with the direction the company is taking. Their focus seems similar to MindMeister http://www.mindmeister.com/ but I have no need for online mind mapping. MindMeister recently had an attractive offer at MacZot, by the way.

Mindjet also has an online feature that users can buy, but this is in addition to the actual software. I prefer that approach. For now I'll use XMIND 2.3.0 and 3.0, as well as my old copy of NovaMind. Eventually I may go with MindJet MindManager, although the development of their Mac version always seems to lag behind the Windows version.

For people getting this for free, it's certainly a great value. For me, it's obviously not. At least I got it at a discounted price. I can't even imagine how people who actually paid $300 -if there are any- feel about these changes.  
(Version 3.0.1)

ESPIRIDION  It's interesting that you mentioned the resources issue. Back in December of 2006 I wrote that the application "has some limitations, such as sharing/managing multiple resources across various projects simultaneously."

I guess that 2 years later they still have not added that functionality. I would not be surprised if that is added for version 2, along with a plethora of other requests from users, and with a significant upgrade fee.  
(Version 1.6.1)

ESPIRIDION  Ten months ago I wrote that for $59 plus shipping I would not upgrade my copy of Drive Genius. Prosoft's upgrade fee was -and still is- insulting. Because of the recent MUPromo, for $50 I now have Drive Genius 2.1 as well as 10 additional applications.

Here and at VersionTracker there are many glowing reviews praising Drive Genius and Prosoft's customer service. My experience has been different. Hopefully Prosoft's service has improved. Fortunately Gordon and others from Prosoft (e.g., Valorie, John) take the time to help users who post here and at VersionTracker, but Prosoft has often dropped the ball when I have emailed them with support issues.

Regarding Drive Genius 2.1, I see no need and no use for the new animations. Is that the reason why the upgrade is expensive?

Back when Micromat's Drive 10 became available (2001) there was a certain "Wow!" factor given the beautiful interface, but in this case the animations add nothing to the program's functionality. Why spend time/money/effort on something so trivial for this type of program? It's not as though the previous version had an ugly interface. It is usable and practical.

It's not all bad, though. Prosoft did add some useful features with DriveSlim. Some features I will not use since they can potentially cause more problems (e.g., removing code, removing languages) and for other features I prefer to use different applications (e.g., Find Duplicate Files, FileBuddy).

In summary, Drive Genius is a good program hindered by questionable support and an absurd upgrade fee. I only got it since it came with the MUPromo bundle, otherwise I wouldn't have purchased it. But my rating should reflect the program's quality, and as I said, it is a good program.  
(Version 2.1)

ESPIRIDION  Two years ago I wrote some comments about OmniPlan. In two years, OmniPlan has certainly gone through various improvements. A quick guesstimate is that they've been mostly fixes, and eventually 1.5 did bring some new features:

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniplan/releasenotes/

I have a lot of respect for AMBERV, and highly recommend reading her comments below. To me they make more sense than comments such as "OmniPlan is the best PM solution for Mac" or "This program is a friggin masterpiece."

Fortunately for Omni, there are people who will pay $150 for OmniPlan. I would not be surprised if version 2 comes out in 2009 with a new price and an upgrade fee for current users. I'm pretty sure that version 2 is going to be a huge improvement over version 1, which is the one I'm rating (1.6.1).

My overall impressions of OmniPlan have not changed. For simple projects OmniPlan may be more than sufficient. Having said this, I've never chosen OmniPlan for any of my projects. It's evident that Omni's strength resides in superb visual design and ease of use, but for this first version Omni lacked the focus of a true Project Management company. Merlin 2 and FastTrack Schedule show a different level of maturity in that regard. (These are 2 programs that I've used more frequently, but there are at least a dozen other Project Management programs for the Mac.)

It's nice to see a pretty interface, but for my needs that's not enough. Compared to other "Project Management" software I have, I would choose OmniPlan over Jumsoft's Operation, but in 2 years I have not chosen it over Merlin 2 or FastTrack Schedule.

These 2 programs are more expensive than OmniPlan, and to me they've been worth it.

My Omni licenses include:

OmniWeb

OmniGraffle Pro

OmniOutliner Pro

OmniPlan

OmniFocus

Out of these, now I only use OmniGraffle Pro (4) from time to time and have no plans of upgrading their software anymore.

To their credit, Omni has some amazing people offering customer support.

Like AMBERV, "I used to recommend them [OMNI] to everyone...Lately, I never recommend, and I haven't bought a license in years."  
(Version 1.6.1)

ESPIRIDION  FoxTrot Professional Search represents a poor implementation of a good idea.

The search engine is incredibly fast, but unfortunately it has some accuracy problems. Loading the indices can be slow, and displaying the search results within the actual documents can also be slow.

As far as I can tell, there was no version 1.0 of this program except for the Personal version of the program. At version 2.0.3 the Professional version feels like a work in progress and not like a finished product.

Support is questionable. CTM has not replied to a "Customer service request" after 4 working days.

The program could be great and its speed is impressive, but I'll wait for version 3 before giving CTM $150.  
(Version 2.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  I had problems with Office 2008 when I first Upgraded to 10.5. I think I also used "Archive and Install" back then and the Migration Assistant.

I had many problems with various applications and went back to 10.4.

By 10.5.2 Apple had fixed many bugs, so I did an "Erase and Install" and began installing my Applications one by one. Microsoft Office 2008 is one of the first Applications I installed, and was happy with the results. Everything worked fine, and launching each Office application was actually very fast.

By now I have installed additional software, additional applications, additional fonts, etc. Launching Office applications can be quite slow, but so far everything has worked as expected and upgrades have been smooth on my system.

My 2 complaints:

VBA is no longer supported, but that was well known before Office 2008 came out.

