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-   -   Sorry, but I just don't get it. (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=4115)

Juddbert 2007-07-08 11:43 AM

Sorry, but I just don't get it.
 
I realise that my head is probably way above the parapet here, but I really don't get OmniWeb. Why, when Safari and Camino are free, would I choose to pay to add yet another browser? My initial reactions are "Hmmm, nice, but nothing special".

OmniGraffle... Brilliant!
OmniOutliner... Oh my! The definitive outliner. The best on [I]any[/I] platform - by far!
OmniWeb... ???

Help me out here please. I'm open to conversion.

theonehorst 2007-07-08 01:54 PM

Just download it and test it. Faster, easier to use. nice features..

I don't get it why people don't want to pay for a browser. It's the programm, i use the most, so I more than willing to pay for a good produkt.

wiredzen 2007-07-08 03:54 PM

I agree. I think people mistake the freedom and free use of the internet for the software to access it. If the internet is to remain free - in all aspects, and that has been challenged quite a bit (the Bell conglomerate is a perfect example) - then someone's got to pay for it's advancements. I am more than willing to pay a fee for something that I use everyday and that makes my life easier. I like Firefox, but it still is not designed as well for Macs - it's occasionally buggy from my experience. Omniweb runs smoothly on my Macbook Pro. Safari is fast and decent, but it still lacks some of the extras that come with Omniweb.

Juddbert 2007-07-09 09:45 AM

Okay... I have downloaded it. I did so before making the post. Frankly, I don't see anything special in it. I'd agree with the comment about Firefox, but Camino uses the same Gekko rendering engine and is a 100% Cocoa build. It's fast, clean and free. You don't necessarily get better software just because it has a price tag.

I'd really like to like OmniWeb, primarily because I'm bowled over by the other Omni software that I use. So far though, my impression has barely reached tepid.

technomage 2007-07-09 03:03 PM

One needs to spend some time with Omniweb's feature set to appreciate the depth of what's there. I'd use it exclusively if the only "extra" feature was the tab drawer implementation. I agree with wiredzen that there is a value consideration. Just because something is "free" does not mean that there are not costs associated with using an inferior product. I use a web browser more than any other piece of software, and I'm less willing to put up with inferior usability and willing to pay for features that enhance my user experience and productivity.

1) Safari and Firefox both require 3rd party add-on's to do ad blocking which break frequently with incremental updates and are orders of magnitude less intuitive and flexible than Omni's built-in tool.
2) user defined URL shortcuts
3) built-in source and page element viewer/extractor with source syntax coloring
4) better history implementation than Safari or Firefox
5) better privacy management tools than Safari
6) user control of "safe applications" for downloads
7) workspaces
8) better integration with URL Manager Pro
9) Webkit is not Gekko

kocab 2007-07-09 04:19 PM

Camino is carbon based actually, not Cocoa. Omniweb [B]is[/B] Cocoa based - which means all the neat little Cocoa extras that I really like about OS X work in Omniweb.

I used Camino for a while when Omniweb wasn't being updated. It's a fine browser. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't use some of my favorite Firefox extensions, and I found the lack of bookmark syncing really annoying. But what I really was bothered by was the constant font display issues that Camino as a gecko based browser has.

The newest version of gecko, which is cocoa based, won't have these font problems, but that won't be out until the fall. Unlike my use of the Omniweb alphas, I find the Firefox and Camino alphas too unstable for real daily use.

The other feature of Omniweb that I've come to really use is the ability to have site-specific preferences. That ability to tweak fonts and/or CSS per site has become something I'm not willing to give up easily and is the primary reason I'm so delighted that now that Omniweb is moving forward with a new version of webkit, I'm able to use it as my primary browser again.

MacAddict4Life 2007-07-10 08:30 AM

1) Thumbnail tabs
2) Advanced search shortcut setup. By default type "google [item to search for]" and OW searches for it on Google. I've simplified this: "g [querry]" searches google, "gi" searches google images, "tb" thottbot, "movies [location]" searches yahoo movies for listings, etc etc. When I use other browsers I miss this feature more than any other. It's SO much faster to hit "Command-L" and then "g take apart diagram of Apple iPhone" than it is to go to Google or use a google bar.

There are other things that I like about OW, other things that are amazing about OW, but honestly off the top of my head when I'm really sleepy, those are the two that are ABSOLUTELY worth the cost of the browser.

Incidentally, I first started using OW because it was the first multithreaded browser on OS X. The internet itself was slower, and it was often the server's fault at the time, and being able to have one page loading in a background window while you interact with the foreground window was REALLY nice.

FredH 2007-07-10 09:54 AM

[QUOTE=MacAddict4Life]
2) Advanced search shortcut setup. By default type "google [item to search for]" and OW searches for it on Google. I've simplified this: "g [querry]" searches google, "gi" searches google images, "tb" thottbot, "movies [location]" searches yahoo movies for listings, etc etc. When I use other browsers I miss this feature more than any other. It's SO much faster to hit "Command-L" and then "g take apart diagram of Apple iPhone" than it is to go to Google or use a google bar.[/QUOTE]

You can do this in Camino as well.

I still like OmniWeb better, at least as soon as it's stability problems are fixed. Per site preferences are worth the price of admission for me.

daiyi666@yahoo.com 2007-07-10 11:16 AM

It all really depends on your needs, after all. Perhaps you don't have the same needs that others willing to purchase a license require.

As the previous poster noted, site preferences are very nice. Even though SafariStand will allow you to create site preferences, the control is not as fine and usage not as simple as OW. Until Safari 3.0, I don't think any other browsers had zoomed text editing. Very useful, especially for longer online application forms or submitting screeds to online forums <grin>.

Give it a try.

Juddbert 2007-07-11 11:21 AM

[QUOTE=kocab]Camino is carbon based actually, not Cocoa. Omniweb [B]is[/B] Cocoa based - which means all the neat little Cocoa extras that I really like about OS X work in Omniweb.
[/QUOTE]

Ahh, then the Camino web site is telling porkies - it clearly states:
[QUOTE]From new features like the system spell-checker and session saving to improvements in trademark features like annoyance blocking, Camino 1.5 makes all your web tasks more enjoyable. Built on the world’s most compatible rendering engine, Mozilla’s Gecko 1.8.1, it displays more pages more accurately than any other Cocoa browser.[/QUOTE]
Be that as it may, I have stumbled across some rather elegant features of OW that are not immediately apparent - things don't seem to be where I'd expect them, but that's just a familiarisation issue. I'll reserve final judgement for the duration of the trial period, but I'm still inclined that OW is not in the same superclass as OO & OG.


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