Existing users, 
User Name reowen
Member Since 0000-00-00
Total number of Feedback Posts: 30
Total number of comments: 10
Last 10 Feedback Posts by reowen [ Search for All ]
Retrospect client 6.2.234 (Mac OS X)
Fragile but works well when it works 
Retrospect Client is now up to version 6.2.234. This is the second release that is Intel native. I had major problems with it when I first installed it by simply installing it over 6.2.229. But uninstalling it (with the official uninstaller) and reinstalling it fixed those problems. Note that doing this means re-entering the access password and the server has to re-authorize the client, so it's a hassle. Most users will probably get the update pushed anyway, which is just as well since the installer is pretty bad (for instance it runs Retrospect Client at the end and you can't dismount the disk image until you quit it). It hasn't changed significantly in years. It still has these limitations: - It will not wake up the computer if it's asleep. Pathetic. - The only way to protect directories from backup is to set a preference and put a bullet in the name. Unpleasant but it works. - The log has no detail so it's impossible to find out what happened if there are errors (without going to the server and looking at its log). Still...when it works, it works really well. I'd hate to be without it. One trick I just learned is that you do not need to have Retrospect Client running to get a backup. It is basically just used for changing settings. [alert admin]
Friday, November 21 2008 @ 09:58 AM PST
Dantz Retrospect client 6.2.229 (Mac OS X)
Fragile but works well when it works
Retrospect Client is now up to version 6.2.234. This is the second release that is Intel native. I had major problems with it when I first installed it by simply installing it over 6.2.229. But uninstalling it (with the official uninstaller) and reinstalling it fixed those problems. Note that doing this means re-entering the access password and the server has to re-authorize the client, so it's a hassle. Most users will probably get the update pushed anyway, which is just as well since the installer is pretty bad (for instance it runs Retrospect Client at the end and you can't dismount the disk image until you quit it). It hasn't changed significantly in years. It still has these limitations: - It will not wake up the computer if it's asleep. Pathetic. - The only way to protect directories from backup is to set a preference and put a bullet in the name. Unpleasant but it works. - The log has no detail so it's impossible to find out what happened if there are errors (without going to the server and looking at its log). Still...when it works, it works really well. I'd hate to be without it. One trick I just learned is that you do not need to have Retrospect Client running to get a backup. It is basically just used for changing settings. [alert admin]
Thursday, November 20 2008 @ 12:53 PM PST
BBEdit 9.0 (Mac OS X)
The new non-modal find/replace dialog box is a huge improvement over the old one. The various checkboxes are now independent of each other, so "replace in selection" is not much safer and fairly easy. Still a few minor quibbles: - No "close after action" option (that I've found so far), so the dialog sticks around. No big deal, but auto-close was one justifications for the modal dialog box (which you can still select as an option). - The option key does not temporarily enable "in selection". Maybe someday. - The report for number of replacements is a modal dialog rather than a Growl-type notification. Fortunately it is easy to turn off. Many other nice improvements. I especially appreciate *finally* being able to edit text in other views (e.g. browsers). But for me the non-modal find/replace is the biggie. I've been using other editors for years due to the older horrible find/replace dialog box. I was very happy to come back to BBEdit. [alert admin]
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Friday, August 29 2008 @ 09:55 AM PDT
Eddie 1.0.1 (Mac OS X)
Looks very nice but not fully Python-aware
Things I like include: - Superb find/replace dialog box including: --- Multi-file find/replace --- Option key limits find/replace to selection --- You can choose whether the window stays open or closes after a find --- Whole word checkbox (faster than using a regular expression) - Compact window toolbar with useful tools Things I don't like include: - No support for tabbed windows - No support for scripts (though it has a nifty terminal-like worksheet) - Cannot insert spaces instead of tabs when one hits the tab key. (I personally prefer real tabs but spaces is a required style for many). - The Python mode needs work. Functions are not parsed (the function menu is empty) and comment/uncomment uses // instead of # Overall it looks very promising but has some rough edges. [alert admin]
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Thursday, January 03 2008 @ 10:11 AM PST
Vicomsoft FTP Client 4.5 (Mac OS X)
Does not seem to support public key authentication
Maybe I am missing something, but I can't figure out how to use it with public key authentication. If that is so then I can't use it. Some useful looking features such as synchronization. And the user can decide what double click will do (nothing, edit or download). But I see no obvious way to make sftp the default connection type. [alert admin]