Auto-Updater does not work. This is also the case with other Applications, and not just Microsoft.

Overall Office 2008 has worked for me, but I started out with a clean system. I had applications that would not even launch under 10.5 (e.g., Daylite) until I did a clean install of OS X.

I'm sure this comment will not be popular, but I find it annoying when Mac users attack Microsoft. This may have to do with recent switchers and/or the Mac vs. PC adds, but Microsoft was one of the first -if not the first- software developers for the Mac. I'm glad that I can use Office on my Mac and that the 2008 version has been offered at very low prices (i.e., check the Black Friday deals for 2007 and 2008, plus additional rebates Microsoft has offered).

I still keep my 2004 version, but for the most part I'm using Office 2008 now.

i hope this text from Microsoft's page helps:

If you have trouble installing this update or using Office 2008 applications after you install this update, try the following:

* Make sure that the Microsoft Office 2008 folder is located in the Applications folder on the startup volume. If it is at another location on your computer, move it to the Applications folder on your startup volume, and then try installing the update again.

* Restart your computer and try installing the update again.

* Make sure that the user account you use to authenticate the update installer is an administrator account. For more information about administrator accounts, see Mac Help.

* Make sure that you downloaded the correct language version of the update for your copy of Office.

* If you rename or modify any of the files in the Microsoft Office 2008 folder, you cannot install product updates. To correct this issue, drag the Microsoft Office 2008 folder to the Trash, and then reinstall Office 2008 from your original installation disk.

* If you experience problems opening Office applications after you install this update, restart your computer. If you continue to experience problems after you restart, reinstall Office from your original installation disk, and then install this update again.  
(Version 12.1.5)

ESPIRIDION  I won't rate it since it's a beta, but some comments:

I preferred the old icon.

I was looking forward to the clipboard feature, but it's too limited for my needs. ClipMerge is a very nice feature.

It's nice too see an improved calculator. The calculator is a feature I did not expect to use, but have used it quite a bit.

I've used LauchBar for a long time. IIRC I got version 3 bundled in Ten for X vol. 1 many years ago, and have used it ever since.

The new clipboard feature is the one that interested me the most. I'm very happy with PTH Pasteboard, and it seems that LaunchBar will not be a replacement.

Still, LaunchBar is now an essential part of the way I work with my Mac.

Hopefully the bug fixes included in version 5 will make their way to version 4 as well.  
(Version 5.0b1)

ESPIRIDION  I used to love this software many years ago. I think that I used versions 2, 3, and 4 and paid CTMDev in 1999, 2000, and 2002. I got tired of their upgrade policy and skipped version 5. Apparently those who purchased version 5 have gotten quite a bit of free updates, but my experience stopped at version 4.

PowerMail and Mailsmith were my top choices for my email needs.

Now at version 6 I decided to give the recent betas a try. So far I see no reason to go back to using PowerMail. It's still incredibly fast, but by now Entourage has consistently proven to be better for my needs. I backup my email to a FileMaker database using EEAX, and recently began exporting that database to a ProVue Panorama database. Both allow me to search incredibly fast, and Panorama's database is 71 MB compared to FileMaker's 186 MB. This tests were done using an older backup of approximately 30,000 messages.

My biggest disappointment right now is that I imported 984 emails to try the beta version. The last version I used was 6.0b3, build 4585.

After upgrading to version 6.0 build 4587 from PowerMail itself, my windows were the wrong size, and my messages were gone.

This is not a huge problem since it was only a test, I am able to use the old beta and read those messages, and the messages themselves are in the "PowerMail Files 6.0b" Folder. After the upgrade a new Folder named "PowerMail Files" was created. Perhaps this issue only applies to the current upgrade, but it's a bit annoying.

Years ago it made sense for me to purchase an email program. Today even Apple's Mail -which I didn't like in the past- has gotten pretty good. Mailsmith has not been updated in close to 4 years. PowerMail has come up with this update, but is it worth it to go back to this email client? Any insight from current PowerMail users?

If there's a compelling reason to use PowerMail, please let me know and I'll give it another try. I could ask CTM directly, but based on my previous experience they were not good at answering emails after the sale. Has this changed?  
(Version 6.0)

ESPIRIDION  I tend to agree that Araxis' programs are expensive. They do offer an attractive educational discount, although not on this program. Also, they are REALLY good applications.

At $20, this is their cheapest program. Tidy Up, for example, is $30. FileBuddy is $40 and has a myriad of features including finding duplicate files. Great program.

Overall I like Araxis FDF, but there's room for improvement:

1. Some file types are not recognized (e.g., text clippings, XMind documents, etc.). File Buddy had no problem with these files. On the other hand, FDF found many images from OMNI Graffle files, and FB did not.

2. The font size seems too small.

3. It does not have many preference, so it does not allow for much customization.

I did like the preview of the files, and managed to get rid of many duplicates I had in one folder and various sub-folders. The process was slow since I would not let FDF automatically choose which files to remove, but just from that folder containing mostly PDF files I got rid of 1.2 GB of duplicates.

I will be using it quite a bit, so I decided to purchase it, but at first it seems a bit expensive.

It also integrates with Araxis Merge.  
(Version 2008.38)

ESPIRIDION  The upgrade price is not $35, but $25. At least it has been that price for a while now. I did give it a try, and I'm still disappointed by the upgrade fee. I feel like I'm paying to be a beta tester again and again.

