OLDCORPSE  I've been using this app for over a year, and I was quite happy with it. Unfortunately, I switched to FF3, and now this is useless.

FF3 has now been out for how long? And still no support for it from this app? Lame.

The developers being irritated by users wanting FF3 support - unacceptable. I mean, this is the whole point of this app - to synch bookmarks from Safari to other browsers... and the most common browser alternative is FF. I can understand not getting support right after it came out, but it's been months now.

There is no point in this app as long as it does not support the most commonly used browser out there on OS X other than Safari.

So, off it goes from my system. On to other alternatives. And such clueless developers with attitude - I don't want to support anyway. There are far too many deserving developers out there to waste your money on a useless product and arrogant people, so vote with your pocketbook.  
(Version 3.7.5)

OLDCORPSE  just pointing out iLife is $79 not $99.   
(Version 2.1.4)

OLDCORPSE  I don't get this. Why is this here? This is 99% about DT, hardly an in-depth review of Scrivener.  
(Version 1.09b)

OLDCORPSE  The idea of this widget is a very good one, so props to the developer for that. Now, as to execution...

The developer says it doesn't use much in the way of CPU and memory. Well, I guess that depends on how you define that. In my view, the claim is false. I'm on the last iteration of the iBook G4 1.33Ghz, and the dCMIX never falls below 20% CPU use, most of the time hovering around 40%-50%, with transient spikes to 75%. I have also encountered several instances of stuttering. Memory use is indeed modest (52MB of Real Memory).

Re: the ambient sounds. I didn't expect enoesque level of performance, but what we have here is a bit substandard under even generous criteria. The idea of ambient music/sounds is that they affect you, but don't call attention to themselves - they are background not foreground. The problem on one of the channels - "drones" - is that the volume ranges from so low that you can't hear it (at full volume) to too loud (which is distracting). The quality of the sounds generated on "wavey" is poor - lacking in any depth. The sound of "windytree" is obnoxious - just a bad choice. Combo is OK, though often unpleasant on account of "windytree" sounds being in the mix. The best by far is "subtle" which is actually quite enjoyable. The final problem is that there seems to be too little variation, or rather somehow the quality of the compositions can't sustain interest over the long run - I'm afraid it gets boring very quickly (by contrast, something seemingly very narrow, like neroli, never gets boring).

I'll keep it a bit longer - several days - to really give it a fair chance, but so far, I'm not extremely impressed.

Bottom line, great idea, but only a 3 out of 5 stars for execution.  
(Version 1.0)

OLDCORPSE  I'm watching this little guy. Very useful. The UI is still a bit rough, but the developer is moving fast. I've used the previous version, and this is an improvement.  
(Version 0.2)

OLDCORPSE  I had high hopes for this app, unfortunately, it is not workable. The fundamental problem is that it's so resource hungry and so inefficient that it's basically unusable.

I cannot understand why it's so inefficient. I'm using it on a 1.5GHz PPC Mac mini with 1GB RAM and 120GB HDD. I've cut a 2.5 hour documentary on FCP 4.5 HD on this, and authored DVDs in DVDSP. It should be able to handle a *slideshow*! The problems start immediately. I had a folder with 2500 pictures. Trying to drag them onto the FM image area crashed the app - boom, gone. So, next time I tried with a 424 picture slide. I managed to sync some music to it. Then I sat down to watch it. Well, on the second picture - the entire computer froze so badly I had to pull the cord from the wall... the escape key and even the power button didn't work. OK, so I guess it can't handle Pan and Zoom effect. So next I just go for the simplest straight transitions. Now it seems to work, and I'm warming up - oops! Around picture 80, it freezes again extremely badly - pull the cord time. This thing will simply not work.

I then tried the DVD burning. Unfortunately, no amount of fooling with settings gave me a "true" aspect ratio - not 4:3, not 16:9, and not the original display resolution. I burned 3 DVDs - all horribly distorted and stretched photos - basically unusable. Perhaps I'm not using the app correctly, but fundamentally for me the DVD burning is not usable.

The UI is unintuitive - the side panel does not have all the options that occur in the menu, and it's a struggle to find them, many I never did find.

I would forgive everything, but not the fact that it can't even do a simple slideshow, instead it freezes the computer horribly. That is disqualifying. I know that slideshows are not the most taxing thing - after all many apps do it effortlessly (Phoenix Slides, f.ex. among many others do it without a fuss). Why can't it do such a simple thing when other apps have no problem with much *much* bigger files? I just ran through the 2500 pictures using Phoenix Slides with no problem whatsoever. Sure, PS doesn't have all the features FM has, but what good is it, when FM can't even do the simplest things, let alone the more complex.

