Posts by Dave

Express 2.1.2 is out, and you can get it from here or you can use the “Check for Updates” feature in Nisus Writer Express, located under the “Nisus Writer Express” menu.

There are no new features, just fixes to ensure Tiger compatibility. Also, Spotlight can search inside of Nisus Writer Express documents, because it understands our file format.

So we have that going for us too!

For anyone interested, we have put up a new page on our site, the Nisus Sneak Peek Page. We wanted to provide a way for people to have a look at what we are currently working on, and to receive feedback for those interested in giving it.

We do not offer support on Sneak Peek builds. These builds are development builds. There will be some stabililty issues, and it will have bugs. You probably do not want to use one of these dev builds for everyday work. However, if you are interested in trying some of the new features, such as bullets and numbering, the new style sheet navigator, and right to left input, we are interested in hearing your feedback.

So, for those of you who are brave, please have a look and let us know what you think.

Since Apple has announced that Tiger will be released on April 29th, we can now answer the question “Is Express compatible with Tiger?” The answer at this point is yes, but no. There are some potential gotchas that need to be addressed, so there will be an update to Express that will come out before Tiger is released. That version, Express 2.1.2, will address only issues that affect Tiger compatibility. It will add no new features. I don’t have a release date on 2.1.2 at this point, since we have not seen the final build of 10.4 as of today.

Of course, there will be another release that has new features, etc. That version, Express 2.5, will include bullets and numbering, right to left input, support for LinkBack, and the usual bug fixes and enhancements. That release is due shortly, though it may not be ready in time for Tiger’s release. There has been a lot of work done on this version, and we want to make sure that the quality is there before we release it into the wild.

There will be a public beta of this new build, as we want to make sure that everyone who wants to can contribute to the development process. Plus, we can blame you folks in case there are issues …

Seriously, watch this space for details. We will post here and in the newsletter when we release these new versions.

As someone who just about lost all of their important files, I would like to remind all of you to back up your data!

I bring this up because I very recently had a drive go bad, and without a backup I am in big trouble. And by trouble, I mean that I lose my documents, mail, my pictures and music files. Luckily, I was backing up to my iPod (really!) and was able to restore my files, thus saving myself a giant headache, not to mention heartache.

I know this sounds like a public service announcement, and it is. If you are like me, and you have thousands of pictures and music files, backing up is one of the smartest things you can do.

At a cost of millions of dollars and several months of R&D, I give you:

The Ensorcelled 7 Sphere Version 1.0

Sure, we could have been doing other things, like making Express compatible with Tiger, but this just seemed more important at the time. Then again, I have a tenuous hold on reality, so I have that going for me as well!

The latest issue of About This Particular Macintosh has a very fair review of Nisus Writer Express. I am thrilled that the author mentioned the “tags” feature. It is a feature that is almost never mentioned in reviews, though it is very powerful and useful.

Just for that mention, and the very nice words about tables, I will link to his blog.

There is also a nice review in the Washington Post (thanks Mary for the link!).

Submitted without comment:

Writing in Microsoft Word is an Exercise in Frustration

Hey, don’t yell at me, I didn’t write it.

It’s out! Nisus Writer Express 2.0 was released very late last night and I have to be honest here: You have no idea how happy we are to see it released. Well, I guess you do now.

Anyway, as Charles mentioned in an earlier post, we worked very hard on this release and I think that it shows, if I do say so myself. The engineering team did most of the heavy lifting, keeping the app stable even in the alpha builds, let alone the beta builds. Our beta test team did a great job in finding bugs, they deserve to be acknowledged too. We couldn’t have done it without them, that’s for sure.

So thanks to all of you for your help, and thanks to our engineering team for making a great app.

Now, time for sleep!

Well, the first review of Express 2.0 is in. Not bad for a product that hasn’t even been released as of this writing.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Pre-game jitters, so to speak. This is a big release for us, and we have worked very hard to get Express 2.0 right.

The mac360.com review makes me think that we have.

The latest issue of Macworld has as its cover story “Top Mac Tips”. Almost all of it is tips on how to get the best out of Office. However, Adam Engst of TidBits fame has raised the Nisus flag, adding a couple of tips on using the Document Manager and how to find just the right word with Nisus Thesaurus.

Thanks Adam!

P.S. The check is in the mail.