Is Nisus Moribund?
Is Nisus Moribund?
I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, but I believe this is a fair question. Is Nisus moribund?
As best I can find, Martin's last post to any Nisus Forum was 2024-04-10 10:58:13
The date and version of what I believe is latest Nisus Writer Pro are:
Created: January 8, 2024 at 12:53
Modified: Friday, April 26, 2024 at 12:23 (when I last installed it?)
Version: 3.4.1 beta 1
To those who've updated or are planning to update to macOS Sequoia, you would understandingly be wondering/questioning Nisus support.
Brad
As best I can find, Martin's last post to any Nisus Forum was 2024-04-10 10:58:13
The date and version of what I believe is latest Nisus Writer Pro are:
Created: January 8, 2024 at 12:53
Modified: Friday, April 26, 2024 at 12:23 (when I last installed it?)
Version: 3.4.1 beta 1
To those who've updated or are planning to update to macOS Sequoia, you would understandingly be wondering/questioning Nisus support.
Brad
-
- Posts: 172
- Joined: 2007-01-17 04:01:44
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I was going to write this post, but you saved me the trouble. It certainly looks as though the site is running on autopilot. If there are going to be no more Nisus upgrades to keep up with MacOS upgrades, we should be notified so we can start thinking about our options down the road.
-
- Posts: 48
- Joined: 2019-06-20 11:13:06
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I hope this is just the calm before the major version update.
Nisus is one of the few, perhaps only two, word processors of note with decent support for styles. We do not, using the royal We, consider Word to be worthy of note.
Apple Pages, for example, is better than it looks because its UI is minimalist - but Pages' styles support is unworkable. You can't save a style set and then apply it to an existing document, for example, an easy and routine task in Nisus.
Never, of course, use a word processor if you can't read its documents without the word processor. If I moved my life over to Linux Nisus documents wouldn't be a problem. Pages documents? Not so easy to migrate.
Which is a paradox. The more I'm forced to rely on an application, the less I want to use it.
And I insist on flexible styles.
Nisus is one of the few, perhaps only two, word processors of note with decent support for styles. We do not, using the royal We, consider Word to be worthy of note.
Apple Pages, for example, is better than it looks because its UI is minimalist - but Pages' styles support is unworkable. You can't save a style set and then apply it to an existing document, for example, an easy and routine task in Nisus.
Never, of course, use a word processor if you can't read its documents without the word processor. If I moved my life over to Linux Nisus documents wouldn't be a problem. Pages documents? Not so easy to migrate.
Which is a paradox. The more I'm forced to rely on an application, the less I want to use it.
And I insist on flexible styles.
-
- Posts: 48
- Joined: 2019-06-20 11:13:06
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
Rumors of Nisus' demise have been premature in the past, and I bet they are now, too. From 2014, https://www.nisus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5709
I bet we're ok.
I bet we're ok.
-
- Posts: 172
- Joined: 2007-01-17 04:01:44
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I suppose I'm not the only one who noticed that the website was extremely slow for a few days, sometimes giving only a message that service is unavailable. Not exactly encouraging. Offhand I haven't noticed that anything changed, except that the site is running at normal speed again. I am hoping that Amontillado is correct in saying that we are in for a pleasant surprise. But personally, I'm going to hedge by bets by considering candidates to replace NW if the need arises. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I too hope the demise of Nisus has been greatly exagerated. However, I've not heard from Martin since early this year and his Linkedin page says that he left Nisus in January 2021. He is now a "Full Stack Developer" for an outfit called SpeedTrack, also based in Solana Beach.
Make of it what you will, but I agree the outlook is not promising.
One thing I do hope is that Martin is OK.
Make of it what you will, but I agree the outlook is not promising.
One thing I do hope is that Martin is OK.
History is a nightmare from which I am trying to escape.
-
- Posts: 20
- Joined: 2010-11-07 22:45:46
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I start to ask myself the same thing. I kindly received a beta version back in March as Nisus kept crashing for a book-length file of mine. But since then no updates.
-
- Posts: 172
- Joined: 2007-01-17 04:01:44
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
That's revealing news about Martin. Many thanks. I had occasional opportunities to help a bit with beta testing, and found Martin to be a very easy guy to work with. He also appeared to be very competent, and enjoyed squishing bugs. I think he was virtually running the show at Nisus. I suspect he would be welcome at many companies, and therefore not out on the street looking for gig work.
