Why I Use OmniWeb
One of the great things about being a Mac user is having access to Mac software. Sure, we have cross-platform apps like Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC, and Filezilla. That’s not why you bought a Mac, though. A wise man once said:
“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
There’s something very right about software that not only looks great but works well: software that gets out of your way and just allows you to forget you’re using it. That is, of course, until you sit down at someone else’s computer. I don’t realize how much I love OmniWeb until I try using another browser. As another wise man once said, “You can look as good as a Ferrari, but it doesn’t matter if you smell like a bus.”
Thumbnail Tabs
I like them. They are in a drawer on the side of the window, a great use of screen real estate on widescreen monitors.
Shortcuts
Firefox has this built-in, but I find OmniWeb’s implementation to be a bit simpler. I have shortcuts for loads of sites. I type bg gal 2:21 into my address bar and get a BibleGateway search for Galatians 2:21 in five different translations. I also have msg, nlt, niv, and nasb for individual translations. I find myself also enjoying use to search I Use This for something. Of course, there’s the obvious: mn (Mininova) and pb (The Pirate Bay) which I have set to search the sites ranked by seeders. As in Firefox, you can control-click in any search box and simply select “Add Search Shortcut…” to instantly add more.
But shortcuts aren’t limited to searches. I can just type df in my address bar and it loads Daring Fireball and gr for Google Reader. Any frequently visited site can be just a couple letters away.
Ad Blocking
Again, Firefox has this — though only as an add-on — but I can’t imagine life without it. OmniWeb’s regular expression ad blocking is great. The included defaults are enough to block most ads for most people, and regular expressions allow for easy Flash blocking (though I have been really enjoying the greater flexibility ClickToFlash affords).
Per-Site Preferences
I can easily adjust the font size on a single site. Every time I come back to it, it is instantly readable. This also works with ad and pop-up blocking, JavaScript, cookies, and user agent (to fool sites who insist that you use Internet Explorer).
Safe Applications
Safari has a preference for this, but there is not an easily accessible mechanism for changing the applications it recognizes as safe. In OmniWeb, I just tell it that Transmission is a “safe” application. Henceforth, any file that Transmission “owns” will open automatically upon download completion. One click on a .torrent file in OmniWeb and it starts downloading in Transmission. No sweat.
Textarea Editor
Every textarea in a Web form can be “zoomed” and edited in a proper OS X window which you can resize. It even sports an “Import Text” button to open a file you already have prepared. This is great for blog posting. Though I still compose longer posts in TextWrangler, it is a pleasure to be able to zoom tiny text boxes on some sites.
Integration with OS X
This is where Firefox really sucks. Camino is better, but still lacks many of the other features that make OmniWeb so awesome. OmniWeb looks, feels, and behaves likes an OS X application. It integrates with Address Book to autofill forms, Keychain Access for password storage, and more.
Bookmarks Synchronization
This works with MobileMe (formerly .Mac) or your own WebDAV server. I never think about this except when I get a new computer or reformat a current one. Most of my bookmarks are expendable, but it is always a pleasant surprise to be up and running with everything where I last left it. Which reminds me…
Workspaces
I am so used to using this that I almost forgot about it! You can set up a “workspace” (which is just your current collection of tabs and windows) that will reopen exactly as you had them when you restart. You can even have multiple workspaces. I have ones for news reading, comparison shopping, Bible study, and finances. You can even take snapshots of your workspace to revert to at a later time.
Price
Okay, it’s not really a reason to use it, since all the other major (and most minor) Web browsers are free, but it’s one less objection. I like OmniWeb so much that I paid for it prior to The Omni Group making it available at no cost. But now, there’s no reason not to use OmniWeb. That’s right. It’s free now. At least give it a try.
For more information on OmniWeb check out reviews by the Johns. Gruber’s take on OmniWeb — a beta from 2004 — and Siracusa’s review from around the same time are comprehensive to say the least. Much has changed since then, but most of the defining qualities that make it great still ring true. And did I mention it’s free now?
In the words of John Siracusa:
Usually this level of functionality can only be found in the geekiest of open source web browsers, if it can be found at all. Finding it in a proper Mac OS X application from a respected developer with a proven track record is like finding a perfect 1/10,000th scale replica of the Eiffel Tower in a box of crackerjacks. Then the tower transforms into a tiny robot and makes you lunch.
