RADDLE  This is a great little application. It's polished, attractive, and provides a sophisticated but unobtrusive way of segmenting your working day into manageable chunks - the better to motivate yourself. The menubar addition in this new version has made it even better. It's now a core part of my writing toolbox, and a very simple and concrete aid to getting things done.

The sole additional feature I'd like to see would be the ability to specify certain set time periods (30/45/60/90 minutes, say) and have these directly selectable from the menubar item, to trigger them immediately. The extremely responsive developer says this is on the way.

Other than that, this is perfect for my needs, and worth every penny. I will always happily pay an extra few bucks for a piece of software that nails its intended purpose, and looks great - and TimeBoxed does.  
(Version 1.2)

RADDLE  I'm liking this more and more and more. Have been with it for a few months now, and the company keeps regularly upgrading the Mac software with useful features - the new system for managing sync folders is a great addition.

I'm running iDrive at the same time, and their software feels clunky and Windows-centric, there's no revision notes for new versions, and the syncing process is just horrible. I don't want revision stored, or to have to manually weed out ghost files. I just want my stuff backed up. Tried DropBox briefly and found it too restrictive.

With SugarSync, it all just works. Not to mention the useful little iPhone app... which I've used several times in real-life situations.

Sugarsync's upload speed is excellent, and the whole system is very reassuring - I've got very used to glancing up at my menubar to check whether the little bird has finished backing my last snippet of work up. It can still be a bit hinky with package-based files (like those from Scrivener), but if you're careful to close out of all open documents before using them on another machine, it's not a major problem. The Sync Manager software could do with a buff for full-on Leopard loveliness, but that's being really picky.

If you want a good system for living on working on more than one computer - with the added peace of mind of having everything backed up all the time - SugarSync is very definitely worth a try.   
(Version 1.5.4)

RADDLE  Two requests, devs:

1. Could you please post revision notes? There's been two in about a week.

2. Sparkle updating would be very nice.

Thank you!  
(Version 1.3.2)

RADDLE  Still persevering with this, though it's trying my patience a little. yes, there's kind of a sync option available now - though it seems to be a manual process (a per-time comparison of online and offline folders) that is far from intuitive, and not the same as mirroring. The multiple machine set-up seems flakey too. I want to like this service, and they are updating features fairly regularly, but it's just not right yet...

I (and many other people) want simple, automatic mirroring of folders. This can't be that hard.  
(Version 1.3)

RADDLE  ... and the progress bar is back. THANK YOU.   
(Version 1.0)

RADDLE  I like this, and have signed on for the package. However the Mac version needs the following very soon before I come to really rely upon it:

1. The option to sync with the server. I don't want to have to go up there and manually weed through files left there which have been moved or deleted on my computer.

2. Various app glitches, like the main window not remembering its size, and the apparent inability (or certainly non-obviousness) of how to select multiple files on the server for deletion at once.   
(Version 1.2.4)

RADDLE  I like this software/service, and have subscribed to the pro service, the Mac version of the software needs some work, however. It turns out that the Mac version is unable to mirror/sync your folders up to the server, which means any file which gets deleted/moved/renamed on your Mac gets left in the backup in the previous incarnations.

I might not have subscribed so quickly had I realised this. It needs fixing soon, as does the Mac software's lack of continuous backup, and inability to remember window size and position.

Otherwise, it's a very compelling and reassuring way of making sure your data's backed up.  
(Version 1.2.4)

RADDLE  $179 to upgrade from 9 to 10? No thanks. I'm done with this company.

I don't mind paying for software - I do it often - or for worthwhile upgrades. But there's paying, and then there's being bled. I have slugged on with this software for years, and even bought the dreadful Bento. I'm tired of the company's attitude, tired of the continual price hikes, tired of being expected to shell out another upgrade fee to have software fixed (Bento 2) or finally made to look like it actually belongs on a machine running Leopard (FileMaker 10), over a year after the fact.