So what's going to happen? Jerzy is perhaps looking for someone like Martin (I hope), or maybe he's just going to let the clock run out. One distinct possibility is that he plans to sell Nisus Software and its products to another company, and is looking for a suitable buyer. Nisus Writer Pro and InfoClick especially are attractive products, so I'm looking forward to seeing a notice like that when I visit this site.
So what's going to happen? Jerzy is perhaps looking for someone like Martin (I hope), or maybe he's just going to let the clock run out. One distinct possibility is that he plans to sell Nisus Software and its products to another company, and is looking for a suitable buyer. Nisus Writer Pro and InfoClick especially are attractive products, so I'm looking forward to seeing a notice like that when I visit this site.
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I think Jerzy may be getting on in years by now so perhaps takes no active role in the company he founded. My understanding - happy to be corrected - is that he graduated from Imperial College London in the late 40s. Imperial is one of the UK's best for science and engineering and ranks high in the world standings.mountainman wrote: ↑2024-10-16 18:47:47 .......Jerzy is perhaps looking for someone like Martin (I hope), or maybe he's just going to let the clock run out. One distinct possibility is that he plans to sell Nisus Software and its products to another company, and is looking for a suitable buyer. ......
There's an interesting Dun and Bradstreet page which outlines the company and its officers. Jolanta is there but not Jerzy., although he is listed as President and key principal on another page.
https://www.dnb.com/contact-directory/c ... 73ffc.html
Not sure this takes us further forward.
Like all of us on her I'm rooting for Nisus continued success. Apart from a (very) brief diversion to Mellel when OSX first came out, I've used it since I was an undergraduate in the mid-90s. Since then I've not seen any reason to change since there's nothing quite like it.
History is a nightmare from which I am trying to escape.
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I too saw that LinkedIn page, but as indicated elsewhere, Martin was still involved here as recently as April 2024, and certainly has communicated with users like me via email. Last I heard from him personally was in February 2024, when he replied to a message of concern from me by saying “yes, I haven't lately had enough time to deal with non-critical issues”. Maybe he is no longer a full-time developer for Nisus but he was still working for the company (maybe on a freelance basis?) fairly recently. It's hard to tell, but it would really help if Nisus could communicate with us about the current situation. I too worry about the future since NWP is such an essential tool for me.Tacitus wrote: ↑2024-10-15 23:45:59 I too hope the demise of Nisus has been greatly exagerated. However, I've not heard from Martin since early this year and his Linkedin page says that he left Nisus in January 2021. He is now a "Full Stack Developer" for an outfit called SpeedTrack, also based in Solana Beach.
Make of it what you will, but I agree the outlook is not promising.
One thing I do hope is that Martin is OK.
Last edited by betalogue on 2024-10-18 03:17:18, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
I wondered if "SpeedTrack" was actually Martin setting up as a freelance. This would be entirely compatible with your comment.betalogue wrote: ↑2024-10-17 09:54:35 .....Maybe he is no longer a full-time developer for Nisus but he was still working for the company (maybe on a freelance basis?) fairly recently. It's hard to tell, but it would really help if Nisus could communicate with us about the current situation. I too worry about the future since NWP is such an essential tool for me.
Like you I wish that Nisus or someone from the company could give us some idea of the current situation. A communications vacuum allows all sorts of speculation and runours to gather. I guess this thread isn't exactly helping.....
History is a nightmare from which I am trying to escape.
-
- Posts: 172
- Joined: 2007-01-17 04:01:44
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
Obviously we're all joined by the need to know what's going on with Nisus, and I think it's fair to ask that somebody associated with the company tell us what's happening, if anything. If any of you with a direct line to Martin get some concrete information, please share!
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
Just so you guys know, I have just received a link to a new beta from Martin. So there are signs of life!
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
Thanks for letting us know. Huge sighs of relief all round

History is a nightmare from which I am trying to escape.
-
- Posts: 48
- Joined: 2019-06-20 11:13:06
Re: Is Nisus Moribund?
The best kind of answer for writers - show, don't tell!
Very happy to see development proceeding.
Very happy to see development proceeding.