“What about OmniWeb? Won't somebody please think of OmniWeb?”
We have, I swear. As it turns out, developing a web browser is pretty time-consuming work, especially when there's a limited number of engineers available for the task. Oh, you can stamp your foot all you want and shout outside their doors that you want to release OmniWeb 5.5 RIGHT NOW, but it won't do you any good. Believe me, I've tried.
We're making progress, though. Currently OmniWeb 5.5, which is a Universal release using the latest version of WebKit (revision 12177 at the moment, although we're updating it to be based on r13269), is in private beta. Our plan is to open this up to a public beta in the next couple weeks, with the usual warnings in place (OmniWeb 5.5 beta is in flux, has known issues, may wrinkle your linen pants, etc).
With the WebKit update, 5.5 is meant to offer an improved browsing experience over 5.1x; better speed and compatibility are the main benefits in this newest release. We've also added a number of other fixes and updates, which you can peruse at your leisure here.
Hang in there, OmniWeb fans! We have not deserted you, we leave no browser behind.
Here's a peek at 5.5 (clickity-click for larger image), although there isn't a lot that looks different from 5.1. Note the unified toolbar, site-specific preferences for using your own style sheets to view websites, and the WebKit Web Inspector feature (currently not a default in OmniWeb).
We've had a lot of requests for web forums, so hopefully there are some of you who will thrust a triumphant fist in the air over this.
Caveats include the fact that we know the forums are kind of, well, not so fresh looking right now and we'll be stylificationing them in the future.
Drop on by and say hello, why don't you.
In case you missed the mind-bending breathtaking riveting mildly interesting news, we released a new version of OmniDiskSweeper a short while back, our first non-beta update since….um….well, since 2003.
Hush up, we've been busy. Dammit, people, we're a software company, not miracle workers! Or magicians! Or…bricklayers.
Anyway, the current version includes the rich, creamery Universal binary goodness, and what I typically refer to as “a number of improvements” because reading release notes makes my left eyelid twitch.
Happily, DiskSweeper 1.5 also now offers a revolutionary documentation technology called online help. And the refreshing smell of mint.
“Wait,” you may be saying, one hand methodically stroking your goatee as you gaze thoughtfully off into space, “can't I just use the Finder to find and delete files?”
Uh, yes. Yes you can.
(My marketing fu is very strong.)
However! DiskSweeper highlights the biggest files on your drives, so it's super handy for finding gigantor space-hogs like all those Numa Numa videos you downloaded. Since that was soooooo 2005, you should probably make room for the “Snakes on a Plane” trailer, you know?
In conclusion, the new version is here. Enjoy!
“Redonkulous”
“Bananaphone”
“I just lost the game”
“Oh, [insert application name here]”
“OMG I'M IN UR BASE KILLING UR DOODZ”
“Hey mans”
“What?”
“zOMG”
“Boot!”
“Jamba?”
“Dr Pepper”
“mmmm….coffee”
“There's a new Strong Bad email”
In response to some questions about Apple's freshly announced Boot Camp, a quote from Omni's CEO Ken Case:
In general, I think we'll see Microsoft selling more copies of Windows to Mac users (like the [copy] I'm just about to buy), and Apple selling more Macintoshes to Windows users: I know it will be a lot easier for many people to buy Macs now that they're not an either/or proposition, which naturally means a larger market for our software.
Is it financially feasible to continue to write apps for Mac OS X, when equivalent apps may exist on Windows XP? Of course! We simply have to make sure that our applications provide the best possible experience on all platforms (not just on Mac OS X)—which, I hope, is exactly what we're already doing.
Thanks to a kind person who sent me their kGTD file, I've fixed a crasher when upgrading to the 0.83 release of Kinkless. This fix, and some fixes for printing issues (along with a few other odds and ends) will be coming in a 3.6 beta 2 release in a few days.
Reproducible test cases are almost better than coffee.
[Update: OO 3.6 beta 2 is now out. If you are using KGTD, General Zod says you should update right away!]
Boy howdy, performing a union shape combination on 3,810 tiny little circle shapes in OmniGraffle Professional takes a looooooonnnnnggggg time.
By the time I finish Apple will have introduced an entirely new tower to replace the Cheese Grater.
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Hello, and welcome to The Omni Mouth, our charmingly-named outlet for All Things Omni. Well, not all things Omni, it's not like we'll be writing about…oh, the magnets on our snackroom refrigerator, or something. Like we'd be that self-obsessed and insipid! Please.
I mean, that's what our Flickr account is for.
Anyway, the plan is to provide you lovely people with frequent (“frequent” meaning “whenever we remember to do so”) updates on what The Omni Group is up to. We won't abandon our other methods of information dissemination, so if you are a fan of the carefully crafted, nutrient-rich press release, fear not–we'll continue to send out official conch trumpetings when new software versions are available.
Check back for news, tips, pithy vignettes, and a comical overuse of exclamation points.
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You may remember The Omni Group from such Mac OS X titles as OmniWeb, OmniGraffle, and OmniOutliner. The Omni Mouth is an ill-advised foray into the magical world of company blogging. We can't promise scintillating content, but we can offer slapdash updates on our development progress. Also, typos.
