What Else Does OO3 Have?

[Alexandre Enkerli]

[I hope I'm not breaking any unwritten rule by sending this. I did send 
a copy to OmniFolks the other day just to make sure but they must be 
swamped.
I know the NDA period is over but there might be expectations that we'd 
be quiet.]


J.P. asks about other OO3 features, besides attachments...

There's quite a few new features. Among the most visible ones is the 
Utility Drawer, which gives access to sections (automatically hoisted), 
styles (customizable), and, perhaps the most impressive feat of design, 
an incremental batch-search field!!
On the other side of the screen: completely redesigned and expanded 
Inspectors. Several of the new features are accessible from there but 
it's mostly a new interface philosophy.
Other new features include: audio recording, automatic sorting, new 
summary options for Number columns (averages...), grid lines, more 
export options, inline or pane notes, new numbering options (row by 
row), clippings (Services aware), new keyboard shortcuts (including 
some new navigation commands), templates, filtered printing, page 
breaks, auto-save, compressed format... There's some others but these 
are the ones I noticed most and/or found most interesting.
Some of these features are Pro Only and the distinction between the two 
versions does imply a big change. But I'd say that the most important 
features are available in the standard version. In other words, the 
standard version is a big improvement over OO2 and the pro version is a 
deluxe version over that improved version...
There's a few features which aren't implemented in the current beta, 
mostly the XSLT one. But it's already pretty mature a beta.

My verdict? Well, OO3 is an outstanding application overall. Its broad 
design philosophy is one of a kind. If it were included in an ATPO 
column (About This Particular Outliner), it'd probably win praises for 
being the most elegantly designed outliner for Mac OS X at the present 
time. It's beautifully integrated with OSX in both interface and 
features.
Most of the things we've been talking about on this list are there. On 
the other hand, chances are that some longtime OO users will focus on 
their pet feature, which is kind of sad. Well, I did do that for a 
little while when I first tried OO3. But it's better if one can get 
away from those preset expectations and focus on what the application 
really is: an amazing outliner in and of itself. It's not the last 
program you'll ever need to produce structured documents. But it might 
well be the application in which you'll spend the most time while 
preparing those structured documents.

Hope this helps.

Alex