KAIDOH  "I was just trying to illustrate how much I favor omnifocus"

And because you wanted to "illustrate" your opinion you gave Things a bad rating. That is bizarre: Why aren't you over at the Omnifocus page and gave it a good rating instead. It is perfectly okay if Things is not your thing. You might even use a comment to express an opinion like that. But when you write a review you should think about writing one or two arguments. This site and especially the rating system is supposed to be helpful to users who seek information about the pro and cons of an app. Your "review" wasn't helpful to other macupdate users.

Or just citing the macupdate recommendations on the review input form:

"Please backup your claims with specific examples or reasons"  
(Version 1.2.2)

KAIDOH  Mee too. I lost a bunch of feeds after the update. But I managed to bring them back: Turn of Google syncing in NNW and quit the app. Then travel to ~/Library/Application Support/NetNewsWire/Backups/, remove the date from a pre-update and overwrite Supscription.plist in the folder above with it. This brought my feeds back.  
(Version 3.2b14)

KAIDOH  Just another opinion: I'm glad the tabs moved back to their old position. Every time I tried to move a tab around I wiped the whole window off the screen. And now at last I can see the whole title of a page without having to drag the page to a new window. The top tabs just felt plain wrong for me. Tabs aren't the solution to everything and I'm happily sacrificing some screen pixels for the sake of a much clearer user experience. Just my 2c  
(Version 4.0)

KAIDOH  Other Reviewers have mentioned it: GC is getting bigger and bigger. But on the other hand this gem is getting better with every release - and updates are coming pretty constantly. Being around for a real long time this app might be a little behind according to GUI polishing but it is still a formidable workhorse I keep coming back to in spite of the new kids on the block (Acorn, Pixelmator and alike - which are fine applications of their own). Everybody interested in serious image processing should give it a try. The functionality you get for the money is hard to beat.  
(Version 6.4.2)

KAIDOH  On the three last postings: The rating function of this site should be used to rate products not companies. While the support of a company IS an important part of a review the rating system should not be abused to punish a company for something you dislike. Your points may be valid and of interest for others but posting a comment would have been a fairer way of expressing your points.

The Things forum became a shoutbox for trolls whining about the absence of their beloved can't-live-without-feature xy on every corner. While it was totally unwise to hide the forums away, by reading these "reviews" the measure seems comprehensive.

Please keep the discussion on topic at least at this place  
(Version 1.1.1)

KAIDOH  Hey, Photoshop allows you to take "some kind of notes" and let's me do "certain things" with it, sounds to me exactly like "SOME KIND of notepad" too. Sorry, but I am not getting why you are so hard bitten about that notepad classification. My point was: An app that lets you take notes is not inevitable a notepad application in it's main occupation (even iTunes allows you to take some kind of notes). Your first post sounded like "Things is a notepad an has to be judged by this premise". My point was: With this argument you turn a blind eye on the fact that is main purpose is the handling of tasks (which it is quite good at imo) not the handling of notes. A task is something different than a note. An appropriate software has to meet other demands.

And btw: yes, I have to deal with software every day that was apparently designed by people who are glued to abstract programmer concepts and terminologies and don't seem to care about clear user concepts and usage metaphors. Fortunately, Things is not one of them.

No offense taken.  
(Version 1.0.4)

KAIDOH  As presumably a lot of other people I have used Quicksilver before. I was looking for another launchingandotherpurposes utility after QS got more unstable every week and I was fed up rebuilding indices and digging for problem solutions (aka acting without getting things done). I'm glad I tried LaunchBar and will never look back. To be honest it took a while to get accustomed to the ways of LauncBar as the user concepts differ to some extend and old habbits have to be broken (e.g. you can't define custom key combination shortcuts). But after a short phase of reactance I now find LaunchBar's way of dealing with things much easier and slicker. Here are some observations:

* Holding down a key for a short time is simply a great way to trigger off events. After you've learned the right rhythm this feels ultrafast.

* Managing file operations with LB is just done right. Have to whisper this as my Finder get's jealous because he feels so neglected lately.

* The clipboard history is another winner. Simple but powerful (check out the clip merge function)

*Drag and drop works in any direction and almost always behaves the way you would have expected it (and provides quite some ways you have never thought of - RTFM!)

* Speed: Spotlight is a dodderer against it.

* Stability: In the months of testing LB 5 beta did not crash on me a once!