I'm unistalling this app, and I have zero hope further versions will fix something so profoundly broken.  
(Version 2.1.1)

OLDCORPSE  Unfortunately, I must agree with the poster below.

This is a free app - and so it seems mean to criticize it. I'm not really attacking the developer who put in his time and effort for free - it's very generous of him, and I appreciate that.

However, my remarks are regarding the whole problem of uninstalling in OS X:

UNINSTALLATION UNDER OS X IS ***BROKEN***.

Even Windows is slightly better, because at least they provide an uninstaller - even if it doesn't quite do the job, and often won't uninstall 3rd party software. OS X does not come with squat as far as uninstallers go.

Often mac fanatics will tell you "drag to trash" and don't worry about tiny files left behind. Well, that's BS. You WILL have problems with what many apps leave behind, especially when you want to reinstall or install a new version of the app. And not all apps come with uninstallers.

I do a ton of installing/uninstalling when I'm trying out apps, and I do that very often. I desperately need a real uninstaller.

And I've tested a whole bunch of them, paid and free.

Not one of them works as advertised. Not even close. In fact, they are all pretty much 100% useless. The reason is that if I have to use spotlight and manual examination of the Libraries to look for files left behind, well, I may as well do that and skip using any of the worthless so-called uninstallers.

Some simply try to associate files with the app by name (which is what AppDelete does, I believe), and often miss files that are named after the app development company, not the app name itself.

The more ambitious ones, like CleanApp or Yank actually try to do the job for real: they journal the files during initial app installation, and that way they can try to remove each and every file which was installed originally.

Unfortunately, even CleanApp and Yank don't quite work (apart from additional problems of memory leaks and poor coding with these two). The problem starts when the app is actually launched or used for awhile. Many apps change files or leave markers once launched or used - and CleanApp and Yank don't keep up (unsurprisingly).

This is a very hard issue, not just practically, but even theoretically. Practically, you'd have to write something which goes deep into the guts of OS X and can use the journalling features of the file system and can follow the apps without undue performance or resource penalty (maybe easier under Leopard with ZFS?). That's very hard to do for an outside developer. Then there are purely theoretical problems - how do you define what you are going to remove? If the app modifies the files of another application, do you remove all traces of that too? It may not even be possible, once that is done.

Bottom line, I appreciate the level of difficulty here - which is maybe why Apple has not included an uninstaller. I don't know if we'll ever have a real uninstaller here. Unfortunately, what we have so far is truly without any worth (through no fault of the AppDelete developer).  
(Version 1.1.1)

OLDCORPSE  Nobody is telling anybody to do GTD. Nobody is saying GTD is good, or bad or indifferent. Nobody is saying there are or are not better time management methodologies out there. Nobody is saying you can't do GTD your own way, or the orthodox David Allen way.

What I am saying is that IF you are commenting on a GTD app, then you can't act surprised that iGTD implements - SHOCK - GTD! Kinda logical, no? That's all. And GTD involves contexts. If that doesn't work for you, or if GTD doesn't work for you or whatever else you have a problem with - that has NOTHING to do with an *application that's trying to facilitate GTD*, so deal. If you have a specific complaint that it does *not* implement GTD correctly - that's a valid complaint. What is not valid, is to criticize it for implementing a GTD key concept just because GTD doesn't work for you - that's just stupid... it's not a problem with a iGTD app, it's a problem (_for you_) with GTD, and this is not the place to complain about *that* - take that up with David Allen, I don't care.  
(Version 1.4.2.1)

OLDCORPSE  Your comment was to put it diplomatically "not clever" for one very simple reason: the whole methodology of GTD of David Allen is context dependent. That's a major aspect of the system. Since iGTD is based on Allen's GTD system it *must* have contexts. You may not find use for them, but to call the presence of this feature in iGTD "stupid" is itself extremely stupid - it's only doing what the GTD system says it *should* be doing - if you have a problem with that, bring it up with David Allen.   
(Version 1.4.2.1)

OLDCORPSE  You may want to compare this to a new GTD app that's being developed with great speed - iGTD. Also has QS integration and iCal functionality. The more the merrier.  
(Version 0.9.3)

OLDCORPSE  I've been following this little app for some time now. It's evolved to become almost a competitor to fully commercial products, and in some ways is actually better. If the same pace of developement continues, CRON-O-Meter wil soon become the premier application in its class. And it's free! Big kudos to the developers. CR is without a doubt the most scientifically valid diet out there. It's good we have this tool, though frankly anyone can use it, no matter their diet.  
(Version 0.8)

OLDCORPSE  I so wanted to like this app. I've been searching for the perfect database and organizer app forever, but as usual, the perfect app is a combination of features from different apps... in other words, you can't get it all in one, at least so far.

