MRANDRE1  Textmate Textmate Textmate.

People actually still ues BBEdit? Really?  
(Version 8.5)

MRANDRE1  I believe the delay is that they are ripping out the backend, which had been based on WebCore, and replacinig it with the now open sourced WebKit. This means OmniWeb will load pages as quickly as Safari does. It is a non-trivial change, however, and taking some time. OmniOutliner is getting incremental improvements, not a major overhaul, so I would actually take the opposite tack. They probably have the big guns on OmniWeb, since the changes are more monstrous, and at a lower level. It just takes a long time to make such a change. But it'll be worth it.  
(Version 3.6.1b3)

MRANDRE1  For the curious, I've installed this on Tiger (10.4.6) without issue.  
(Version 1.7)

MRANDRE1  Huh? You're mad because they're trying to make money on an upgrade? They should work to make their software better, but then give it to you for free, just because you bought it recently? If you bought an iBook a few weeks ago, did you expect a free MacBook when it came out? Come on, they're *supposed* to be interested in making a profit. That's what we call running a business.

And define "big bucks". I mean, are they charging hundreds of bucks for this product?

What's interesting is that you've made no comment about the actual quality of the product. So instead, I will. I am a touch typist, and it's because of this product. I used, I think, version 2, never upgraded, and never needed to. TTTT is very good at what it does, and I highly recommend it.  
(Version 4.2.1)

MRANDRE1  I fail to understand how a browser not meeting ones needs constitutes being "obsolete". I think there's some potential gap filling. I use it to keep a gmail open at all times, without cluttering up my other browsers, and I would love a sort of web site locker to hide away sites I want to keep around, but don't want to bookmark, such as tracking packages and various blog shrapnel. I have about five or six links like this, and an app like this is great for that. The only gap to make my dreams come true is for DeskBrowse to save session (i.e., remember what bas I had open.)

That would be terrific.  
(Version 1.0b4)

MRANDRE  No IMAP? How can a mac browser "by mac users, for mac users" not support .Mac? I haven't had a POP email account in years. I know that's not typical, but I'm a power user, and I thought that's who this app was targeted at. Certainly, I would consider it a bare minimum for a $99 email client. Come on, guys. Lower the price, fix your app, or take it off the market. In my book, a $99 mail app without IMAP is a crime against software.  
(Version 2.1.5)

MRANDRE  It seems there's a fair amount of misunderstanding as to what this browser is. It's a Firefox clone. It's _exactly_ like firefox, except it integrates very nicely with blogging apps, RSS feeds, flickr, and Del.icio.us bookmarks. Which is actually quite awesome, as all my bookmarks are on delicious. So if you ever wanted all your bookmarks stored on a server and available on any platform, and any browser, with zero effort, but that acted like normal bookmarks, and had a normal bookmark interface, your prayers have been answered.

Using firefox means this baby runs on Linux and Windows as well, and also means that all available features will be available on all available platforms simultaneously. It also means that the vast universe of firefox plugins will be available to the program. That's a great feature.

I like cocoa apps, too, but marking an app negatively just because you don't like the programming API is lame. This is good stuff, and it's well executed, for a pre-beta piece of software.

The only downside I see is the highly probable situation wherein all of these features become available as free firefox extensions. Which would only be a problem for this browser's maker.

Ironically, most browsers are not very net-aware. If all this browser does is cause other browsers to integrate with web services, it'll be worth it.  
(Version 0.4.8)

MRANDRE  Well, perhaps this is not an issue for you, but when a Camino is quit, or crashes, or if my machine crashes, when I restart Camino, everything I just did is gone. OmniWeb remembers everything. Everything. It remembers every window, every tab. It remembers where I was scrolled to on the page. It remembers the content of the form I was just filling out.

Site preferences. They just work.

Visual Tabs. Admittedly, a matter of taste, but visual is my taste.

Polish. Mozilla apps are crufty. They look like a programmer is also the designer. OmniWeb is beautiful. Everything is where I want it to be.

And as far as stability, and just working, I guess your experience is different from mine. I've noticed no browser that is any more or less stable than any other browser.  
(Version 5.1.2 beta 1)

MRANDRE  This is the best. The absolute, indisputable best editor on the mac. The developer is one of those hyper-responsive independent mac developers. There's a thriving plugin community. Quality software does the things you would rather not, then gets out of the wayy. That's TextMate in a nutshell. And I can't remember an unstable release.  
(Version 1.1b17)

MRANDRE  I liked this better when it had about the same functionality, was called Okito Composer, and did not cost $60. May I direct your attention to: Mellel.  
(Version 2.5b6)

MRANDRE  I purchased this product because iPhoto is too slow. I recently changed computers, and entered my registration number, but was informed by the application that registration numbers are for one computer. Perhaps I can ask them to send me an alternate reg for _this_ computer, the only one I'll be using. But I shall not. That is too much work. Software is supposed to make _my_ life easier.

Software developers have a perfect right to handle their licensing any way they please. And I have a perfect right to view said policies as complete bullocks. Which I do.