As said, I'm glad I made the switch and I can't think of a single QS feature I'm missing (not even the comma trick). LB isn't free but it's worth every penny. I reccomend you try it for yourself and I also recommend you give it some time to get accustomed to it and before you render a judgement. My experience is that this time is payed back manifold by the time this little apss saves you.  
(Version 5.0b7)

KAIDOH  ok, just to add a second observation on startup speeds: my hand stoped start times are

BBEdit 9.1.1: 8 sec

Word 2004: 65 sec

(both apps haven't been runing before the test as restarting an app is significantly quicker - my machine is a Macbook CD 2 GHz)

If BBEdit would take 65 sec it would drive me mad but I can live with 8 sec (and I'm starting it only once a day in the morning (and btw: yes, I'm cursing every day that makes me start sl-ugly Word))  
(Version 9.1.1)

KAIDOH  I wouldn't call the switching-door-trick a weakness but rather a basic strategy offering different flavour of the game (a rather epic on if you have dozens of orcs each with 500000+ hit points at a speed of 70+). It's simple: If you want a clean man to orc fight - don't use the trick (not ranting - I really mean this). And for your orc running pleasures there are always the maze maps where the trick won't work.  
(Version 1.1.4)

KAIDOH  Well, if you are looking for a notepad, Things is definitely the wrong place. It is not a notepad. Or does your notepad know about recurring tasks? Does it sync with iCal? Does it connect with your adress book? Does it allow entries to appear on my desk at a given date? Does it allow tagging? It's perfectly allright if Things is not your thing or too expensive for your taste but mistaking it as some kind of notepad is just somehow finicking (would you call Word an image editor just because it allows for some basic picture editing). It is a task manager. If you don't need one: stay of.  
(Version 1.0.1)

KAIDOH  This is a little lame:

- taxes apply on other apps too (just for the record: taxes go to the state not to the software vendor)

- Omnifocus is even more expensive

- iGTD wasn't updated for over a year

- Evernote and Mori are other-purpuse-ware (collecting stuff vs. managing tasks)

- That Snowleopard argument is nonsense. Comparing an OS with an application leads nowhere. Again with this argument every other software could be blamed too expensive (also Apple sells millions of copies of an OS, third party developers count in thousands. You need a different calculation based on such premises)

It's perfectly all right if Things is not right for your purposes or just too expensive. But it is not helpful to other people if you just blame an app for its price (or for paying taxes on it), neither is name dropping some better apps (that apparently do "something" better) and not talking about which feature you actually miss.

For its money Things delivers a robust and flexible feature set. One can see that much effort has been put into making it actually easy and fun to use. Regular updates give me the calm feeling that this app is maintained and offers continuous support. For me it is absolutely worth its price (even without it's introducing 20% discount)  
(Version 1.0rc3)

KAIDOH  The ability to record mouse actions, address menu items and to simulate keystrokes is quite powerful and makes this app different from other launchers. Keyboard Maestro shouldn't be taken as a launcher at all (although it works fine as one). It's a utility to stick together any interaction with your Mac you can think of and makes it repeatable. I yet had not had a customization problem the Maestro could not provide a solution for (although some solutions might be clumsy workarounds - but as long as they work ...)

Whoever thought that Apple's Automator could have been a good idea but falls short in some regards: Give this little gem a serious try!   
(Version 3.4)

KAIDOH  The problem with this file mysteriously disappeared and I'm now able to use that file with Xmind 3. It shall be mentioned that the support compartment is really fast in replying.  
(Version 3.0)

KAIDOH  I really like Xmind and was looking forward for further refinement in this upgrade. Unfortunately this update seems not yet ready for prime time: I tried to open a workbook created with the previous version and I'm only getting an completely empty sheet. This is an absolute show stopper for me and it seems I'll have to wait a little further.  
(Version 3.0)

KAIDOH  I shall not rate this app only on a video? What other possibilities do I have - apart from buying it? You not even communicating that this is beta. I had a look at the screenshot. The fields in the Task Editor are not even named. I won't wait for any other video. I recommend Things or OmniFocus instead. They cost more but at least you can try them before buying them.  
(Version 1.0)

KAIDOH  An app I have to buy before I can have a look at it? Ridiculous! That so called video tour is capable of making me sea sick as it is a nervous panning over some GUI at a high zoom level. Felt 80 % of the video ist about how you invoke the preferences of the app. In the preferences the only available setting seems to be that for automatic updates. The video not even shows the menu bar, so one has simply no idea, what the app could do! From what you can see one can easily guess that this junk's task management capabilities are not even anywhere near of what you find in iCal.

This is not a shameless rip off. This is just paltry.  
(Version 1.0)

KAIDOH  The search&replace functionality is still there, it is just less buttons. From the release notes:

“Selected text only” affects only the “Find All” and “Replace All” operations: if there is a selection range in the front document, this option will search only the selection range if turned on, or the entire document (starting from the top) if turned off.

“Wrap around” affects only the “Next”, “Previous”, “Replace”, and “Replace & Find” operations: if the search reaches the end of the document (or the beginning, if doing a “Previous”), then “Wrap around” will continue the search from the appropriate end of the document.

If you find it too confusing you can go back to the old modal find window via the option “Use modal Find dialog” in Preferences > Text Search.  
(Version 9.0)

KAIDOH  There is autocompletion for HTML tags! All the entries from the HTML clippings are available through auto completion (check out if you have a HTML.html folder in the clippings section of your support folder - it should be there by default). There is also the Tag Maker in the Markup Menu (cmd+m by default). I recommend you check out the manual on BBEdit's plethora of HTML funcions (chapter 11).  
(Version 9.0)

KAIDOH  I've been searching for a small quick-and-easy audio editor and although WavePad looks promising it's quirks outgun it's benefits. Some occurances:

- First crash a minute after the first launch.

