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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > OmniWeb now free and most likely dead

OmniWeb now free and most likely dead
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Art Vandelay
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Feb 25, 2009, 01:06 AM
 
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AKcrab
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Feb 25, 2009, 01:35 AM
 
What's OmniWeb?
     
Art Vandelay  (op)
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Feb 25, 2009, 01:44 AM
 
It's a web browser that almost everyone used in the pre 10.0 - 10.2 days but is rarely used by anyone now. So I've heard anyway.

Oh, I almost forgot. It had this unique feature where you had to pay for it.
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64stang06
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Feb 25, 2009, 10:40 AM
 
MacBook Pro 13" 2.8GHz Core i7/8GB RAM/750GB Hard Drive - Mac OS X 10.7.3
     
OreoCookie
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Feb 25, 2009, 10:48 AM
 
Well, the honcho of OmniGroup said that they'll give it away for free because it is no longer under active development. BTW, I just bought OmniFocus today, they make very nice, intuitive apps.
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Big Mac
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Feb 25, 2009, 11:33 AM
 
For those who don't know, OmniWeb is one of OS X's oldest browsers. It was a nice option for its time but never really found a niche that was viable. And once Safari was announced, I think everyone at Omni realized that there wasn't much of a future for their independent browser.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
Spheric Harlot
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Feb 25, 2009, 11:57 AM
 
OmniWeb was a wonderful app - a real OS X posterchild.

It was my exclusive browser until Safari was released.
     
OreoCookie
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Feb 25, 2009, 12:07 PM
 
Update: official word from OmniGroup is that `not currently under active development ≠ no more updates.'
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JKT
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Feb 25, 2009, 01:10 PM
 
OmniWeb wasn't a wonderful app... it still is a wonderful app. Since version 5 was first made public in 2004 it is truly depressing that there isn't a single browser out there that can match its site specific preferences and Workspaces features, nor (for those that like them) the visual tabs. There are extensions for Firefox that do half the job for some of these, but half the job = totally crap in comparison. It's tragic that much, much worse browsers have killed it off and still can't beat its built-in feature set. Fwiw, the cost to me of using OmniWeb day-in, day out since 2001 has been a grand total of $30. That is all, and during that time I've enjoyed features that other browsers took years to gain as well as ones that they still don't have. Not happy about this news.
     
JKT
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Feb 25, 2009, 01:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by Big Mac View Post
For those who don't know, OmniWeb is one of OS X's oldest browsers. It was a nice option for its time but never really found a niche that was viable. And once Safari was announced, I think everyone at Omni realized that there wasn't much of a future for their independent browser.
IIRC, OmniWeb was actually the first ever commercial browser on any platform (NeXT) so its heritage stretches much further back than OS X.
     
NeXTLoop
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Feb 25, 2009, 02:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by JKT View Post
there isn't a single browser out there that can match its site specific preferences and Workspaces features...
While there isn't any other browser that has Workspaces, iCab at least has site specific preferences. And like OW, it uses WebKit as its rendering engine.
"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs
     
TimmyDee51
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Feb 25, 2009, 08:25 PM
 
Too bad. I can only hope that they try to implement newer WebKit versions. The interface and features are fine the way they are for now.
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Art Vandelay  (op)
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Feb 25, 2009, 08:27 PM
 
Not likely when they aren't developing it anymore.

I remember when OmniWeb threads were the hottest threads around here. Now they barely get noticed.
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JKT
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Feb 26, 2009, 05:10 AM
 
OmniGroup haven't said they aren't developing it any more (in fact a sneakypeek for a minor update came out today), just that they aren't able to dedicate resources to it - it'll only be a when they can effort. At the moment though, that appears to be 'never'.
     
Big Mac
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Feb 26, 2009, 05:56 AM
 
Open Source it then.

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JKT
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Mar 11, 2009, 03:12 PM
 
Well, turns out that it most definitely is not dead... 5.9.1 is completed (I think) and the 5.9.2 sneakypeeks are underway (which is integrating the version of WebKit that is in the Safari 4 beta). Jolly good
     
   
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