Next.  
(Version 1.2.2)

MRANDRE  Jeez, dude. It's only $20.  
(Version 1.0.3)

MRANDRE  Here's another obligatory "get off your asses and give us address book support" request. Isn't there already a patch? Patch it!  
(Version 1.0.5)

MRANDRE  I'm not averse to app retreads. gotta keep the leaders on their toes, so Yet Another Typing Launcher isn't an inherent evil to me. What is an inherent evil to me is a launcher that only launches apps, and eats up more screen space than dashboard widget. Try again.  
(Version 2.0b)

MRANDRE  Is it really so hard to let a server run your code? I'd stick with TextMate.  
(Version 1.0)

MRANDRE  I hate using computers that don't have QS on them. Without it, a computer is reduced to a bit-pedaling pile of silicon. With QS, a computer becomes a helper that comes when I call, gives me exactly what I want, and disappears. I only wish more things in life were so well designed and implemented.

Note: Those who say spotlight obviates the need for QuickSilver are smoking the world's finest crack. Addicts: Find these people; they have the goods.  
(Version 1.0b42)

MRANDRE  Can someone tell me where a person can get some %^&&ing documentation on the release? Better yet, I dare you to go to konfabulator.com and do something other than download the software. I'd like to know what's new and different. I'd like to know why I should bother downloading, but apparently that's not much of a priority. There is NOTHING in the download. There is NOTHING in the application. The version history I finally managed to locate on the site goes to version 1.8.3, no further.

I mean, are these guys for real? W.T.F.?  
(Version 2.0)

MRANDRE  One word: QuickSilver.  
(Version 1.4)

MRANDRE  Attention Tiger users: Spotlight is not, I repeat, is _not_ a replacement for QuickSilver. It's a watered down version of some of the functionality. Spotlight finds thnigs and opens them. QuickSilver finds, opens, moves, copies, emails, IM's, and accesses many data structures spotlight does not. Don't get me wrong, spotlight is great for what it is. But putting it in the same league as QS is simply wrong.   
(Version 1.0b41)

MRANDRE  You obviously don't use .Mac, which runs via IMAP. In fact, every one of my mail accounts is IMAP based. So yes, this is a valid claim. And the valume of complaints regardin this feature should serve as an indication that there is actually a large demand.  
(Version 1.2.4.4)

MRANDRE  Call me a snob. Call me picky. But there are waaaaaaaaaay too many icons in this interface.  
(Version 1.1.2)

MRANDRE  I remember looking at this app a few months ago, and thinking it tremendously bad. However, being a writer, I always check every tool, hoping that the as of yet hidden One True Tool will appear. I must say, the improvement has been significant. This is a decent editor now, with some nice touches. I particularly like the inline annotation scheme. Pretty slick. I'm less enthused about the seperate editor windows. What can I say? Fewer windows == better in my mind.

I don't like the ambigous icons for inserting and deleting items. I don't like that I can add an item, but if I ask to edit it, I am told to give it a name. I don't like that I can't double click to edit a chapter. I don't like that I must save the whole project before I can even edit a chapter. I don't like that there's a new project button on a project's button bar. Huh?

I do like the many layers of notes. I don't like that I have to tell those to appear. I don't like that this is under an info button. Somehow I didn't make the mental leap.

Sticking with CopyWrite, which also needs attention. But much improved. We'll see.  
(Version 2.2.3)

MRANDRE  An email app without IMAP support is no email app at all. This should be priority number one. Number zero.  
(Version 1.0b12)

MRANDRE  Even now, this programs crashes when I'm on dial up. For a real RSS app, try NetNewsWire. Brent is a wonderful developer, and it's a wonderful app.  
(Version 0.91)

MRANDRE  Great ideas, sloppily implemented.  
(Version 4.0)

MRANDRE  "it has so many power outliner features from the glory days of power outliners, you probably don't even know what all it can do"

That, I would say, is a perfect summation of what I feel is wrong with TAO. I haven't a clue what all it does, because the interface is so complicated and poorly labeled. If you like it, fantastic, but I found it confusing, and I saw nothing to make it something above a program with glorified indentation.

[Note to the good of the order: I love a good fight. Merry Christmas, everybody.]  
(Version 3.0 beta 6)

MRANDRE  I've heard a lot of great things about this app, and I'm sure it's quite powerful, but I found it confusing. The interface is strewn with elements whose meaning is not obvious. In my book, a really good outliner should be more than just a glorified indenter of text. The TAO method seems to be to add as many ways to indent text as humanly possible. That's not power in my book. That's feature bloat.

If you want real power, the kind with columns of meta data and super-easy navigation, as well as status-indicators that are clearer than colored circles and triangles, I'd suggest OmniOutliner, especially the new v. 3 betas. As is often the case, you get what you pay for.  
(Version 1.01m)

MRANDRE  I won't give a review of a product still under obviously heavy development. I will say that the interface is extremely good, and that the stability is pretty bad. So: Great promise. We'll see if the developer delivers.  
(Version 0.4)

MRANDRE  I've never had trouble getting a response from OmniGroup for anything. Granted, I sent them money, but if you think all developers should give instant free technical support to non-customers, than you are probably used to dealing with software companies who lack a sustainable business model.

