VectorDesiger 1.0
New vector based drawing application from TweakerSoft. Initial impressions are very positive. It looks to give LineForm some good competition. Among the features unique to VectorDesigner are integration with Flickr (allowing for quick search and retrieval of Flickr images inside VectorDesigner), and a conversion between raster and vector formats. VectorDesigner 1.0 is $49.95 until after Macworld, at which point it will be bumped up to the normal price of $69.95
Posted: January 8, 2008 / Category: Software
Acrobat Plug-in, Mac OS X
When you install Adobe Creative Suite 3, the installer insists you quit Safari so it can install the necessary plug-ins. Which plug-ins are they? You’ve got me, because the Installer doesn’t mention it, nor does it give you the ability to cancel the plug-ins install. So you quit Safari, let the software install itself, and go on your merry way.
Until you are surfing the web and come across a PDF file. Safari handles PDF files with amazing speed and flexibility out of the box, so it is a major annoyance to see a Open File dialog box pop-up with a message:
“AdobePDFViewer.plugin can’t find Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat”.
What the fuck is going on here? Has Adobe just stopped caring about their customer’s experience, or did they move Windows engineers (who do this shit all the time) to the Mac team. Any self respecting Mac developer would never allow an application to hijack a built-in service, and then when that service is called upon, present the user with a necessary (and confusing) setup step. It’s beyond bad form, it’s down right insulting.
Attention Windows Switchers: When you get your first Mac, you will probably try to set it up as you did your PC, and install Adobe Reader for PDF viewing. You don’t have to. Mac OS X has an amazing PDF reader built in, called Preview. In addition, PDF is a system level file format, and Safari can view them out of the box with more speed and grace than Adobe’s own Reader application.
Posted: November 10, 2007 / Category: Software
PixelMator 1.0
The brothers Dailide have shipped their much anticipated photo editing application, PixelMator. Yes, Gruber can no longer cry “vaporware!”. PixelMator 1.0 includes much of the feature set of Photoshop (version 3, maybe 4). Still, there is a definite market for a simple, easy to use image editor on the Mac. Along with a robust set of features, PixelMator also features a gorgeous UI, eschewing traditional OS X panels for a total HUD (heads up display) look.
I was one of the lucky ones to beta test this app, and can tell you that it is rock solid. If you’ve been looking for an image editing application and don’t want to mortgage the house on Photoshop, PixelMator may be the way to go for you. Of course, you could also give Acorn a try.
Wow. Two weeks ago there were no simple, functional, easy to use image editors on the Mac under $100. Now there are two. Viva lé Core Image!
PixelMator 1.0 is $59.
Posted: September 25, 2007 / Category: Software
Apple release Logic updates
Apple has updated the Apple Store with new versions of Logic Studio and Express. Dubbed “Logic Studio 8″ and “Logic Express 8″, the new versions include a revamped interface, a price reduction and many new features.
Logic Studio brings a new single window interface, a simpler setup, quick swipe comping, new audio editing tools, surround sound mixing/processing, and the retirement of the Dongle. Additionally, Apple has added a new component, MainStage, which lets keyboardists, guitarists, and other musicians perform with software instruments and effects through a full-screen interface designed specifically for the stage.
Apple dropped the price of Logic Studio from $999 to $499.
Logic Express features many of the same interface improvements as Studio, and new features such as Guitar Amp Pro, Ringshifter, and full-featured Pitch Correction. The price of Logic Express drops from $299 to $199. Both are available now from the Apple Store.
Acorn 1.0
Gus Mueller from Flying Meat software has released his new app, Acorn. It is billed as a lightweight, layers based, bitmap image editor. Additional features include iSight integration, Tablet support, Vector shape/text layers, extensibility through plug-ins, and more. Acorn is $39.95, and available for download as trial.
Posted: September 10, 2007 / Category: Software
Eudora 8.0b
A new beta of Eudora 8, code named “Penelope” has been released. Eudora 8 scrapped its previous code base and was rewritten using Thunderbird as a starting point. In my first look, Eudora 8 basically looks like Thunderbird with really crappy icons.
Posted: September 6, 2007 / Category: Software
Mars Edit 2
Red Sweater Software has released the highly anticipated Mars Edit 2. If you blog on a Mac, this is the app that you want to use. $29.95 for a new license, $9.95 for upgrades.
Posted: / Category: Software
iWork ‘08 Trial
As soon as the Apple Store got over its shyness, I placed my orders for iLife and iWork ‘08. However, later in the day, Apple made the iWork ‘08 suite available for download as a trial package. While the iWork ‘06 suite was installed on all new Macs, it was never available as a trial download. What’s nice is that you can actually just buy the serial number from within iWork now. Nice. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have opted for the shipped package.
It’s nice to see Apple finally adopting the shareware approach to software distribution.
What’s even nicer is that the education price for the download is $49, while the price for the boxed version is $71. However, there is no download discount for the consumer version. Bummer
Bad day for Tables
As I said earlier this year, why would someone spend $54 on Tables, when iWork (a $79 package) was slated to get a kick-ass spreadsheet program (Numbers) in ‘08.
Somewhere in Germany, Daniel Schwill is rethinking his pricing model.
Cyndicate 1.0
Just what the world needs - another RSS feed reader. Fans of the former PulpFiction product will be happy to know that is has been rebirthed as Cyndicate. I own licenses for Newsfire, and have used Vienna quite a bit, but I have to give Cyndicate props. It looks like a really slick feed reader. However, at $30, it’s competing directly against the big boy in town, NetNewsWire. You definitely can’t say that the Mac is lacking for newsreaders though, can you?
Posted: August 2, 2007 / Category: Software