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Friday, November 16 2007 @ 09:06 AM PST
ForgEdit 1.0b9 (Mac OS X)
ForgEdit is very nice and clean, but is missing a few useful features that are common in a programming editors and that I miss, including: * No indication of matching parenthesis * No way to select text in a logical block (e.g. between curly braces) * No menu of function names Similarly, the find/replace dialog box is nice and clean but could use: * hold option key to replace "in selection" (at least there is a menu for this!) * uses a menu to enable regular expressions (clumsier than a checkbox) A great start and well worth checking out. [alert admin]
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Tuesday, October 23 2007 @ 03:59 PM PDT
YemuZip 2.1 (Mac OS X)
From a few minute's test it seems to work as advertised. However, I find the interface clumsy compared to DropZip (part of StuffIt). DropZip will create an archive with no user interaction (using your favorite default settings) and then quit -- very unobtrusive! And you can hold down the option key to get the options panel if you want to do something unusual. Very elegant! Whereas YemuZip always prompts for a name and always keeps running when finished. Also, it apparently is adware -- at least there is a preference to hide ads that requires buying the "pro" version -- for a paltry $5, but good luck finding that out without starting the registration process, and good luck finding out the "pro" version offers anything other than hiding ads because there is NO information at all about it at the developer's web site. I'll stick to DropZip but I keep hoping somebody will come out with a cheap alternative that works just as well because it's the only component of StuffIt I still use. And I only use it to create unix/windows-compatible ZIP archives (Apple's own archiver works fine for zipping files that contain Mac-specific info). [alert admin]
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Tuesday, August 28 2007 @ 09:40 AM PDT
()
I also found that 5.0.5 doesn't work, though for different reasons. In my case it thought my license to upgrade had expired (though it doesn't until near the end of this month). Unfortunately I then tried a patched 5.0.5 that left me unable to run 5.0.4 either (though in all fairness I've not pursued this far far yet -- killing the phone home program may do the job -- and the author has promised to send me instructions for a fix as soon as I send some necessary info) Synchronize Pro X! is generally a very good -- solid, powerful, configurable and well supported. But it has some oddities and this highlights two of them: - The author does not serve older versions of the program. This is most unfortunate given the time expiring update licensing model. If you miss an update near the end of your license period, you're out of luck. - There is no full time-limited demo mode. This makes it very hard for people to test it (including regular customers who want to evaluate whether to renew a license after some nifty new update). Anyway...that said, this is the first upgrade I can remember that had problems. Overall it has been a great program and I'll be happy to keep using it once this gets straightened out. [alert admin]
Monday, February 05 2007 @ 09:18 PM PST
SubEthaEdit 2.6 (Mac OS X)
SubEthaEdit works well as a source code editor (I don't happen to use its collaborative features so I won't comment on those). It is clean, reliable and has good support. Nice features include: - Nice, clean find/replace dialog box - The "function" menu lists classes, functions, etc. nicely indented and with separate icons for classes, functions, etc. - Always shows you which function or class you are in - Very adaptable language-specific settings (e.g. for indent and wrap) - Can highlight what you have changed - Script menu (but applescripts only) - Mode menu contains useful language-specific tools (and shows only the tools appropriate for the current language) However, I do miss some features from other editors: - No keyboard shortcut editor - No direct support for scripts written in Python or Perl (you can get there from AppleScript but it's very clumsy) - No search and replace in multiple files (though I think this is planned) - No way to diff two files (use Apple's FileMerge instead) - No "project" support (for managing sets of files) The undo is a approximately word-at-a-time, which is chunkier than TextMate (one character at a time--ugh!) but still can seem too fine. It could use some way to undo bigger chunks. Alternative source code editors to consider (though none have SubEthaEdit's collaborative features) include: - TextWrangler: free, stable and full featured, but has a very clumsy find/replace dialog box. - Smultron: free and a fairly similar feature set to SubEthaEdit - TextMate: amazing feature set (though a bit cluttered). I'd probably use it but I find the character-at-a-time undo a show-stopper. SubEthaEdit editor is a very good editor at a very reasonable price. [alert admin]
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Thursday, February 01 2007 @ 09:45 AM PST