From what I remember, this Billings version still has the same poor behavior as version 2.5. I've already uninstalled version 3, and did not reinstall it for this test so please correct me if I'm wrong. I posted a 3 minute video here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/169976988/Billings.mov

1. I ran Billings 2.5, iBiz 3.1.14, and Clockwork 1.4.2 as a reference timer.

2. At 55 seconds, I have a brief pause in Billings and iBiz..

3. Around 1:07 I resume both timers. By mistake I double-clicked (resumed and stopped) iBiz's timer, so I clicked once more (resume). This obviously has no effect on the test, but looks odd on screen.


Notice that Clockwork and iBiz show a 21 second difference. This is what I would expect due to pausing the timer. Billings shows 00:00 (Zero).

4. Around 2:00 minutes I have another pause, and resume around 2:16.

5. I have one final pause at 3:02.

With iBiz, I would charge for 2:31 of my time -which is perfectly reasonable- while with Billings I would not charge for my time at all. When I've volunteer my time, I would prefer to have a record saying that I volunteer 3 minutes at a rate of $0 ;)

Apparently every pause under a minute is rounded to the previous minute. Hopefully the program's calculations are accurate in other areas, but the unbilled minutes add up. This gets compounded the more a person uses (and pauses) this program, and if more people use the program in an organization.

I have no experience with iBiz except for this test. Hopefully it will be a solution for my needs, and if not I guess I'll wait for a GrandTotal & TimeLog Bundle promo :-)  
(Version 3.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  It's interesting to see other people's suggestions. I have Butler and even donated money for it a long time ago. For me it has not been a Application Wizard replacement.

I tried Quicksilver a few times, but it's no longer in my system.

I just checked aLunch. Looks like a nice and free application launcher, but Application Wizard does quite a bit more than that.

You can navigate through volumes and folders, preview files, and more.

I mainly use it to launch and quit multiple applications at once, and to organize "sets" of applications depending of the tasks I'm going to do and the applications I need. For example, I have an "Office" set, "Internet" set, "Email" set, etc.

Price is reasonable and many updates have been frequent and free.

Highly recommended.  
(Version 2.3.3)

ESPIRIDION  It's great to have so many choices these days. :-)

I don't find TR2 ugly, although it's certainly not the most beautiful interface. Midnight Inbox has a truly nice interface from what I remember, but I couldn't use it for my GTD system.

Thinking Rock enables me to be more productive and adheres to the GTD methodology. Plus I've been able to use it at home (Mac) and at the office (PC). I'm more into function than beauty :-)

There's a poll at the Thinking Rock website, and so far only 3% of respondents want them to focus on "Aesthetics (make it look better)"

They're very responsive to their users, and in this case most users don't think that working on a nicer interface is a priority.

Again, it's great to have options:

http://www.priacta.com/Articles/Comparison_of_GTD_Software.php  
(Version 1.5)

ESPIRIDION  I think it's important to update my rating for Daylite, since I gave it 5-stars back in 2006.

On a positive note, when I launched Daylite a few minutes ago I got a message regarding the new version. Auto-update had stopped working for me for years. Unfortunately, the download was for daylitesuite38, so I had to manually download daylite38. No big deal, though.

Regarding Daylite itself, I experienced a lot of unexpected behavior, especially when I upgraded to Leopard. Customer support was good, but it was often non-existent. In the end, they were unable to solve my problem and stopped all communication. I got Daylite to work again by doing an "Erase and Install" of Leopard, and reinstalling Daylite.

MarketCircle also seems to be a bit unresponsive regarding bug fixes or adding features to their software. Once bug fixes and added features are available, they come in the form of a paid upgrade or additional expense (e.g., modules, connectors.)

Billings 3 is another example of a paid upgrade that should have been a free update. I'm not giving MarketCircle $25 for that upgrade, which is interesting since this week I'm buying 2 applications which sell for $269 and $299. They simply do not deserve my money.

I actually stopped using Daylite a while ago and now use Contactizer Pro. Both have their positive aspects as well as their limitations and room for improvement, but by now I prefer to support other developers.

I also use Entourage quite a bit.

Other options:

Chandler looked promising but it still has a long way to go.

NightHawk's evolution is painfully slow.

I sometimes miss using Consultant or Now Up To Date and Contact under OS 9.  
(Version 3.8)

ESPIRIDION  In spite of my previous comment, I was able to Sign In to My Account at XMIND.

Strange...  
(Version 3.0)

ESPIRIDION  I downloaded and installed the file.

When I tried to get my free XMind ID apparently I got the "Captcha" wrong. Now I can't use the user name I chose or my email address since they "already exist"

I downloaded the PRO version, but the "About" information says it's version 3.0.0. My previous copy of XMIND says 2.3.0 Professional.

What are the differences between 2.3 and 3?

Is it just the online subscription?

Or have there been improvements based on user feedback?

I'm surprised to see the jump from 2.3 to 3.0.

This has been frustrating so far.  
(Version 3.0)

ESPIRIDION  Since there's some speculation regarding Intel vs. PPC, I had no problem updating Office to 12.1.4.

OS X 10.5.5

Dual 2GHz PPC G5

AutoUpdate did not find a new version. That has happened to me with various programs, so I'm used to downloading and installing some upgrades manually.  
(Version 12.1.4)

ESPIRIDION  Just a comment, since I won't rate the program.

OmniFocus "should be" the clear leader among GTD applications, particularly given its price and hype. But it is not. In fact -and one reason why I'm not posting a review- I haven't used it since I posted my initial comment about a year ago.

I still prefer Thinking Rock 2. Fortunately, people can download both and compare which one works better for their needs.

I was so impressed with Thinking Rock that I donated money to that project. Version 2 just made a great program even better.

Which brings me back to OmniFocus. Initial releases were buggy. I'm surprised at the jump from 1.03 to 1.5, but it seems that the application has improved quite a bit since the last time I used it, and new features have been added. I just installed the new version and will definitely give it a try.

