Filed under: Software
Diamond, the rich text editor that thinks different
Diamond is a free rich text editor with a difference. Lots of differences, actually, which combine to make it quite appealing. Developer Geoffrey Alexander has recently released Diamond 3, which makes this an excellent time for you to download and give it a try.
How is Diamond different? Diamond windows look different. Sometimes they're hardly there. They may or may not have title bars. They may or may not hover above a background (flat color, or photographic, it's up to you) that in turn hovers over everything else on your desktop.
Text inside Diamond documents flows in columns. Word and character counts float unobtrusively below the windows, as if hanging in space. If you want them to. Aspects of Diamond's differentness are yours to tweak in the prefs, of course, so you can de-weird things if you feel the need. But that takes all the fun out of it.
If I'm not making much sense here, I encourage you to take a look at the Diamond gallery or download the app to try it for yourselves. As Geoffrey himself once said: "Diamond isn't for everyone, and may not even be for anyone." But I rather like it, if only because it takes the mundanity of editing text and adds a bit of life that you don't find in other rich text editors.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
themaccircle said 8:41PM on 8-04-2008
I don't know about you, but every window having a wallpaper or theme would drive me crazy and interfere with the text. A floating window would be good only if it could be resized and hold toolbars still. That's just me.
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Big John said 12:25AM on 8-05-2008
They may or may not hover above a background (flat color, or photographic, ***it's up to you***)
Blaktornado said 9:01PM on 8-04-2008
I didn't really get it =\
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Don Parr said 9:36PM on 8-04-2008
I too rather like it. Diamond is my favorite document (text) editor. It's flexible and allows setting things up that work the way I do. Given the chance, you might find the gem that is Diamond. As has already been pointed out though, your mileage may vary.
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Pixelton said 10:55PM on 8-04-2008
I dare anyone to go the poems section and not laugh at the cover art.
That said, this isn't for me - but it is cool that he made it available. It would be nice to be able to make software if I need it for personal use!
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MacSheikh said 2:35AM on 8-05-2008
What? They're pictures of sexy naked girls! I mean...they're pictures that celebrate the art and natural beauty of the female form. ;-)
Ed said 8:27AM on 8-05-2008
Whoa, what is that thing in the fourth one? Never mind the girl, that gear thingy looks sweet.
Bshell said 11:30AM on 8-05-2008
As far as I'm concerned this program is annoying and frustrating because it deviates so far from Apple's tried and true user interface. e.g. try to close or resize a window. I don't want to learn all this over again.
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Ed said 8:42AM on 8-05-2008
Well, it's certainly thinking different...
Cmd + W closes nearly any OS X window, including these. You can also turn on a title bar with a close button, and resizing is done using the diamond at the bottom right.
TechShoe said 3:51AM on 8-05-2008
I'm not sure that this will last the distance. It does not add too much in terms of functionality. As far as I can see it's just a slightly different looking skin? It may hold your attention for about 10 minutes but then you'll want things back to the simple way they were.
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