Fetch 5.2 (Mac OS X)
Fetch is an excellent (S)FTP client. Very solid, clean and easy to use. Highly recommended and well worth checking out. That said, I have switched to a different browser due to a few minor issues (which I reported a long time ago). But every program has its quirks and these may not bother you: - If you click "Edit" on a file of unknown type, it will always ask whether to edit it as an image or a text file. Remote image editing may be a wonderful featurefor some, but I never use it so this is just intrusive. I want to be able to tell it to always edit as a text file and don't ask. - If you use sftp and public key encryption (e.g. SSH Agent), Fetch insists on a password for the connection even though the password will just be ignored. If you use Fetch then you can avoid the hassle by saving dummy password so no big deal. But I'd rather not clutter up my keychain with meaningless entries and I'd rather be told something more sensible than "invalid password" if SSH Agent isn't running. So I personally use Yummy FTP instead. It seems just as solid as Fetch and does not have the quirks mentioned above. Also, the author seems more responsive (which may explain the fewer quirks). On the other hand, it has one quirk of its own: one cannot copy URLs from Yummy FTP to Eudora because of a unicode issue I don't understand (and which doesn't happen with Fetch or any web browser). (Also, if Pepper is your text editor: Yummy FTP has a workaround for a Pepper bug that allows it to display window titles for sftp remote edited files.) [alert admin]
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Tuesday, January 09 2007 @ 12:00 PM PST
Last 10 Comments by reowen [ Search for All ]
I agree completely. If I had to give up Eudora today I'd switch to Gyaz Mail. It is clean and reportedly very solid (more so than Apple Mail). I've briefly tried PowerMail (fairly powerful but I found it clumsy) and Thunderbird. I'll keep using Eudora for now and hope for Odysseus to come through. But I want features such as option-click to group items by author or subject and the ability to edit mail messages that I've…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Wednesday, August 06 2008 @ 01:11 PM PDT
There is a prerelease available (contact the author) that adds some important features including: - Tab can now insert spaces! - Much better handling of python code The tab-inserts-spaces feature does something I've never seen before: left/right arrow treats the spaces as a single tab. This is wonderful for navigation (though it makes it a bit harder to see if you've got true tabs that need to be converted). I'm going to give it a try as my main…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Friday, February 29 2008 @ 09:47 AM PST
Try Eagle Filer
Original feedback item : Read More
Wednesday, December 05 2007 @ 09:40 AM PST
Nice browser, but I don't like the Tabs
I agree. The tab bar takes up too much space and I wish there was a way to have the tabs along the top. I do appreciate the side tab drawer when I have a lot of windows open. But even so, I would use Safari/Firefox-like tabs if I could.
Original feedback item : Read More
Thursday, October 25 2007 @ 09:49 AM PDT
This always starts happening to me after awhile, also. Try using Activity Monitor to quit System Events. That should make it work again (at least for awhile). Almost certainly an Apple bug. I'm running 10.4.8 with the latest patches.
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Wednesday, January 17 2007 @ 12:56 PM PST
Good CS but very slow development
You might try Flush Cache in the OmniWeb menu. I find that once in awhile OmniWeb gets very unstable, but doing this usually returns it to being reliable. Still..even the resulting occasional crashes are frustrating and the achilles heel of an otherwise very impressive program.
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Thursday, June 16 2005 @ 09:04 AM PDT
Since you say you already use Quicksilver as a launcher but use Butler for iTunes, may I suggest adding a few simple iTunes scripts where Quicksiilver can find them (I use a folder Applications/Scripts/iTunes/). For instance to skip to the next track: tell application "iTunes" next track end tell It takes a few minutes to write, test and save a few useful scripts, but then you have them. (I have one to start iTunes, the one above to skip…
Original feedback item : Read More(1 words)
Thursday, April 14 2005 @ 03:28 PM PDT
I agree that setting text styles is confusing. One way that works is to select the text, click the tag icon. You then get a dialog that lets you choose which tag to add. That seems too clumsy and I'm not sure how to remove the tag afterwards (e.g. make the text plain) without going into the source code view. Some of the rest of the design looks promising.
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Friday, March 25 2005 @ 03:24 PM PST
It's a completely different editor than the gnu editor, despite the identical (except for capitalization) name.
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Wednesday, February 23 2005 @ 11:36 AM PST
duplicate entry
Original feedback item : Read More
Monday, February 07 2005 @ 10:06 AM PST