- Space bar does not start and stop playback as in virtually ANY other audio app.

- Working with selections is a pain: extending or diminishing an existing selection seems impossible (so you better select precise on the first attempt)

- And oddest: Using the window scroll bar does not scroll the window as one would expect but does move the playback cursor (and yes, hence destroying an existing selection)

The developer should be a more adherent to the common principles of GUI-design or this app will be nothing more than constant cause for frustration.  
(Version 3.10)

KAIDOH  Same for me: I used OG Pro for years and I really like it. The new features would be appreciated. But every user always only needs a subset of the new stuff (for me Visio support is absolutely unimportant while shared layers sound very promising). I understand that Omni wants to earn money with their products, but 80 $ for an upgrade is too steep for my budget and it's perceived benefit (as it is for OmniFocus btw).

I guess I'll be happy keeping version 4 for quite a while and hope for a discount some day.  
(Version 5.0)

KAIDOH  A lot about the non-macness of this app was already said. I personally find it easy to use and it didn't take me long to achieve the feeling that the app is under my control.

But there are a lot of downsides to this app:

- Printing is a pain

- Instable, instable, instable: Palettes freeze or won't show up after you click the appropriate icon. Only restarts seem to help this. And unknown combinations of formatings seem to drive the program crazy: Too often the fans of my macbook go wild and the activity monitor tells me that XMIND is eating up all the CPU it can lay it's hands on. Again only restarting the app (and deleting the last changes after that) helps.

My conclusion: XMIND could be a nice and easy programm to boost your mindmapping, Unfortunately the stability issues overlay that potential. With the (non-MU-bundle) price of XMIND one could expect a stable, usable app. XMIND does not deliver in this regard and can't be recommended in it's current state.  
(Version 2.1)

KAIDOH  Thanks for the quick Leopard update. I don't know what I would have done without this extremly useful app. Highly recommended - even for keyboard junkies who can finally make peace with their mouse.  
(Version 1.7.2)

KAIDOH  Thanks, that helped. But there is a little itchy feeling, it might happen again sometimes. - Time for a backup plan ;-)

Otherwise this is a very promising app developing at an incredible speed. Thanks to the developer for his time and ethusiasm!  
(Version 1.3.4)

KAIDOH  Uff, I finally found the time to try this out. I entered about 30 tasks in different projects and different contexts. I hit 'Sync' and everything disappeared! All tasks were gone. And they didn't show up in iCal. What is going on? Is anybody else experiencing this sort of problems?!  
(Version 1.3.4)

KAIDOH  Is this some kind of joke?

- No iCal integration

- No palm, mobile phone or whatever synchronisation

- Export only to XML

- No drag 'n' drop support

- No system wide service or any other way to add tasks

- No spotlight integration

- No GUI that deserves the name

- Not even proper shortcuts

- No Applescript support

- Not one reason to pay almost 50 (in words FIFTY!!!) bucks for this!

This is a ridicilous try to make money out of poor GTG addicts. Beware! Try something else: kGTD, Midnight, iGTD, Thinking Rock, TiddlyWiki, Backpack or anything else. Even pen and paper will fit your GTD needs better than Vortex.  
(Version 1.0.10)

KAIDOH  I own and use DevonThink Pro. But I yet have not found out how to email with it or how to manage my appointments with it. If you wold have compared the features of DevonThink with that of Yojimbo you could have made a useful contribution for the readers of this site. But ranting about one app without giving any reason but a "try someotherapp and you'll see what I mean" is just poor style and the opposite of helpful - it's waste of time.

To contribute something possilby useful on the topic: I took both mentioned apps for a test drive. DevonThink won the race as I consider it better at handling of big data collections on a scientific background with many cross references - and that was what I was looking for. But IMO Yojimbo seems better for personal data collection: It has a slicker interface, better integration with the system and is much easier to use.  
(Version 1.4.1)

KAIDOH  zx, I don't get your point: Are you complaining that you can't mail from Yojimbo, that you can't listen music with it while editing your holiday pictures? Some of us don't have a problem having several applications open each specialised in it's own profession. Yojimbos profession is to collect and organize information with ease and as far as I can tell, it does a pretty good job at it. Your comment would be appreciated if it was on the topic and not just hot air about narrow minded developers who don't get what "we" really want.  
(Version 1.4.1)

KAIDOH  This is a functionality apple should have implemented all along. Mail Type Select is a gift to all the keyboard junkies amongst users of apples mail app. Thanks for providing this at no cost!  
(Version 2.6)

KAIDOH  Yes they do! I gave Textmate a serious try and consider it an advanced editor with an interesting approach. But I returned to BBEdit after the demo period. It still has a lot of features I would be missing: FTP browser, text factories, well thought out search functions, flawless handling of character encodings, flexible mulit-file tools, "process lines containing", sophisticated applescript support, a grown and highly customizable interface ... With the 8.5 improvements, the decision was even easier. But I nevertheless appreciate the competition at the editor front forcing the developers to improve their software constantly.  
(Version 8.5)