Evidently they're solely targeting the deep-pocketed corporate clients these days, and that's fine, but it's not me. I'll go find something else to store my data in.   
(Version 10)

RADDLE  Yes, obviously it should be free. And obviously you should do all *your* work for free too. So let's have it. What do you do? How can we go about accessing it for free? Hurry up, now.   
(Version 1.0fc1)

RADDLE  Yes, dream on, FileMaker. I don't mind paying each year for an iLife upgrade, because it's a mature and (for the most part) rock solid group of very useful applications that gets significant new features each time. But I'm *not* shelling out again to help FileMaker shove a ropey product towards something barely meriting a 1.0 release.

To echo what someone else below said, all this 'new version' has inspired me to do is stop trying to work with Bento and throw it off my hard disk altogether.   
(Version 2.0v2)

RADDLE  Updating this in 2008: app never worked properly, was never adequately supported, and has now been abandoned.   
(Version 1.3.2)

RADDLE  Sorry, is that a joke?

This guy writes some of the most useful and well-behaved Mac utilities in existence, and yet he's somehow letting the side down and joining the dark side (after releasing many free updates over the years) by deciding to charge small sums of money for all his hard work?

If you do all *your* work for no money, then I apologize. Otherwise this just sounds like the whine of the freeloader.   
(Version 2.0.2)

RADDLE  Yes - this is a joke. Full upgrade price for ham-fisted improvements? Where the hell is (proper) iPhone integration? They had the opportunity for a truly useful Mac application and have blown it - not least by alienating all of us who wound up paying for the development process.   
(Version 2.0v2)

RADDLE  I agree. Windowshade working perfectly for me, and has been for months.   
(Version 1.5.1b4)

RADDLE  Yes, my experience too - shame, as it's a great utility...  
(Version 2.4)

RADDLE  Upgrade proceeded faultlessly on my machine (I fixed permissions, for whatever minimal/non-existent difference that makes, but didn't bother to quit background processes or indeed anything except Office applications).

Entourage a little quicker to kick up; Word lost a few very minor preferences but feels snappier overall and has also - thank god - stopped trying to reformat complex documents every time I open them. That alone makes me happy I ignored the doomsayers and had a crack at it...  
(Version 12.1)

RADDLE  I think people will accept a cost to add these (because RealBasic comes with an ease-of-use that Cocoa/Xcode doesn't have...) but yes, a hundred and fifty bucks really is beyond ambitious!

At 20, you'd have a customer. Maybe even 30. But 150 is more likely to have people wearily reaching for an Xcode beginner's manual instead...  
(Version 1.0.4)

RADDLE  Very cool programme. An all-in-one interface to the world of Mac freeware, with write-ups, screenshots and downloads all easily accessible from a well-designed screen. A couple of localization glitches in the English version, but nothing that'll get in your way, and this is a great tool for snouting around for stuff you may have missed. I'm a complete software hound, and still found a load of interesting stuff...

Thanks!  
(Version 1.0.1)

RADDLE  I bought the Pro version, and am using it happily - it works well and fills a gap in the market for user-friendly animations of this type, though there's a few niggling interface issues to be worked out. I went Pro because I wanted to be able to attach URLs, and also in anticipation of a wider array of themes in this version, as implied on the website. Actually, there's just two more. The developers promise this will be augmented in further releases, but it does make this version feel outlandishly expensive.

On the upside, a weird problem I had - and which turned out to be an issue with the Flash security procedures - was resolved by quick and patient responses from the developers.

So if you want what this does, it does it, and the company itself is responsive. But yes, the Pro version is simply *way* too expensive - unless new themes and features start coming on thick and fast.  
(Version 1.0.3)

RADDLE  Hey, Espiridion,

I stand by holding you up for mis-categorizing your comment as a review: discussion of meta issues like the timing of upgrade fees does not constitute a review, especially when the post contains no evaluation whatsoever of the software's features. In that sense, I believe it *was* pointless - it was not a review from which anyone would glean useful information about the software as a potential website-creation resource. I apologize for causing any offense if this was not sufficiently clear.

