OmniGroup Sets Four of its Apps Free

1:05 am, February 25th, 2009, Pete Mortensen

While most of the Mac blogosphere has been occupied with a certain other browser release, the OmniGroup, a stalwart of NeXT and OS X software development, has made four of its own previously commercial apps, including the very appealing OmniWeb browser, completely free of charge. The other applications in question are presentation improver OmniDazzle, useless file remover OmniDiskSweeper, and developer tool OmniObjectMeter.

Back years ago, pre-Safari and Firefox, my brother and I would debate constantly about which the best OS X browser. He said OmniWeb, and I always argued in favor of Chimera (which turned into Camino). The reasons were pretty clear. I was a college student and poor, and he was gainfully employed and could afford to pay for his browser. Also, I had a 12″ Powerbook, and he had a 17″ model, so the large amount of screen real estate needed to take advantage of all of OmniWeb’s cool features was no sweat for him.

A lot of time has passed since then, Camino has improved dramatically, and so has OmniWeb. I’m still no convert, but I’m more tempted than I have ever been. And free DiskSweeper! That’s awesome!

Hat tip: Gruber

Posted by Pete Mortensen in Software | Comment on this article

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Pete Mortensen is the communications lead for growth strategy firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

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6 comments

I’m not sure why you said OmniDiskSweeper is useless. Have you ever used it? It’s a godsend for laptop users with limited storage space. It visually shows what’s taking up space on your harddrive – from the largest files and folders first to the smallest. It helped me find all these useless folders takes GBs of space, like printer drivers, Garageband loops, etc.

Karl, on February 25th, 2009 at 6:37 am

I was thinking of purchasing OmniDazzle for my screencasting needs awhile back, but it had some limits that made me hesitate. It seemed unlikely that it’d be upgraded, so at least I’m happy to see it’s been made free! Thanx for posting about this, I heard the news from you!

Torley, on February 25th, 2009 at 8:33 am

Is it a “useless file” remover or a “useless” file remover?

mathias, on February 25th, 2009 at 10:00 am

What Mathias said. I meant that removes “useless files,” not that the program is useless. I love DiskSweeper and ran it last night.

Pete Mortensen, on February 25th, 2009 at 10:34 am

Thanks for posting this! I just downloaded OmniDiskSweeper and tried it for the first time. I was able to clear up about 90GB of disk space very easily. I delete everything from useless printer drivers to duplicated (or not needed) movies/music/etc as well as ‘Previous Systems’ data. It took all about 5 minutes after the initial sweep.

AndyM, on February 25th, 2009 at 10:39 am

AndyM has 90GB of wasted/redundant space?

o_O

Dann, on February 25th, 2009 at 8:27 pm