Hello!
The comments on this profile are unclaimed and thus are unverified.
Do they belong to you? Claim these comments.
Jon
Is this you? Claim Profile »
3 weeks ago
in Why OmniWeb Failed on Inelegant Solutions
Jonathan-
(my name too, btw), It's odd what one comes across, while searching the internet. I'm a bit late to this parade (three months late, in fact), but I found this post while searching other information, and just had to post. ;-)
I've been using Omniweb almost exclusively since 5.4. Like you, I played with the demos and then the betas, constantly upgrading, but not paying, but finally, one day, I realized that Omni was the browser for me, and worth my money, so I paid, and put the others on the "shelf." I use most of Omniweb's unique features regularly, and the ones I use the least, I use no less than once a week.
I suspect that what you have done in your comments, is project your own needs and desires for a browser onto the entire market. Omni may not have been compelling for you, but for a good number of people, it _is_ compelling. Also, I've been delighted to see Omniweb getting a fair number of updates in the months since they made it free. I have decided to stick with 5.9.1, due to Webkit issues in Gmail, but the sneaky peaks are fun to play with. ;-) I wouldn't give up on Omniweb just yet.
Since I suspect you will ask, I'll try to tell you what about OW compels me to use it.
1. Tabs. I do so much prefer the tabs on the side. For one, they are always a consistent size, and not dynamically changing all the time, causing me to accidently close a tab I merely meant to click on (as happens to me all the time in Safari and Firefox, and all the rest--I can't believe this doesn't irritate other people like it does me). Also, I can see more on the screen than with top-tabs (and if I turn off the icons, I can get a _huge_ number on-screen)
2. The flexibility of the tabs, moving, double-click to open in a new window, drag tabs between windows, etc. OK, most other browsers have added these features--but Omni had it first. ;-)
3. Workspaces. I have workspaces for certain kinds of works and subjects. It's great! I use this far too much. ;-)
4. Site-specific preferences. Granted, this one may seem silly at first, but I have a couple web sites, where I have set their downloads to other, specific locations. Also, I prefer a couple web sites to show me all their ads, and others, none. I have also added/changed the CSS for a couple sites I frequent. All of this is possible _only_ in Omniweb, and Omni makes it quite brainless to implement. I may not use all the site-specific preferences for the bulk of my pages, but when I have it, it is a great blessing. :-) Trust me, once you start using it, and seeing the potential, you will find more and more uses for it--at least I did.
5. Built-in source editing, and a gorgeous item inspector. Love 'em! Don't use them as often as the other features, but when I need them, they are life-savers.
6. And one feature I am using currently, and use so much, I forgot it was a feature. ;-) Popping out text entry fields into a separate window. You get used to that, and forget it may not be normal. ;-)
So, as you can see, there are compelling reasons for some/many people. :-) BTW, the "crashing" issue for Omni--not so much a show stopper as I originally thought. 5.9 is very stable, and besides that, Omni crashes as elegantly as you could hope a program to crash. Relaunch, and you are right where you left off. I don't remember ever losing work due to an Omni crash, yet other browsers frequently have let me down on that front--and yes, as you said, they _all_ crash. :-)
Well, that's my .02‹ worth (a little inflated, maybe)
-Jon
(my name too, btw), It's odd what one comes across, while searching the internet. I'm a bit late to this parade (three months late, in fact), but I found this post while searching other information, and just had to post. ;-)
I've been using Omniweb almost exclusively since 5.4. Like you, I played with the demos and then the betas, constantly upgrading, but not paying, but finally, one day, I realized that Omni was the browser for me, and worth my money, so I paid, and put the others on the "shelf." I use most of Omniweb's unique features regularly, and the ones I use the least, I use no less than once a week.
I suspect that what you have done in your comments, is project your own needs and desires for a browser onto the entire market. Omni may not have been compelling for you, but for a good number of people, it _is_ compelling. Also, I've been delighted to see Omniweb getting a fair number of updates in the months since they made it free. I have decided to stick with 5.9.1, due to Webkit issues in Gmail, but the sneaky peaks are fun to play with. ;-) I wouldn't give up on Omniweb just yet.
Since I suspect you will ask, I'll try to tell you what about OW compels me to use it.
1. Tabs. I do so much prefer the tabs on the side. For one, they are always a consistent size, and not dynamically changing all the time, causing me to accidently close a tab I merely meant to click on (as happens to me all the time in Safari and Firefox, and all the rest--I can't believe this doesn't irritate other people like it does me). Also, I can see more on the screen than with top-tabs (and if I turn off the icons, I can get a _huge_ number on-screen)
2. The flexibility of the tabs, moving, double-click to open in a new window, drag tabs between windows, etc. OK, most other browsers have added these features--but Omni had it first. ;-)
3. Workspaces. I have workspaces for certain kinds of works and subjects. It's great! I use this far too much. ;-)
4. Site-specific preferences. Granted, this one may seem silly at first, but I have a couple web sites, where I have set their downloads to other, specific locations. Also, I prefer a couple web sites to show me all their ads, and others, none. I have also added/changed the CSS for a couple sites I frequent. All of this is possible _only_ in Omniweb, and Omni makes it quite brainless to implement. I may not use all the site-specific preferences for the bulk of my pages, but when I have it, it is a great blessing. :-) Trust me, once you start using it, and seeing the potential, you will find more and more uses for it--at least I did.
5. Built-in source editing, and a gorgeous item inspector. Love 'em! Don't use them as often as the other features, but when I need them, they are life-savers.
6. And one feature I am using currently, and use so much, I forgot it was a feature. ;-) Popping out text entry fields into a separate window. You get used to that, and forget it may not be normal. ;-)
So, as you can see, there are compelling reasons for some/many people. :-) BTW, the "crashing" issue for Omni--not so much a show stopper as I originally thought. 5.9 is very stable, and besides that, Omni crashes as elegantly as you could hope a program to crash. Relaunch, and you are right where you left off. I don't remember ever losing work due to an Omni crash, yet other browsers frequently have let me down on that front--and yes, as you said, they _all_ crash. :-)
Well, that's my .02‹ worth (a little inflated, maybe)
-Jon
1 reply
Also, nice write-up on the other features. I hope somehow the development continues we're not forced to switch ;)