I'm also wary of assuming that - just because someone hasn't posted many reviews - they're necessarily a shill for the developer. Perhaps this is because *I* don't post that many reviews (though I use a wide variety of software, all day, every day)... and I'm sure as hell not employed by realmac. The post you criticized did not read to me as a put-up job, and was certainly not an example of the "This software sux: it shuld be free!" nonsense that drives *me* up the wall.

As you say, maybe we've just had different experiences. I've been a happy user of RapidWeaver since it first came out, and have been surprised at how infrequently I've had to pay an upgrade fee, given how powerful the software is, and how active and responsive their development schedule is. I've paid *far* more to developers who do not - as realmac have done - reply to a question within hours, and then fix the bug involved within days. Rapidweaver enables rapid development and testing of websites, is becoming increasingly extensible through sophisticated (and reasonably-priced) plug-ins like Blocks and RapidAlbum. I've tried them all, and I don't believe there's any other software that comes as close to enabling web development 'for the rest of us', and certainly not at this price point.

But if it doesn't work for you, that's cool :-)  
(Version 3.6.7)

RADDLE  Oh good grief: that's *not* a review, it's a comment - and a pointless one at that.

RapidWeaver is exceptional value for what it does. It's a unique product and the developers - as I know from personal experience - are very responsive. You happened to buy at a time just before an upgrade fee became due. Get over it. It happens all the time - especially with these bundles. And to denigrate someone else's post just because they don't comment the whole time is ridiculous. Do you have to *earn* the right to like a piece of software???  
(Version 3.6.6)

RADDLE  I'm always amazed at how many determinedly negative reviews Realbasic gets. No, it's not perfect, you can't access the bleeding edge of OSX features and its apps are a little heavy: but it's fun, and you can develop some decent stuff with it. I have four or five little utilities I've written over the years which are a stable and useful presence on my desktop. Of course it's not Xcode, but not everyone has the time or inclination to get into an IDE that complex.

The constant hectoring RealBasic gets strikes me as rather suspicious, especially when people compare it unfavorably with something like Runtime Revolution, which - despite their very vigorous web and email presence - is a joke: its products look like something out of OS9, and none of the specimen 'applications' on their website have been created later than 2004.

If you want to learn how to program on the Mac, you could do a *lot* worse than RealBasic. In fact, unless you do want to go the whole hog and tangle with Xcode, you can't do any better.   
(Version R1)

RADDLE  Dunno - maybe some politeness???  
(Version 3.1.2)

RADDLE  You either didn't try this software, or didn't understand it. Doing what this software does - without getting into PhotoShop and iConBuilder, a great buy heavyweight solution - is actually nigh-on impossible. The price is reasonable too.   
(Version 2.2.1)

RADDLE  Software company wants to make some money - hold the front page. The products *are* different. The prices are *not* unreasonable. But of course, feel free to go do better yourself... and charge nothing for it.   
(Version 3.6.5)

RADDLE  Yes. WindowShade working fine on my two machines (one intel, one not) running a wide variety of software. FontCard good except for an apparent conflict with FontExplorer under Intel.   
(Version 2.1.4b1)

RADDLE  FYI, is crashing FontExplorer 1.2.3 on my Intel... but nice to see some signs of life!  
(Version 1.5.1b1)

RADDLE  As with the guys above, I did get functionality after a reboot, but not merely a log out... just sounding a note of hope... :-)  
(Version 4.2b1)

RADDLE  Yes, agree. I stumped up for it - because it's without question the best in class, and I really needed the convenience and quality - but it's kind of pricey nonetheless. It's a great piece of software, without question, but you do end up feeling you've been gouged for it: whereas if it was in the $50-70 bracket...  
(Version 4.7)

RADDLE  Very intriguing. Extremely attractive and sophisticated in design, and provides a new and very functional window onto your files. It's just not quite worth $69 to me, I don't think... though to people with different needs and workflows, it very well might be.