There are many programs that help with Tasks and To-Dos. For my needs, and given that I follow David Allen's GTD methodology, Thinking Rock is still my first choice. I'm always open to new things, and since I already purchased this one I'll give it another try.

Speaking of Things, that program looks quite promising.  
(Version 1.5rc2)

ESPIRIDION  Updater ran fine for me as well.

One thing to consider is that some problems may not be related to Microsoft alone. For example, when I "upgraded" to 10.5 I ran into many problems with various applications under the new OS.

The solution, after numerous installations of OS X 10.5 using Upgrade, Archive and Install, and Erase and Install, was to do an Erase and Install and reinstall my applications. Using the Migration Assistant and other install options rendered some of my applications useless.

After this Erase and Install, I installed Office 2008. Under a clean system, launching Office programs was actually fast. Now launch times are slow -except for Word- but I have added more stuff as well as numerous fonts.

There are some things I dislike about Office 2008. Mainly the lack of VBA support. But that was announced months before Office 2008 was released. For some of my work I need to go back to Office 2004, which I keep on a separate partition using 10.4.

I'm not going to rate the installer, or complain about Microsoft or about issues unrelated to this update. Overall Office has worked fine for me.

By the way, for those who want to know what the update actually addresses:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958267

Particularly, performance enhancements only have an effect related to Charts. Launch times are still slow, but again, that's not what this update was about.  
(Version 12.1.3)

ESPIRIDION  As I said before, $240 is not that much from an organizational perspective. Given the size of our projects, this amount is negligible. I certainly realize that this is a business application, not just a timer.

And again, as I mentioned, still this is not a program that I would consider buying. I do wish you the best of luck with your thousands of customers, and thank you for clarifying who is posting the 5-star reviews.  
(Version 6.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  Sorry about the table. It looks horrible, but looked fine before posting.

It's supposed to show the program's version, its price, and the percentage of price increase.  
(Version 6.0.2)

ESPIRIDION  Regarding price, it wasn't as bad when it first appeared. Interestingly, version 6's price is 6 times as much as the first version. :)

Version Price Increase

1 39.99 NA

1.1 54.99 37.51%

2 69.99 27.28%

2.1 79.95 14.23%

3 99.95 25.02%

3.1 129.95 30.02%

3.2 149.95 15.39%

4 169.95 13.34%

4.1 189.95 11.77%

5 209.95 10.53%

5.1 219.95 4.76%

6 239.95 9.09%

Of course, these are prices for new customers. Upgrades are another story.

From what I remember, a great alternative back then was Studio Boss. Unfortunately it seems it hasn't been updated since 2005.

I ended up using Activity & Expense Tracker Plus for a few years. The interface is a bit ugly, but worked fine for my needs years ago.

$240 is not that much from an organizational perspective, but still this is not a program that I would consider buying.

It does have some nice 5-star reviews from people who had never posted any reviews ;)  
(Version 6.0.2)

ESPIRIDION  Worthy update to a great program. This version comes with a variety of improvements and added features that can be found here:

http://www.rainmakerinc.com/products/spellcatcherx/whatsnew10_3.html

Support is excellent, and the upgrade fee is very reasonable.

For those unfamiliar with the program, in addition to being a spell checker, it can also be used to expand frequently used text, get text statistics (e.g., Fog Index and Flesch-Kincaid), manipulate text (e.g., changing case, removing multiple spaces, etc.), use Macros, and more.

DirectCorrect is an important new feature. It may not work with all applications, and with some it may not be evident that it works. For example, it may appear that it's no possible to turn it on with a specific application, but when the interface has a field that supports DirectCorrect -like when typing this review or posting on a forum- it becomes possible to turn it on. It pays to read about its features and experiment with it.  
(Version 10.3)

ESPIRIDION  I've used Hear for a couple of months now. From the start, I realized that it was unusable for listening to music since it yields over-processed sounds. I have tried presets as well as my own settings. My settings were an improvement over the presets, but I decided not to waste time creating separate settings for each song I hear.

As an effect it's an interesting novelty. Some people may like this, but I don't.

Still, as an effect it may be interesting with different games, videos and movies. Unfortunately it does not work with VLC 0.9.4, under OS X 10.5.5. I don't know if it's a general problem or just my system. It was also not working with the previous VLC version.  
(Version 1.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  Great program. Has rapidly and steadily evolved into a "must-have" application. Support is excellent.

I've used Web Confidential for years and still use it, but I also purchased 1Password and I'm very pleased with it.

On the negative side, there's still no iCab support. People have asked for iCab support for a while now. Hopefully it will become a reality in the near future.  
(Version 2.9b2)

ESPIRIDION  So the developer tells us that "This version is well worth the upgrade fee."

Not to me. I've used DayLite since it came out and the same criticisms that Billings has received have applied to DayLite (e.g., features, development, poor support). That's why I use Contactizer Pro now. It's not perfect and still has a long way to go, but at least I'm not using DayLite anymore.

I also have Billings. I would rather spend $35 on a product by a different company than upgrade to version 3. I may even spend $50 on iBiz or a similar program. At the moment -and only because I already have it- I'll use Billings for just one or two projects. In a few months, once I'm done with my current projects, I'll give iBiz and iRatchet a try.

Having said this, some years ago I highly recommended MarketCircle to friends and colleagues. Just not anymore.  
(Version 3.0)

ESPIRIDION  It's great to finally see Chandler at version 1.

Development was a bit slow, but I'm looking forward to using Chandler.

I currently use Contactizer Pro, and have used Daylite in the past.

Years ago I was using Now Up to Date and Contact under OS 9, along with Chronos Consultant at one point.

Chandler has looked very promising for a long time. It's early to post a review, but I'll definitely spend a few hours with Chandler.

