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Posted by Hugh
Aug 30, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Steve, thanks for the overview.
>
>I am curious why you did not mention the Omni group of
>products? Have they been outpaced by the other software you
>mentioned?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Daly
Daly
Blithely following Steve Z. off-topic, I would endorse all he says about the Mac platform and Mac applications (with a slightly stronger recommendation of Scrivener of which I’ve been a perhaps tediously long-term fan - the developer has been very open about the timescale of his version 2.)
Personally, I also like the Omni products quite a lot. All of them are still maturing (with the possible exception of OmniGraffle, which on the Mac is almost certainly the best of the diagramming breed ? not that it has many competitors on the platform ? and may rival Visio on Windows.)
None of the other Omni applications is yet quite there ? but they’re on the way. Omnifocus, as I’m sure you’re aware, is one of the most sophisticated GTD-biased task managers on either platform, but is still developing, and OmniOutliner has a clean and clear UI but is less powerful than TAO. OmniPlan is rather a good project manager at the simpler end of the spectrum (especially for non-project managers), but is still lacking functionality compared with rivals.
But the key thing about Omni it seems to me—relating to something else that Steve wrote ? concerns its organisation. It’s a corporation, not a one-man band. As such, it’s not of course an 800-lb MS-style gorilla, nor even a Steve Jobs orang-utang, more a 25-lb woolly monkey… But it does have a number of employees, they appear to be full-time, their profile is lively and friendly towards their customers, and they continue to churn out betas and upgrades on a regular basis. So there’s a strong sense of permanence about them and the development of their products which seems to inspire confidence in users.
In this user anyway.
H
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Aug 30, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Steve, thanks for the overview.
>
>I am curious why you did not mention the Omni group of
>products? Have they been outpaced by the other software you
>mentioned?
>
Daly,
The only one of the Omni products I’m really familiar with is OmniOutline, which I own. Frankly, I have been disappointed in this product—or perhaps I should say I’m disappointed with what I’ve been able to get out of it. True it offers fully functional customizable columns. But I find it very slow to use. Really, to me, it feels like a clunky spreadsheet more than an outliner, even though it certainly has hierarchical levels. All in all I have just never warmed up to OO, so I didn’t even think about it when I was making my list.
BTW, I wasn’t including the concept of project or day planning in that list either. There are a number of cool task management products for the Mac, but I really never use that type of product myself, so didn’t want to comment on them.
Steve Z.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Aug 30, 2009 at 10:58 PM
Daly,
I didn’t mean to sound down on Scrivener, but I have been playing with Storyist since its new release a couple of weeks ago and do find it “airier” than Scrivener, if you sense what I mean by that. But Storyist is strictly for fiction, and Scrivener is great, so unless you’re only writing fiction, Scrivener is the better choice.
For the record, if Hugh says something about the Mac world that differs from what I say, trust Hugh. I do. He’s been very helpful on this forum and at the Literature and Latte (Scrivener) forum when I’ve had questions, and very generous with his knowledge.
Steve Z.
Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Aug 30, 2009 at 11:27 PM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>
>
>Daly de Gagne wrote:
>>Steve, thanks for the overview.
>>
>>I am curious why you did
>not mention the Omni group of
>>products? Have they been outpaced by the other
>software you
>>mentioned?
>>
>
>Daly,
>
>The only one of the Omni products I’m really
>familiar with is OmniOutline, which I own. Frankly, I have been disappointed in this
>product—or perhaps I should say I’m disappointed with what I’ve been able to get out
>of it. True it offers fully functional customizable columns. But I find it very slow to
>use. Really, to me, it feels like a clunky spreadsheet more than an outliner, even
>though it certainly has hierarchical levels. All in all I have just never warmed up to
>OO, so I didn’t even think about it when I was making my list.
>
>BTW, I wasn’t including
>the concept of project or day planning in that list either. There are a number of cool
>task management products for the Mac, but I really never use that type of product
>myself, so didn’t want to comment on them.
>
>Steve Z.
Interesting to read, given that the only reason I’m tempted to get a Mac is for OO, since really, I don’t think there’s a single Windows equivalent besides Ecco (and can Ecco even do hoisting? If it does, I can’t find it…) From what I’ve seen of it, it does everything I want an outliner to do (I’m talking about writing outlines here, I’d rather use something else for task management anyway…)
Of course, I snap back to reality and realize that buying a whole new computer for one piece of software isn’t really worth it…but damn. Sometimes the grass looks awfully greener.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Aug 30, 2009 at 11:55 PM
ShatteredMindofBob,
In regards to Omni Outliner, I am describing my own experience, and I am pretty finicky with software. You may try OO and love it. It’s got all the functions you can hope for. When I bought it, I was hoping for something that would remind me of the old DOS program GrandView, and perhaps it is just that OO doesn’t live up to that high standard that makes me less than enthusiastic. I was also disappointed in how the inline text works… that was a big part of what made GV so excellent.
As for buying a new computer for one application, I did that when I bought my Mac… I wanted to run Scrivener… and I discovered that there are a lot of other reasons to enjoy a Mac.
Steve Z.