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wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
Any MacRumors users besides me use OmniWeb?

What I like:
  • Graphical tabs
  • VERY fast... faster than both Firefox and Safari
  • WebCore based, just like Safari - but won't break when WebCore is updated

What I dislike:
  • Doesn't work very well with keyboard shortcuts - have to press twice to make them work
  • Costs US$14.95 for a license
  • Bookmark importing is a little strange, and takes some getting used to
 

thedude110

macrumors 68020
Jun 13, 2005
2,478
2
Did use OmniWeb circa 2004 (2005?) and thought it was functional enough.

Not going to pay $15 for it though, when it's no great improvement over Safari or Camino.

Where's the market for the product, no matter how good it may be?
 

clevin

macrumors G3
Aug 6, 2006
9,095
1
i have it, now its $15 for 5 licenses
I didn't use it alot, because
1. it has no home button
2. its compatibility is worse than safari
3. it has no mouse gesture

well, its kinda better than safari because
1. it can automatically open tabs instead of new window
2. its tabs look impressive
3. it has adblock
 

jamdr

macrumors 6502a
Jul 20, 2003
659
0
Bay Area
i have it, now its $15 for 5 licenses
I didn't use it alot, because
1. it has no home button
2. its compatibility is worse than safari
3. it has no mouse gesture
I use version 5.5.1 and it does indeed have a home button, although you have to customize the toolbar to add it (it's not part of the default toolbar). And since it uses WebKit, it's compatibility is exactly the same as Safari's. As far as mouse gestures, can't you use a system-wide utility to add this functionality?
 

clevin

macrumors G3
Aug 6, 2006
9,095
1
I use version 5.5.1 and it does indeed have a home button, although you have to customize the toolbar to add it (it's not part of the default toolbar). And since it uses WebKit, it's compatibility is exactly the same as Safari's. As far as mouse gestures, can't you use a system-wide utility to add this functionality?

oh, my bad, it does have a home button, called start page.:)
no, compatibility issue comes from the UA, just like MSNBC's frontpage's dynamic menu will show in firefox, while not in BonEcho, (PS, i posted an example, msnbc's video section, it works in safari, but not in omniweb, but I just tried again with omniweb, it works this time, im not sure if they changed design or omniweb 5.5.2beta has new feature, so u might want to try out and let me know the result.)
 

wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
I use version 5.5.1 and it does indeed have a home button, although you have to customize the toolbar to add it (it's not part of the default toolbar). And since it uses WebKit, it's compatibility is exactly the same as Safari's. As far as mouse gestures, can't you use a system-wide utility to add this functionality?
Actually, this isn't quite true. OmniWeb uses WebCore (like Safari), but not WebKit. Also, it doesn't use the system WebCore library, but instead uses one inside of the application bundle. This is why it won't break when Apple updates Safari.
 

M@lew

macrumors 68000
Nov 18, 2006
1,582
0
Melbourne, Australia
I used to use it but then I got Saft for Safari and now I pretty much only use Safari. But if there's a website that needs it, i'll use firefox.
 

iMeowbot

macrumors G3
Aug 30, 2003
8,634
0
Actually, this isn't quite true. OmniWeb uses WebCore (like Safari), but not WebKit.
That used to be true, but they've since (with 5.5) changed to using the WebKit form.
Also, it doesn't use the system WebCore library, but instead uses one inside of the application bundle.
This part is still true, they pick the nightly builds they like best and add their own tweaks.

Oh yeah - wasn't really a conscious decision, but I was using OmniWeb for one specific project and it sort of became my daily driver. There's no single killer feature I'd point out, just the combination of features happens to be convenient.
 

jasko

macrumors 6502
Dec 26, 2006
471
5
I loved OmniWeb. It was really fast..... lately though it's been crashing a lot, so I switched over to Webkit.
 

RacerX

macrumors 65832
Aug 2, 2004
1,504
4
I've been using OmniWeb since version 2.4 and still actively using 3.0 (in Rhapsody 5.1) and 3.1 (in Rhapsody 5.6 and OPENSTEP 4.2).

What I like about version 3.x...
  • Integrated HTML editor which displays code with syntax coloring and previews of changes using original page graphics even after modifying the code (but not after you save to a new location).
  • Antialias fonts (Rhapsody version) makes the web easier to read and pages look better.
  • Bookmark window shows if new content is available at pages (or if the links are dead).
  • I set up my shortcuts so that any non-standard entry into the address field yields a Google search. This has the added plus of giving me a Google search (via services) from any of my other applications (highlight a word or term, go to open address in OmniWeb, up pops the search results).
What I liked about versions 4.0-4.2 was pretty much the same as what I liked about 3.x plus...
  • Better handling of shortcuts. I have my systems set up with "g" for Google search, "gn" for Google News search, "gi" for Google Image search, "y" for Yahoo search, "yi" for Yahoo Images search, "a" for Apple TechInfo Archive search, "d" for dictionary search and "e" for encyclopedia search.
  • Better handling and organization of bookmarks.
What I liked about 4.5 is the same as 4.2 plus...
  • Custom implementation of khtml (WebCore) which made the app faster, and independent of Apple's upgrades (or lack of upgrades) to WebKit in Mac OS X (obviously this was lost with OmniWeb 5.5).
  • Zoom out text field windows. Between the standard text functionality for Cocoa app and the additional services I have to enhance writing in any Cocoa app, having text fields become their own windows is like being able to step effortlessly into TextEdit to write posts... without leaving OmniWeb.
What I like about 5.x
  • Visual tabs. Mainly the fact that they are drag-n-drop (why other browsers don't at least use drag-n-drop to open links in new tabs is beyond me). I also like the feedback of pages getting updated and being able to see which of the tabs I've openned that I haven't looked at yet.
  • Workspaces.
  • Site preferences. This is one feature I'll never want to live without. By default all sites I go to will not load images from other sites until I change the preferences for that site. I can also enable/disable Java functionality for any site (specially ones that can't seem to code Java correctly).
It is funny that speed is so high on everyone's lists... for me, that isn't the point of browsing the web. I don't spend my time bouncing around the net like a ball in a pinball game (that may be too old a reference for some of you guys ;) ). All browsers are basically fast enough for me (though the ones that use Mac OS X's image rendering seem faster at some tasks on my systems). I'm an interactive user of the web, not a passive watcher of it. I require access to many of the tools and features to interact with content. Other browsers basically make me feel like I've been crippled... I'm not sure how other people deal with it (other than the obvious, they just don't know better).

Do I mind paying for OmniWeb?

Not at all. Between what OmniWeb provides in the way of features and the fact that I have access to a ton of additional features via services, it is more than worth the small amount I've paid them over the last 10 years.
 
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