Congratulations on reaching version 1 :-)  
(Version 1.0.1)

ESPIRIDION  At least they're consistent. With each version, their pricing/upgrade fees are absurd.

Nice program, but I'm not paying for another upgrade.  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  Unfortunately there are not many Mac tools to fight spam.

While this one has an interface that is not very Mac-like, the results are great. Customer support is also excellent.

Some people have suggested SpamSieve. I also have it and it is great, but it does NOT fight spam.

Purify allows me to report spammers and do something about the root of the problem. It's not merely a filter to keep my Inbox clean.

I've gotten many positive responses from ISPs. The latest one, summarized:

"The domain in question has already been disabled."

Great stuff.  
(Version 2.1.2)

ESPIRIDION  I received an email as a registered user, with an upgrade offer valid before July 1.

If you have not received such email, you may want to email the author and ask about the upgrade fee.  
(Version 3.0.4)

ESPIRIDION  I paid for the upgrade given the limited time of the discounted price, and just tried it briefly. Prior to today I only had a few minutes to use it, and will not use it again for a week or so.

It's very buggy.

So far it has crashed once, and I lost some of my work.

Later, while saving a file I was working on, I got a message saying that the file had been saved by another application or something to that effect.

At times it is slow and unresponsive on a G5 Dual 2 GHz with 5 GB RAM, OS X 10.5.2

Audio files sometimes work, and sometimes there's no sound at all. This occurs while using the same audio.

Selecting a media file (JPEG) displays correctly most of the time as part of the actual theme, but sometimes nothing shows up when selecting the media file.

The number of themes that take advantage of some new features is very limited.

It's a good idea, but a poor implementation so far. IMO, as it is now, it was not worth the discounted upgrade fee.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  I also think that their pricing approach is terrible.

I may upgrade just to take advantage of the current upgrade price, but don't think that PulpMotion Advanced 1.0 is worth it at the moment.

The advanced features are really good. Some could have been part of a regular PulpMotion update IMO. Others are limited even in the Advanced version. For example, only 4 themes actually support "Regions of interest"

With many software titles I'm happy to upgrade, and I like reasonably priced upgrades that add considerable features.

In the case of Aquafadas, my first disappointment was BannerZest's upgrade price. I kept the regular version.

Again, I may upgrade this one and hope that it truly evolves, but so far I'm disliking Aquafadas' approach regarding their "Pro" versions.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  Copy Paste was the first clipboard I used on a Mac, and I used it for many years.

IIRC there was no upgrade path once it became an OS X application. I purchased Shadow Clipboard and iClip instead, and my search for a great clipboard utility finally ended with PTH Pasteboard. That's the one I use and recommend.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for clarifying. And as I said, indeed I made a comment. :-)

I guess that after seeing a few 5-star reviews at VersionTracker and here, from people who have never reviewed anything, I'm a bit cynical. We all start with a single post, but I stand by cynicism :-)

I'm glad it's working for you, and I agree that they are very responsive. I just wish that in my case they had been consistent with their response instead of telling me that I was entitled to an upgrade and then telling me I wasn't.

It goes beyond the monetary issue. After all, I paid more for Freeway Pro, and I may buy today's MUPromo: Sandvox. I'm just a fan of Watson and Karelia :-)  
(Version 3.6.7)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the comment simonm.

The price of Freeway Pro was around $75, so it was not 5 times RW's price.

The themes I've liked for RW have been expensive. Overall I'm happier with Freeway Pro. Soon after their promos they announced version 5 and also charged for an upgrade. Version 5 came out last month, and they offered a discount.

And I agree with you. RW is useful for creating websites quickly.

raddle, indeed I made a comment. If it is pointless, why bother replying?

I also offered my rating of the product after using it, and I believe that I was more than fair with my ratings.

1. It's NOT about buying when an upgrade fee is due. In fact, realmacsoftware said that I was entitled to a free upgrade. Most companies offer a time frame for those free upgrades. Later they said that I was not entitled to that free upgrade. The developers may be very responsive as you mentioned. Obviously my experience has been different from yours. Both are valid, although mine is pointless. ;-)

2. It does NOT happen all the time. I can think of Rapidweaver, Softpress, and Yazsoft charging an upgrade fee soon after a sale. Years ago Macease did the same. Every developer gave me a free upgrade/update when I purchased Ten for X, except Macease.

Out of hundreds of applications and bundles that I have purchased in the last 10 years, these 4 examples are certainly not a representation of what happens all the time.

3. And it's NOT about denigrating a post "just because they don't comment the whole time" as you said. Some posts are insightful. That particular post gave glowing ratings to RW, but offered little substance. The fact that it's from a person who has not reviewed anything else, that it offers a glowing review, and insinuates that other products are inferior, is enough for me to discard that comment.

Maybe reading that "RapidWeaver 3.6 stomps all of them" is good enough for you, but not for me.

I prefer reviews like these:

http://applemacinmylife.blogspot.com/2007/08/rapidweaver-and-sandvox-tests.html

http://www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/iweb_vs_sandvox/

http://www.it-enquirer.com/main/ite/more/freeway_5_pro/

End of my pointless response.  
(Version 3.6.7)

ESPIRIDION  For a moment I was excited thinking that Flow had been updated, but this is a new program.

Flow was a great program by Near-Time.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  I agree with Frodo_Life.

Even the upgrade is quite expensive at $89.

I like Aquafadas and their products, but this is too expensive IMO.  
(Version 1.0)

ESPIRIDION  Maybe it's a fiasco that Safari has greatly improved while OmniWeb has become stagnant?

I've used OmniWeb for years, along with FireFox and Opera. I never liked Safari, but I gave version 3.04 a chance and so far it's impressive.