My problems with DT Pro are multiple. First, I'm very uneasy about a propriatary database that's opaque to Spotlight. I like to be able to access my data from outside of the app - what happens to the DT database if for whatever reason my DT app becomes corrupt, and DT is no longer in business, or I have to purchase a new copy just to access my own data? I'm left with data I can't access. Too dangerous. This is a major flaw: DT does not work with Spotlight - boo!

Second, you can't have two (or more) databases open at the same time! Wow. What happens when you want to copy and paste between databases? That's right, close one, then open the other... wow, this is so 1980's style. Get on with the times!

Third, there is *no* undo function - none, not one. Look we're all human, we constantly make little mistakes which we want to quickly correct... only in DT you can't! You have to start from scratch every time... ugh...

Fourth, the interface could use some brushing up... it's not the easiest to get around, there are no tabs, the window structure is not flexible and the whole thing has a creaky feel.

Fifth, major features are missing: f.ex., there are no tags for metadata (which is so convenient in other database programs).

Sixth, the implementation of some features is not far going enough. I just love the wiki metaphor and way of linking. In DT, it's quite rudimentary. I hate that. If you want to see linking well done, look at VoodooPad. The linking in wiki structures has changed the way I work - it's awesome... and so lacking in DT - I don't know how old the developers are here, but they need to keep up with what's out there.

Seventh, the documentation is frankly poor. And that is unforgivable given that the app itself is not particularly intuitive while the learning curve is way steep.

I don't want to make this sound too negative - it is a very promising app, and I'd gladly pay the $90 once it's up to par... but development on DT is really slow, and life is short. Problem is that the DT team is, I think, only 2 devs and they're distracted with a ton of other apps (and other DT versions, like note, personal, office etc.). Too bad.  
(Version 1.3b3)

OLDCORPSE  This new version takes care of the iPod complaint, I believe... I've been using this app for about a year (over 11 months). I must say, it is the best solution of its kind, and I've tried many out there. The interface is unbeatable: simple, powerful, intuitive. It has never let me down. I've never experienced any problems, freezes, loss of data, or corruption. I use it daily. Can't live without it. Totally worth the price. Also, the developers are super nice and very open to suggestions. I feel good supporting them.

My one complaint is that it still starts a bit slow... many bounces in the dock before it launches the passoword request dialogue box (annoying as heck). And I actually preferred that the app quit as the window is closed like in the old version.   
(Version 1.3)

OLDCORPSE  If indeed this app can turn out DVDs from MPEG-2 and audio files imported from FCP, then this is a very neat, and would be serious competition for Toast. However, I'd rather wait for reports from users who have accomplished this before paying.  
(Version 1.0.5)

OLDCORPSE  I loved this widget (see my earlier review)... but now I've removed it from my dashboard. In the past few weeks it has completely stopped working. That's 3 versions now, including this one 2.1.8. It doesn't work for Fedex or UPS (haven't had a DHL shipment in a few weeks, so I can't say). I put in a tracking number, and the response is ALWAYS "Tracking number may be incorrect, or the tracking site layout changed." Well, the absurd thing is, if you CLICK on the widget it will take you to the actual page of UPS or Fedex with the perfectly valid tracking number info displayed. Sorry, it's broken, and it's gone from my iBook.  
(Version 2.1.9)

OLDCORPSE  I guess I'm not quite clear on what exactly this app is capable of, and I don't read French :)... though I'm working on the latter!

Perhaps there are others in this situation, so I'm hoping this will be of interest to a broader audience, which is why I'm asking here, rather than bugging the dev through email...

I'm on FCP 4.5 HD. I have a 135 minute long film encoded in MPEG-2 through Compressor, and the files are saved on an external FW HDD. I have an external FW DL DVD burner.

Would MovieGate let me burn a DVD using these files onto a DL disc? If yes, then it's a definite buy - I don't need the sophistication of DVDSP, and Toast 7 is too much $.  
(Version 2.51)

OLDCORPSE  Nice. I order things all the time, so this is useful. Unfortunatly, a lot of the time I'm tracking stuff from USPS and it would be so useful to have that in this widget... maybe there's some technical reason why it can't be implemented, since I can't believe the develper didn't think of it.   
(Version 2.1.7)

OLDCORPSE  Actually I like this widget better than the Gmail Inbox widget for several reasons. It has all the features of GM Inbox, but is a nicer interface and takes up less space. Plus, when you activate dashboard, it runs a little circle in the corner to show you it's checking the mail, something that GM Inbox doesn't do. I've switched from Inbox to Checker, and I'm very happy with it. I can just click on it and it takes me directly to my GMail account inbox. Very convenient.  
(Version 1.6)