The Omni Group

I'm a law student and I use OmniOutliner Professional to create outlines of each course throughout the semester; I then use these outlines to study for final exams.  I have a template that I use to automate the process of making the outlines “my certain way.”  Being able to collapse and expand topics really helps because it lets me use the outlines like flash cards.  For example, I might collapse all, then look at a line that says “transferred intent applies to 5 kinds of intentional torts:” and try to remember what those 5 kinds of torts are without having to expand the item.  I can then expand that item and do the same thing with its sub-points, then the sub-points of the sub-points of the sub-points, etc.  Meanwhile the sections “drawer” (or whatever it's called) helps me see the big picture of where everything fits in (screenshot).  Overall I'd say that OmniOutliner Pro is probably the most-used app on my PowerBook.

I use OmniOutliner to take notes in meetings; and also use the GTD outline template to keep track of my to-dos. 

I used to use Omniweb in the past to “normalize” the sizes of fonts in many web pages with site preferences, and will most probably use it again in the future when the new version is released.

I use Omnigraffle to make pro-evolution graphics…and holiday letters.  Will soon try to get my students (and my whole department) to make their scientific posters on Omnigraffle instead of Powerpoint.  Loved the child-care flow chart, above.

I use OmniOutliner a lot. Basically, I use it to:

- take notes for most of my classes, collapsing all of a day's notes under a section with the date.

- make my budget.

- make exam review notes (similar to what Josh does, by the sounds of it).

- outline essays.

- make any to-do lists I need to make, to keep a list of courses I want to take, books to buy for the semester, etc.

- keep track of my degree requirements.

- create the structure of Web sites I'm working on.

There's probably other things, but you get the idea. I've tried to use OmniGraffle, and it's a nice programme, although I haven't actually found a use for it. (How would you do greeting cards in that, though?)

I used OmniWeb for a long time, but am now using Safari, because it works properly with my university Web site and is a little faster. I'm probably going to back to it once 5.5 comes out, though, as there definitely are some features I miss.

Thanks for all your comments so far, everyone!

Andrew: I used OmniGraffle to make postcard-sized holiday cards, 4-up to a page then quartered with a paper cutter. You could easily do greeting cards, though, by laying out two per page, cutting in half, and folding.

I use OmniWeb to, er, browse the web.

I've been a big Opera user in Windows and Linux for many years, and it was only when I happened to have a go with OmniWeb that I finally found something that wowed me to an equivalent level that Opera did many years ago. It's just *that* good.

As a software developer by trade (and now an IT Manager), I spend a lot of time banging my head against Visio, whereas OmniGraffle would be a lot easier to use - if I bring my Mac to work. My Managing Director (who is a big Mac guy, although he has a very fast Windows workstation on his desk as well) just bought OmniGraffle Pro so he can work on process diagrams without going insane from Visio.

I can't get my head round what OmniOutliner really does yet. I will one day, and I'm sure from then on, it'll be indispensable. Until then, however, the only non-bundled app I expect I'll pay for is OmniWeb, and I'm reserving judgement on that until I see the 5.5 preview. At the moment, it's brilliant but flawed; if the flaws are reduced or removed (as it looks like they will be), then you guys will be getting my money. As it stands, I'd probably give you my money now… I just want to wait and find out what delights 5.5 has to offer :)

I use OOutliner as a to do list, to keep track of expenses, for organizing class/ lecture notes (I teach), and for organizing research ideas.  Of course, I also use it for writing and wrote close to 30%, at least, of my dissertation in OW before switching to a word processor.

OmniGraffle is used for creating figures for use in publications, for use in class handouts, and for organizing information and ideas when brainstorming and organizing papers.  I am giving a poster presentation at a major international conference next month and the components of that poster will be made in OG.

Omniweb's workspaces make it really easy to keep many tasks active at once.  Sometimes OW's memory features (persistent tabs and workspaces) make it too easy to open up too many pages though and I find my self overwhelmed with stuff that I want to read.  I also really love being able to navigate web pages with the keyboard via Type-ahead-find.  Very useful for reading threaded messages on sites that don't have flat views.

OW is browser of choice. And Firefox hasn't had an outing since I downloaded SP6…

OOP is the tool I reach for when:

i do my GTD workflow (Kinkless)

I make notes in meetings/reading books/etc/.

I do lists of any form.

OG is my tool of choice for drawing.

MY classnotes for students are all done in OG.

My new house in OG…

- layer for original architects plans.

- my copy of his plans

- layer of electrical requirements

- layer of fixtures and fittings

- layer of furniture

- layer of bathroom and kitchen

Argh… just noticed no expansion option for this text input area. SP7… must report.

Shopping or job hunting on craigslist is nigh impossible for me if I'm not using OW. First, perform your search. As you're going through the results, when you find one you want just drag the URL to the tab bar to create a new tab. Then hit “Back” and repeat the process ad nauseam. When you're done, you have a bunch of tabs denoting which items you found interest in, often too many to go through at once. (At least, if you live in a city with an active craigslist.) Fortunately, each one has the handy-dandy green “new” checkmark which I use to keep track of if I've responded to that ad or not. Craigslist is literally worthless to me without Omniweb.

“OmniStuff is cool. I like it.”

Oh man, that's a wicked term. Guys, you have to figure out a way to get “OmniStuff” into use! Maybe a bundle with a license to all the Omni products?

I often have a dozen outliner documents open at a time. I use OO extensively for record-keeping for various client projects, and in particular for timesheets. I love its ability to tally numbers of items, hours of work and dollars of income. Checkboxes let me see which items are completed.