Out of iCab, Opera, FireFox, Safari, and OmniWeb, OmniWeb is the one that has given me more problems. I sent numerous crash reports to Omni. Hopefully 5.7 will be a great browser once again. I'll wait for the final version.  
(Version 5.7 beta 2)

ESPIRIDION  Works great for my needs.

I have not used it that much. Mainly I created a 60 MB catalog of >12,000 icons.

I just tested it to create a 3MB catalog of 40MB of 309 pictures. It took about a minute or so.

Overall I'm very happy with it. I used it when it was a $25 program and loved it back then. When the price went up I decided not to upgrade. Thanks to Microsoft I got it as part of Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, and the price was cheaper than buying the expensive versions of iView. I also have a free upgrade to version 2.

I will fondly remember the original iView. It was cheap and useful. I'm glad I got it again.  
(Version 2.0.1331b)

ESPIRIDION  I've spent the last few days doing a clean install of OS X 10.5.2 as well as of many applications including Pixelmator.

So far, Pixelmator is the only application that has given me problems.

With a 24KB image it performs as expected. With a 1.4 MB image it's painfully slow and unresponsive. At one point I got a message saying that I was running out of free space on my hard drive, which is brand new and the partition in question has over 100 GB free.

Apparently there's a "memory leak in core image" but so far I have not seen any solution. As it is, Pixelmator is unusable for me if I want to work with files over 1 MB. Absurd.  
(Version 1.1.3)

ESPIRIDION  As another point of reference, it took Entourage 2008 about 11 seconds to launch for me, while running 10 other applications in addition to roughly 20 background processes.

G5 Dual PPC 2.0 GHz (2004)

OS X 10.5.2

Do you have problems with your Entourage database? With drive space? RAM?  
(Version 12.0.1)

ESPIRIDION  Indeed it's an interesting way of treating loyal customers.

I've already spent some money on OGP, in addition to a few upgrades.

I don't recall ever being disappointed by an Omni upgrade fee as I am with this one, and I have purchased most of their software as well as upgrades in the past 7 years or so.  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  I wish there was a way to edit and/or delete comments. I was too enthusiastic when I read about upgrades starting at $39.95. Sorry about that.

I use OmniGraffle Pro 4. Upgrading to OGP 5 is $74.95.

I've been a happy customer, and don't mind buying OMNI's software and paying for the occasional upgrade, but this is too much. I'll just keep on using version 4.  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  Upgrades start at $40. Even less for students.

I was going to write an angry comment based on their upgrade prices, and I'm glad I visited their store first.

I'm glad that OMNI listened to those of us who complained about their upgrade prices when version 5 was still in beta.

BIG THANKS!!!  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  Interesting that you mention Microsoft.

I don't recall paying for a single upgrade of Office 2004. When Office 2008 was not yet released, Microsoft made it available for around $30-$40 one day. Very nice!

I missed that offer, and got Office 2008 for Mac

Special Media Edition for around $130.

Not bad for upgrading 4 programs, getting added features, and getting a "new" program called Expression Media. :-)  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  That discount has been available for a very long time. If I'm not mistaken, for over a year now.  
(Version 4.0)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the thorough review.

PTH Pasteboard is also unobtrusive. I currently use multiple Pasteboards with hundreds of clippings. Everything is hidden until I need to use it. And it can remain hidden even while I'm using it.

If iClip support is working really hard, why have there been no updates to the software in over one year?

That user gave up on iClip. So did I. By the way, I never received a single response to my support request over a year ago, but that's another story.

If you go further back on the reviews here and elsewhere you'll read about other disappointed users.

There were no themes for iClip 3. It simply had a cleaner, clearer interface. It would have been great to have a choice of themes since many iClip 3 users hated the new interface. I stopped using iClip given the new interface and the total lack of support.

I own iClip, ShadowClipboard, PTH Pasteboard, and had CopyPaste years ago for OS 9.

On Leopard iClipboard is not impressive in any way, although it also offers the ability to edit clippings. Hopefully it will improve, as it is a version 1 program.

ShadowClipboard is about as old as iClip, and more recent than CopyPaste, although CP has more recent beta versions. I just launched ShadowClipboard on my system and it seems to work fine (OS X 10.4.11)

PTH Pasteboard is not keyboard-driven. It does not allow users to edit clippings as far as I know, but even the free version has many great features, such as having multiple pasteboards, configuring the number of items, determining the maximum item size, modifying the pasteboard appearance, pasting behavior, using Hot Keys, etc.

Regarding registration, and to quote the PTH website: "PTHPasteboard 4 is and has always been FREE ."

The $25 price for PTHPasteboard PRO includes additional features such as filters -which provide some of the functions that you mentioned for CopyPaste- ignoring applications, and syncing.

Not to mention continuous improvement and superb support.

It's great that iClip works for you. Sometimes it's hard to find the right tool, and it's great that iClip is the one for you. For me it turned into another application with more flash than substance and questionable customer support. And did I mention the price increase?

To conclude I will say that I agree with you in that it is a good idea to have a more balanced perspective regarding iClip. Most of the glowing reviews are related to iClip 3. It was a great application.

Notice that Inventive's website shows 5-star ratings for iClip from MacUpdate and VersionTracker. The comments and ratings for version 4 tell a different story.  
(Version 4.0)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks.

I don't think that version 4 is obsolete, but I'm certainly very disappointed with Softpress.  
(Version 5.0p3)

ESPIRIDION  I don't like rating beta versions, but given the previous review I'll add my rating.

I've used this software for years. Right now I'm using 3.4.4 which is from late 2005. Beta versions for URL manager Pro 3.5 have been around at least since May of 2006 (3.5b2).