There is no free software. There is only software that is free to you. There is no free support. Only support that is free to you.

As for the "useful" features of TAO, I'd like to know where they are. I see lots of vague buttons. I see lots of vague dropdowns. (They are dropdowns, right?) But I opened OO, and in two minutes, knew exactly what I needed to do and how to do it. Power is nothing without control.

I really think everyone's missing on the Columns advantage. OO3 is just in a different league of application. Perhaps these features are more than most people need. But this is a superior product. If you don't want to pay a premium, don't pay a premium. But don't say a superior product isn't superior. Say it's more than I need. And that you don't mind wandering in the wilderness of a poorly conceived interface model.  
(Version 3.0b5)

MRANDRE  Actually, I'm a professional web developer, and I work with DataBases from sunrise to sunset. There's a difference between an SQL database and a database. Any structured, repetitive data structure is a database. A rolodex is a database. Try querying that. Try saying to your rolodex "Give me everyone who has birthday in February." No luck? Yet a rolodex is an archetypal database. I would submit, sir, that your understanding of databases is shallow at best. OminOutliner is the only application I've seen that embeds a database (Yes, it really is a database) into an outliner.

Just because a database lacks all the features of a complex RDBMS does not mean it's not a database. It means it's a simpler database. And as far as simplicity goes, it's a lesson a program like TAO could learn a lot from. Power is nothing without control.  
(Version 3.0b5)

MRANDRE  Everyone's got an opinion, so I won't accuse the previous reviewers of being on crack. I will instead note that I strongly disagree with assertions that Omni products are severely overpriced, and that competing products do "Just as much".

Hog Bay is a fine product. TAO is a fine product. I've used Hog Bay extensively. I've looked at TAO and been unimpressed. Both are cheaper than OmniOutliner, and for a reason. They do less. Near as I can tell, they are both outlining programs, whereas OO3 is an outliner/database. I haven't seen a similar combination of outliner and database elsewhere. And I most certainly haven't seen one that is as easy to manage, and so gosh darn beautiful. The potential uses of OOPro 3 boggle my mind.

Now, maybe you don't care if your app is beautiful, and maybe you don't need a database embedded in your outline. Maybe giving your headings a dropshadow isn't high on your priority list. Maybe writing your novels and managing your lists and managing your finances with the same app isn't a priority to you. Maybe you just want an outline, thank you very much, and if the options are limited, and you don't need to handle column structures. Then TAO and Hog Bay cost less and will cover your bases. But to suggest that OO3 does not contain more power presented in a more attractive and powerful way is dishonest. Some people drive Fords, and some people drive a BMW. OmniOutliner is a BMW for those of us who want the very very best. If that's what you want, welcome.  
(Version 3.0b5)

MRANDRE  Wow.

Really, Wow. This is one of the finest applications I've had the pleasure to use, light years beyond the previous version and its competitors.

OmniGroup, my money and my admiration belong to you.   
(Version 3.0b4)

MRANDRE  Are you people all on crack or something? What exactly does this do that TextEdit doesn't, except an ugly ass colored interface with a thoroughly pointless floating "toolbar".

Next.  
(Version 3.1.5E)

MRANDRE  Dude, it's 125K. JUST DOWNLOAD IT.  
(Version 1.0 (build 14))

MRANDRE  Just thought I would note that I did go ahead and buy the program. This is a lean application that is nothing more than it needs to be. There are a lot of goofy interfaces for this sort of application. DEVONnote gets it just right.  
(Version 1.5)

MRANDRE  To call QuickSilver an app launcher is to call an atomic bomb a grenade. QuickSilver is a system for accessing information on your computer and manipulating it, entirely using a keyboard. The truest description would be as a Finder Replacement, though it's much more than that. QuickSilver is quite simply the software item of the year. You will be amazed.  
(Version 1.0b32)

MRANDRE  Tiger's Safari RSS implementation is pretty crude. SRSS is an RSS reader. It just presents the RSS XML as something other than (to most people) gibberish. Applications like this are aggregators. They specialize in mining through the xml quickly and efficiently. This one here is no NetNewsWire, but it's pretty good. I like NNW's tab implementation better, but tihs is a thoroughly competent setup. Arguing that any application developer shouldn't bother is ludicrous. Competition is where growth comes from.  
(Version 1.0b1(v59))

MRANDRE  This is the best browser on any platform. Period. The only one that saves state between browser sessions, to an insane degree, even after a crash. That alone is worth the 30 bucks. But then there are the tabs, the handy textarea editor with built-in spell check in textareas just like this one hear. Plus the look is clean and almost invisible. Simply the best. When I'm not on OmniWeb, I wonder "but what if the browser crashes? I'll lose all these tabs." OmniWeb (and now NetNewsWire. Hooray!) makes this a worry of the past. Unsurprisingly, those are the only two apps through which I'll look at a web site.

Again: This is just plain the best browser you can use.  
(Version 5.1 beta 3)