Definitely worth checking out. I'm tempted despite the price ;-)  
(Version 1.0b9)

RADDLE  Yes, Together is becoming very cool, and I've migrated out of both DT and Yojimbo to it. I'd like to be able to hide the shelf too, but gather that's coming. I'd also love to be able to sync to my other Macs via .Mac (that would make it killer, and is the one thing Yojimbo has over it), but that could be on the way too, by the sound of it.

And if it's ever matched with a sync-able app on the iPhone, so i can take all this stuff on the road (and have an easy way of getting pdfs on there), then my happiness will be complete...

Excellent software, reasonably priced. If you need a digital showbox that's flexible, attractive and reliable, heck it out.   
(Version 2.0.7)

RADDLE  Sorry - how are you as consumers forced to use anyone's applications? That's just a bizarre observation. If you don't like them, don't use them. Or is there some covert black ops crew that goes around coercing innocent Mac-users into paying for software they don't like?   
(Version R1)

RADDLE  If you like, want or need this software - buy it. If you don't, don't.

I've been a happy user of Pixadex and CandyBar for years. The revised model makes perfect sense: why *not* have all your icons right there in the application designed to apply them? Okay, so it cost a little to upgrade. What's that - four visits to Starbucks? A DVD you'll only watch once? They'd have been perfectly within their rights to charge a nominal fee for the extensive rewrite to come to Leopard: for a few bucks more you're getting a much-improved application.

The developer's job is to improve their product for the general (and evolving) market, and support their families. Wishing them out of business is as loopy and unpleasant as hoping an author will have a heart attack just because you didn't like his last book. Threatening to warez the product is nothing more than theft, and places you well outside the pale of normal computer users.

Reserve your self-righteous ire and excessive use of capitals for companies like Unsanity - who took over a *year* to update some of their software for Tiger, and seem intent on the same glacial approach this time around - rather than people like Panic: who tirelessly (and quickly) tweak their products for each new iteration of the system, who came out punching with a sleek and powerful new version of CandyBar within weeks of Leopard hitting our desktops, and who - via iconfactory -are constantly giving to the Mac community. Or take a pop at Final Draft, which cost a fortune to upgrade just for it to (more or less) work in OSX.

Or better still, why not *relax* a little, remember no-one's holding a gun to your head when it comes to upgrades, and go spend your money on something else - like a good book on anger management. If the freebie alternatives do what you need, use them instead, or you could save every last cent by slavishly changing the icons one at a time (though note the warning about possible future system changes, which CandyBar will help you avoid). Personally, I happily spent the cash to get what CandyBar offers me.

The bottom line is that the ability to futz with your icons is not exactly life-critical, but a pleasure and hobby - which you can choose to spend a few bucks indulging, or not. It's really not worth getting this worked up about, nor worth aligning yourself with thieves, nor wishing ill upon the developers. Get some perspective, and grow up.   
(Version 3.1.2)

RADDLE  I'm always amazed at the dedication and fervour of people decrying REALBasic. Don't you people have anything else to do? If you've had fun with it - as I have - keep using it. If you don't like it, don't use it. Keeping coming back to dump on it smacks of ulterior motives.   
(Version R5)

RADDLE  I wonder whether any of the people decrying this app have actually taken the trouble to test it - or it's the traditional "Why isn't it free???" rant of the freeloader...