Version 3.5 is a FREE UPGRADE for URL Manager Pro 3.x users, btw.

3.4.4 works fine for my needs, along with WebConfidential.

I do have other similar programs (e.g., Bookdog, 1Password) but URL Manger Pro and WebConfidential have never let me down.

3.5b10 was released on Feb 7, 2008. The previous beta version is from January 10, 2008. The three years between this beta and the previous beta look more like one month to me.

On the rare occasion when I have needed support, it was as simple as emailing Alco.

I have other programs that get updated very frequently, sometimes on a monthly or weekly basis.

I'm actually glad that URL MP has worked as expected since I purchased it, and I have not needed any update to make it work for me. And again, if I needed something or had an issue with the software, the solution is as easy as contacting Alco.

The previous 2-star rating and the weak argument presented should not prevent users from giving this a try. It's actually pretty good software.  
(Version 3.5b10)

ESPIRIDION  From their site:

You cannot simply trash the Speed Download folder to un-install it.

You must use the included un-installer.

Quit all browsers and any running copy of Speed Download.

Run the SD Uninstaller (located in your Speed Download folder).

Log out and log back in.

Empty the trash.  
(Version 5.0)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the reply Gordon.

I do have Drive Genius, Data Rescue II, and Data Backup 3. Additionally I purchased another copy of Drive Genius and Data Rescue II for my cousin a couple of months ago, and recommended your software to his Mac tech and to many other Mac users.

So indeed I have supported your company in my own small way, and feel disappointed with this upgrade not only in terms of its high price but also in terms of the added features. Leopard compatibility is irrelevant for me, and the new interface is as ugly as others with a black or dark background. People will look back at the plethora of programs with such colors and say "What were they thinking?" :-)

(KeyCue actually got the dark interface right.)

So I'll pass on this one. If Drive Genius 1.5 becomes insufficient for my needs then I'll see whether an upgrade to version 2 makes sense, or for the same amount I could go with a Micromat upgrade, which is certainly not my first choice.

Thanks for the tip on phone support. Email support was mediocre at best last time I needed it, which was surprising since it used to be pretty good.  
(Version 2.0.1)

ESPIRIDION  Wow, I'm entitled to a "special upgrade price of $59 plus shipping"

I'm definitely not upgrading.  
(Version 2.0.1)

ESPIRIDION  A few questions for Ian (SOFTPRESS SYSTEMS).

Is the upgrade from Freeway 4 Pro to Freeway 5 Pro $99? Am I reading this correctly? And this is the same upgrade price for 3.5 users?

http://www.softpress.com/store/pricelist.php

I just want to understand this upgrade policy. Maybe it will be better for me to use 4 Pro which I recently purchased, and wait for an eventual version 6 or 7 release. And then decide whether to stay with Freeway or look elsewhere.

If I'm understanding this correctly, then for me it was a mistake to purchase Freeway 4 Pro, and maybe it was a bigger mistake to recommend it so much.

Of course, at the time of my purchase there was not even a hint that version 5 was coming out.

So, am I understanding this upgrade correctly? Is this the way "Softpress does takes care of its users"?

Thanks in advance for your reply.  
(Version 5.0p2)

ESPIRIDION  I agree with the comments regarding OmniGraffle's upgrade. I've upgraded many times, and now I'm staying with version 4.

As much as I like Omni and their products this is just too much. In addition to OG Pro, I also own OOP, OW, OP, and OF. With this type of expensive upgrades I'm feeling less appreciated as a customer.

Some comments in their blog regarding the upgrade price have remained unanswered. As I said, I'll stay with version 4.  
(Version 5.0 beta 7)

ESPIRIDION  These are the release notes:

"Version 4.3.1 (273): 01/21/2008

Fixed: Network sync crasher under 10.4"

I guess some people just love to argue :-)  
(Version 4.3.1)

ESPIRIDION  I seldom use this type of app and will probably need to use it for a project in a few months, but chances are that I will use Mailings or maybe Direct Mail 1.8.3, since I own both.

I was a bit surprised to see the upgrade price(s) so I'm definitely not upgrading. After almost a year with no updates this was a bit shocking.  
(Version 2.0)

ESPIRIDION  Mathias, you're not causing any trouble at all.

It took me a few posts, but I learned to ignore kknopp a while ago.  
(Version 4.3.1)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for the information. There's an update now.

I was not using any network options.  
(Version 4.3.1)

ESPIRIDION  I have not experienced any crashes.

Using PPC Dual G5 2GHz

10.4.11

PTHPasteboard 4.3.0 (272)

Hope this helps.  
(Version 4.3)

ESPIRIDION  frodo_life, what do you mean by "ages"?

Have you contacted support?

For me both 2.1 and 2.2 load in 35 seconds, while having 9 other programs running, and at least 2 dozen background applications.

OS X 10.4.11, G5 Dual 2GHz.  
(Version 2.2)

ESPIRIDION  My experience is different from that of the previous reviewers. I have not had any problems with the software, the registration method, or with recording.

I'm a fan of amp/effect emulation, and have used both analog and digital emulators.

Sound-wise it is really good, although these are not the best emulations I've heard. I'm definitely not selling my amps.

On a negative note, I was a bit surprised by the jump from 2.3 to 3.0, and the respective upgrade price. This is not the same experience I had with Battery, B4, and Pro-53, for which I received numerous updates and even upgrades free of charge.

I have not used Waves GTR, but maybe I'll check that one instead of upgrading.

By the way, this sort of technology has been around for maybe a decade. The first emulator of this type that I used was Amp Farm. Other digital emulation alternatives include Roland's VG equipment and H&K zenTera amps. The latter are the best I've ever heard.

