Filed under: Software, Freeware, Deals
OmniGroup makes several apps freeware
OmniGroup has announced that they have decided to release several of their previously shareware applications as freeware. These are: OmniWeb, one of the first Mac web browsers with roots going back beyond even OS X; OmniDazzle, a fun screen effects application, potentially useful for presentations and screencasts; OmniDiskSweeper, a very useful utility for getting a handle on large files taking up disk space; and OmniObjectMeter, a developer tool for optimizing memory usage in OS X application development.Apparently the reason behind the decision is simply that Omni wants to focus more on their other applications and these four were not worthy of as much attention. They don't rule out future updates, but it doesn't really look that likely.
For my own part, I can't help but think that OmniWeb's day has passed, but OmniDazzle and OmniDiskSweeper are still useful tools (not being a developer I don't have much to say about OmniObjectMeter). In any case, it's a nice gesture to the Mac community from one of its older members.
All four applications are free downloads from their respective pages: OmniWeb, OmniDazzle, OmniDiskSweeper, OmniObjectMeter.
[via Daring Fireball]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
St3phen said 2:20PM on 2-25-2009
OmniWeb is dead! Long live OmniWeb!
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colouroflight said 2:43PM on 2-25-2009
A utility as simple as DiskSweeper should have always been free. Nevertheless, it's handy.
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matthew said 3:25PM on 2-25-2009
It basically was. I think the only difference was being able to delete files from within the interface instead of having to hop to Finder.
Quine said 3:45PM on 2-25-2009
Omnigroup makes really good stuff. Most of it doesn't quite feel as Mac-native as other apps, but most of it also feels more customizable than most mac-native apps. The team offers really good support too - they actually responded to my feature request and told me its priority, and I recently read it's appearing in the next version!
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glad said 3:16AM on 2-26-2009
The free ware from Omniweb is most welcome as I have downloaded two apps however there's a really good task management app which I look like buying as it seems useful to me. Would I have gone to their site before no as they just weren't on my radar but they are now. Great bit of marketing, I hope they do well out of it.
Quine said 4:30AM on 2-26-2009
The app, omnifocus, is fantastic. I use it every day to stay organize, and it works great, even if you aren't hardcore GTD. I strongly prefer its feature set over things, but I suggest trying out both.
Darren said 3:47PM on 2-25-2009
Oh please where did you learn english, four is not several, four is a few.
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Gareth said 4:22PM on 2-25-2009
Several: being more than two but fewer than many in number
Few: not many but more than one
Both work.
Tom said 5:38PM on 2-25-2009
Shouldn't that be a capital E for English?
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Dave M. said 4:10PM on 2-25-2009
Darren: As defined in OmniDictionary:
3: (used with count nouns) of an indefinite number more than 2 or 3 but not many; "several letters came in the mail"; "several people were injured in the accident" [syn: several(a)]
So the usage is just fine.
Mat Lu: I beg to differ about OmniGroup ("For my own part, I can't help but think that OmniWeb's day has passed"). OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner are two of the best products of their kind. Their solid and have a strong community following. Sure, they are a little pricy, but they do way more than their counterparts.
I don't use OmniPlan (don't have a use for it), but have started looking at OmniFocus as an GTD app since I am really bad about getting things done and remembering what I need to do. I had purchased the program a while back but just didn't have the time to start working with it.
OmniDiskSweeper and the non-professional version of OmniOutliner came with my MacBook and Mac Pro when I first bought them. So they were free in a sense. I liked both tools so much that I got the Pro version of Outliner and paid for DiskSweeper.
I'm a little sad that OmniWeb, Dazzle and OmniDiskSweeper are free now since I paid for them earlier, but I have certainly got my money's worth out of Dazzle and OmniDiskSweeper.
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Mat Lu said 4:14PM on 2-25-2009
Oh, I certainly don't disparage OmniGroup at all. I'm a big fan of OmniGraffle in particular. I meant only with the availability of so many regularly updated free browsers, I just don't think that OmniWeb is that compelling today (and I did at one time use it as my main browser a few years ago).
To second your usage point, the OED has for 'several':
As a vague numeral: Of an indefinite (but not large) number exceeding two or three; more than two or three but not very many. (The chief current sense.)As a vague numeral: Of an indefinite (but not large) number exceeding two or three; more than two or three but not very many. (The chief current sense.)