I just tried it. It's not going to change the world, but it's pretty cool - especially the application-association thing. It's worth thirteen bucks to me. Going to register.   
(Version 1.5b4)

RADDLE  Yeah - but you know what? Lots of people *didn't* have this problem, including me. So it *could* be a problem with you or your set-up, not Apple. Just consider the possibility.  
(Version 7.1.1)

RADDLE  Yeah - they're really going to roll Intel support into a decimal release. Very useful comment.   
(Version 11.3.4)

RADDLE  Funny. Works absolutely fine on my machine. Must definitely be a problem with the software, though. Couldn't be a problem with you. No question.   
(Version 1.2)

RADDLE  Truly phenomenal. I've been waiting years for something like this. I've been using it throughout the beta period, and Scrivener has already made my working methods *so* much simpler, faster and more productive. It combines great sophistication with never getting in the way of the process - and is stable as a rock.

If you're a writer of any kind, you need this.  
(Version 1.0RCb5)

RADDLE  Okay, FINALLY we're getting somewhere. This .09 release does finally effect the sound. I can only comment on iTunes, as i don't use it for anything else. Most of the presets don't work, but if you saved your old ones and drop them in the right folder, they do. There's a way to go - and I can't believe it's taken NINE releases to get this far, but at least I've got my sound back now...  
(Version 2.09)

RADDLE  Agreed. With iTunes 6 it's a fabulous product. It's just been a bit of a wait now for a 7-compatible version... I just wish the developers would be open about whether it's supposed to be Intel-compatible yet too.  
(Version 2.03)

RADDLE  I'm one of the people who like the big icons. I didn't like the small ones, but kept quiet about it because everything else was so cool. You don't like them big? Then don't use UNO. Simple.

And why not also try not to be so rude to people who go to a great deal of time and effort making FREE software for others to enjoy...? Sheesh.   
(Version 1.3.2)

RADDLE  Another week, another sub-version... and still it doesn't work. I have enormous goodwill towards this product, because of the great things it (used to do) to iTunes' sound. But it just ain't functioning now: even changing to different presents doesn't change any of the settings - never mind actually altering the sound.

I don't know what you guys are testing this on, but it must differ radically from the set-ups out in the real world... Good Luck!  
(Version 2.03)

RADDLE  2.0.1 dosn't crash the sound preference any more, but it still isn't working in iTunes... and selecting different presets doesn't seem to alter any settings in the main window.   
(Version 2.01)

RADDLE  Ditto CreativeGuy's experience, down to the Sound Preference crash. Hope this gets fixed soon - I miss the sound!  
(Version 2.0)

RADDLE  Why would you stop by five months later to diss the application in exactly the same way you did last time?

RB is for people who wanto or enjoy coding in RB. Not for Xcode. Xcode is for that.   
(Version R4)

RADDLE  Great plug-in: makes iTunes sound fabulous. Be warned the current release stops iTunes 7 from playing, though... can be fix temorariliy by just removing the plug-in. Looking forward to an update - my music sounds weak with it!   
(Version 1.62)

RADDLE  I'm using 5.1. Works pretty much perfectly.   
(Version 5.1.1)

RADDLE  Got to love anything that has the potential to free us from the hell that is Final Draft. Montage needs a lot of work still, but let's hope it gets it. In its current state - and to stand any chance of making inroads on FD's market lock - it maybe should be priced more at the fifty bucks level...  
(Version 1.0.1r2)

RADDLE  Though, to be fair, just checked out Scrivener. You're right. It's pretty cool.   
(Version 1.0)

RADDLE  Yes - you're right. This should have been about WriteRoom.   
(Version 1.0)

RADDLE  Yep, me too.   
(Version 3.0.2)

RADDLE  I have registered the Mac-Palm version, and yes, it works - though it's not yet rocking my world.

The issues are mainly cosmetic - the Mac app looks disconcertingly like Windows 98, and there should be a preference to turn on automatic backups every time you quit, so you don't have to hit return twice to confirm this every single time. I can't get the 5-way on my Treo to do anything much, either (though this release is supposed to fix that), which makes navigating around the Palm app a far more stylus-centred experience than it should be. The markup language is useful, but it's a shame to have to add wiki links manually - and flipping back and forth between edit and normal modes is cumbersome and breaks the flow.