I highly recommend Orren Merton's "Guitar Rig 2 Power!: The Comprehensive Guide"  
(Version 2.2)

ESPIRIDION  And Freeway 4 has been in the market since 2005, hasn't it?  
(Version 5.0p1)

ESPIRIDION  I agree with GRYPHONENT.

I purchased my copy about 6 weeks ago. I'm definitely not paying for an upgrade at this point. I would be very disappointed with SoftPress if they don't come up with a sensible upgrade option for recent purchasers.  
(Version 5.0p1)

ESPIRIDION  Indeed it is a shame about their pricing structure. I actually regret purchasing the previous version, which is not bad, by the way. Live and learn...  
(Version 4.1.2)

ESPIRIDION  I agree that it lacks features that are needed for a GTD system.

On the other hand, it is a very promising beta. Features will be added before the final release. There's a list of future improvements in their wiki page. I'll keep an eye on this one.

I don't mind the tags.

And I don't agree that OmniFocus is the Holy Grail of GTD apps. I've used the beta for a while now, and it has certainly improved rapidly. For me the only app I've used that truly helps me to implement a GTD methodology is Thinking-Rock. If Thinking Rock did not exist I would probably use OmniFocus, which is also a beta at the moment. OF can be a bit unintuitive, and currently there's no manual and the Help is incomplete.

I'm not going to rate Things since it's a beta, but in its current state it's definitely not worthy of 5-stars and certainly lacks the features to make it a good GTD implementation.  
(Version 0.8.6)

ESPIRIDION  Yes, Quicksilver can work for PasteBoards. So can You Control (obviously ;) ), Butler, and many other programs.

But PTH Pasteboard has been more powerful, stable, and easy to use in my experience.

For example, I have multiple pasteboards, some frequently used text has assigned Hot Keys, and I can search quickly through hundreds of clippings in my main pasteboard. And all of this free of charge. For those who require filters and synching there's the Pro version.

I have licences for iClip and ShadowClipboard, and PTH Pasteboard is the one I have used everyday for about a year.  
(Version 4.2.5)

ESPIRIDION  Thanks for your comment about my TR2 review :)

URLMP is still being developed by Alco. You can email him with feedback and suggestions. There's a beta 3.5 which I believe will be a free upgrade for 3.X users. I think the current beta is b7.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/urlmanagerpro/

Although URLMP has not been updated in a long time, it's still the one I use everyday, along with Web Confidential.  
(Version 3.4.4)

ESPIRIDION  NOTAFOOL, if I recall correctly after six months of purchasing an older version of David's Backgammon I was asked to pay for an upgrade fee if I wanted to use the newest version.

I contacted David and he helped me re-register my version which for some reason became unregistered, but needles to say I never upgraded to the new Absolute Backgammon.

I don't know whether the current licenses are also good for about 6 months of free updates or so.  
(Version 5.3.4)

ESPIRIDION  I’ve been trying to justify purchasing the current MU Bundle, which includes RapidWeaver.

Oddly enough, the fact that RapidWeaver is included was enough for me not to make my purchase. About a month after I purchased RapidWeaver they were already asking for an upgrade fee.

I’m sure my point of view will not be very popular, but even though the MU Bundle represents substantial savings, out of principle I‘m not buying it.

By the way, I don’t think that my ratings are affected by my disappointment with RapidWeaver. Sure, it’s easier to read that RapidWeaver “stomps” other applications -as GREGG_W/_3GS wrote- but that means absolutely nothing, especially coming from someone who has not posted any other reviews.

I ended up purchasing Freeway 4 Pro with a significant discount thanks to the GiveGoodFood2YourMac offer and I believe it’s a far superior program. According to Macworld it is worthy of 4.5 mice, for those who like their reviews :-)  
(Version 3.6.5)

ESPIRIDION  Just a comment since a rating may be misleading. For anyone interested in trying OmniFocus keep in mind that this is PRE-RELEASE software. Reports will enable the Omni people to improve the software.

So far it has contained some bugs and unexpected behavior, so consider that before working with critical data or tasks.

I do prefer it to the programs the first reviewer mentioned, but I never liked those programs as a GTD implementation. For me Thinking Rock has set the standard, and I have used it as my GTD software.

I have also tried the alpha versions of OmiFocus for months now, and look forward to the release version. I made my purchase as soon as it became available.  
(Version 1.0r94950)

ESPIRIDION  In February I wrote some comments regarding iClip, but abstained from rating the application. Since no changes have been made to iClip 4 I’ll just add my rating. Fortunately there are many great alternatives out there.  
(Version 4.0)

ESPIRIDION  As a comment to the previous reviewer, Time Machine is NOT a replacement for this type of software.

Regarding Data Backup 3.0.3, when it works it is great. It’s not complicated and does what it’s supposed to do. In the past I cloned one drive and synchronized another.

Unfortunately, there are many bugs while creating and saving -or trying to save- new sets. For example, sometimes after I select the source and destination drives, the summary at the top indicates “”.

Other times, after I select a destination drive, a different drive is selected by Data Backup. This is absurd.

Finally, when everything seems to work out fine and I decide to save the set, Data Backup quits. It’s unusable.

I have recommended Drive Genius and Data Rescue II, but this one is pretty bad. Unfortunately the last time I contacted Prosoft I just received the following two messages:

“Your comments have been forwarded to a Sales Agent...”

“Your question has been forwarded to a Customer Support Specialist...“

I never got a response addressing my actual problem. I may email them regarding this issue, but meanwhile I’m giving Synk another try.  
(Version 3.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  @Mac Andy

It means Your Mileage May Vary. :-)

So my experience may be different than yours, but give them a try. They have more features so they are a bit more difficult to learn, but definitely worth it.  
(Version 2.6.2)