Dave M. said 4:25PM on 2-25-2009
I fully agree with you on OmniWeb. I bought it a long time ago and rarely used it since. With all the options out there for browsers for the Mac, OmniWeb being shareware instead of freeware just didn't make sense. Especially since Opera went to a freeware model. I thought you were referring to OmniGroup as a software company, not OmniWeb specifically. I just misread the quote. No surprise, I've been doing that a lot since I turned 45. Sucks getting old. ;)
Ralph said 4:52PM on 2-25-2009
There are some things that OmniWeb gets very very right:
* The ability to use knicknames to access a website. Not as useless as you might think, I can assign an acronym or keyword for, say, a forum site (many I visit begin with "forums." so that's no shortcut. (I was going to use TUAW as an example but, um, fail on that.
* The "save workspace" ability. If I have 10 tabs open and I quit the program (or, more likely, it locks up and I have to force quit it) the same set of tabs open the next time I launch. Very handy. Or a pain in the ass if one of those tabs was the reason it was always locking up.
* Speaking of saves; it would also save text in a field entry if I quit the program and then reopened it later. E.g., a forum post.
* Side Tabs; I always preferred this over the top tabs. And I can't seem to get used to the tabs as currently in use in Safari 4. I agree that it's a better use of the space (i.e., in the title bar it doesn't eat into the window/website space) but I guess I will.
Those are the things that jump to mind. As noted, there was a time it was the king of browsers (it was one of the first browser releases for OS X, as it originated in the NeXT days, if I remember correctly); it was faster than anything else I used. Lately, it's been locking up rather consistently, and hanging an awful lot here and there.
And with the income Omni's finding in apps like OmniFocus (esp on the iPhone) I can see why they're redirecting resources. (I'm also a big fan of their OmniGraffle program for flowcharts and org charts; beats the hell out of my clients' Visio created crap.)
One thing I would hope for is maybe a Pith Helmet (?) kind of add-on for Safari from Omni, adding the stuff I mention above.
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Mat Lu said 5:00PM on 2-25-2009
I agree about how nice these features and I get most of them in Safari with SafariStand:
http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html
I only wish it had saved forum / comment text as you describe.
boisro said 6:40PM on 2-25-2009
I have always liked OmniWeb. I preferred it to Safari in the Safari 1-2 era. But, unless The Omni Group are going to put some serious muscle behind it, they are not going to be able to compete with Apple, Mozilla, or Opera.
I think they should focus on apps like OmniGraffle, OmniPlan, and even the humble OmniOutliner. All three are great applications among, if not the best, in their class.
But, more free software never hurt anybody.
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Stephen P said 9:46PM on 2-25-2009
I'm trying Safari again after much use of OW and I'm desperately missing:
* The ability to set my browser to never open links in a new window. Never. Unless I specify.
* Being able to line my Bookmarks 'toolbar' with web site icons and no text (by creating a bookmark, saving it on the toolbar and then deleting its name)
* Being able to search in things other than Google, and being able to set up ultra-fast search shortcuts such as 'g' for Google, 'w' for Wikipedia and 'yt' for YouTube.
* Being able to permanently increase or decrease the size of type on a web site, without affecting any other sites.
There's Firefox, but I love the ability to press Control-Command-D over any word to get its definition, certainly much more than Firefox dictionary extensions I've tried. And text looks much better on OW/Safari than Firefox.
What to do? Each browser has its ups and downs. I wish OW would suddenly take off and convince site developers that it represents an important segment of the market and that they'd better include OW support if they wish to be relevant. I know. I know...
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TommyW said 2:28PM on 2-26-2009
OmniWeb is by far my favourite browser.
- per site preferences from font size to how it presents itself (mimicking FF, Safari, IE), to ad blocking to security...
- workspaces, I can't stick with any other browser compared to how this is implemented.
- side tabs, much prettier.
- additional search shortcuts in the toolbar, i've about twenty sites in my search box, I can put the same search to Amazon, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Tuaw, or indeed any site with a search box.
- nicknames as mentioned above, as well as just typing anything that might be included in the page title of bookmarked sites. Type in 'Irish Film" and OmniWeb finds www.irishfilmboard.ie in my bookmarks. Safari pops up a Google search box.
- g for google as mentioned above.
- It's the same webkit as Safari, no speed difference that I notice and stable for me, stable a long time.
- Expandable text entry boxes. You can drag text entry boxes out to whatever size you want. Easier seen than explained.
My gumption is that Omni do see a future in OmniWeb but have released it as freeware in the hope that it's market share rises and their Google earnings will rise.
In which case I hope they keep developing it.
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Sarah said 10:43AM on 3-02-2009
I also love OmniWeb for the side tabs. To recreate in Firefox, look for the "Tree Tab" extension, which is even better as side tabs are hierarchical in nested "trees."
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