Requests:

1) Get the Treo 5-way working properly, so you can use the button to go back or home or enter/leave edit mode.

2) Give the Mac app a rework so it at least looks Panther, preferably Tiger, and think a little more about some of the interface elements.

3) Keep the markup but allow live editing and automatic wiki-spotting.

4) It's really kinda pricey.

Bottom line, the Palm app is good. The Mac app, while definitely usable, is so far off VoodooPad's functionality that it's hard to commit to, even for basic lists. I'll keep persevering for the time being though, as the Mac/Palm syncing of wiki notes really is a boon...  
(Version 3.3.2)

RADDLE  Great feature set, and looks wonderful. But a few failed backups - without much in the way of explanation - and the way it slows the machine to a crawl (especially while writing the interminable log) means I'm relectantly going back to TriBackup for the time being. TriBackup looks like a dog and lacks a lot of Lifeboat's features, but (a) has never failed me, (b) runs happily in the background, (c) has an easy way to get deleted files removed from backups and (d) has never crashed while I wasn't even using it - or during a backup, which has happened twice with Lifeboat.

I have high hopes for Lifeboat though - and this is a comment rather than a review because it's *possible* that some of the above is my problem rather than the software's - is there going to be an update soon?  
(Version 1.3.1)

RADDLE  Hmm - looks interesting! I was gearing myself up to try to do something similar, but I think you may have saved me the time (and made it a good cooler than i would have).

The baby's currently in bed, so I can't give it the acid test, but will try that tomorrow and see how it pans out!  
(Version 1.51)

RADDLE  Another very, very cool plug-in from an inspired and responsive developer. Excellent!  
(Version 1.0b7)

RADDLE  'Only just looked at it so won't give it a rating' - but will just trash it instead. Without having tried to use it. Nice one.

This programme works very well. I like it lots.   
(Version 2.0.2)

RADDLE  Absolutely - in the same way that the internet is a bad thing because there's porn on it. Duh.  
(Version 2.0a9)

RADDLE  *The* launch solution for the Mac. Easy to set-up and start using, phenomenal power to be discovered as you get used to it. Solid as a rock, with a responsive developer. I would hate to have to use a Mac without Butler now.   
(Version 4.0.1)

RADDLE  a) that's not a review

b) they're two applications, with different feature sets, from the same developer. A quick look at the site would have cleared the matter up.   
(Version 1.51)

RADDLE  So don't buy it then!  
(Version 2.5.1)

RADDLE  If someone wants to charge for software, they're not being 'greedy', it's simply a decision to ask payment for work they've done. Similarly, if a programmer wants to create another example of a known application, that's also their choice - and it's a good thing some do, otherwise there'd only be one word processor, one web browser, one system utility... in the entire world. Snide comments don't help anyone. What visitors to this site want to know is (a) is it useful or (b) did it crash your system to hell. They can make a decision on payment by themselves.

Bottom line - review the software, not the concept of monies being solicited for goods or services, which is very well established and outside your control.

And no, I have nothing whatsoever to do with this developer, and don't even use their software - though its very decent, as are Onyx and Cocktail. I use TinkerTool System, for which I paid. Silly me!  
(Version 2.0.3)

RADDLE  Great plug-in, works really well. Makes a huge difference to creating professional-looking pages with Rapidweaver, and is very easy to use.  
(Version 1.2.2)

RADDLE  Have just registered. Yes, there are more fully-featured idea organisers out there - DevonThink, or StickyBrain - but Yojimbo murders the competition when it comes to aesthetic appeal. 39 bucks isn't cheap, but all the comparable products are pricey too. It all looks very attractive, the Quick Input panel is great, and the ability to assign custom icons to collection folders is a nice touch. I hope version 1.1 includes a simple highlighter pen (rather than having to do it via styles) and I'd like to see hierarchical collection folders before I stop using DevonThink too - but I'm looking forward to seeing this software develop...  
(Version 1.0)