Updates: Circus Ponies Notebook, OmniGraffle, Nisus Writer Express

Circus Ponies Notebook has been updated to version 2.0v230. Requires Mac OS X 10.3. Full list of changes at Circus Ponies Notebook site.

OmniGraffle and OmniGraffle Pro 4.0 have reached beta 4 status. Both require Mac OS X 10.3. Full list of changes at OmniGraffle website.

Nisus Writer Express 2.5 beta 2 has been released. It requires Mac OS X 10.3. Full list of changes at Nisus Software website.

Discussion of Mac Genealogy Software

From George Lewis: I’ve posted a semi-response to an article titled “The Sad State of Mac Genealogy Software” on RandomGenealogy.org.

I thought visitors of MacGenealogy.org might find it interesting, to hear a few peoples’ take on things, and hopefully too many toes weren’t stepped on.

Update: Inkscape 0.42

Inkscape 0.42 has been released.

Inkscape is an open source drawing tool with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, and CorelDraw that uses the W3C standard scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Some supported SVG features include basic shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, and grouping. In addition, Inkscape supports Creative Commons meta-data, node-editing, layers, complex path operations, text-on-path, and SVG XML editing. It also imports several formats like EPS, Postscript, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.

Basically, if you need a free drawing program (not photo editing, but drawing), this might just be for you. It does use the X11 featureset.

Update: GraphicConverter X 5.6.2

Lemke Software’s GraphicConverter has undergone some major changes and improvements since it was last mentioned here (5.5.x, and now it’s at 5.6.2).

Mac-based genealogists should note that the mrSID image/raster files’ support has been greatly improved. What this means, is you can now have an easier time handling census data using the mrSID format, from certain genealogy sites, as well as maps from locations such as the U.S. Library of Congress’ Civil War Map Collection.

Admin Note: You will need to download the free mrSID plugin from Lemke Software’s plugin section.

The 5.6.x upgrade of GCX works very well with mrSID files. No more dropping into Classic/OS 9 to work with older plugins/utilities.

If you click on the thumbnail below, I’ve posted a cropped image of a map of Gettysburg (cropped only, no resizing).
mrsid

Update: Books for Mac OS X 2.2.2

Books for Mac OS X 2.2.2 has been released. It’s an open-source personal library management tool for MacOS X.

Note: There is a lot going on with this application, if your curious read the link above (there are betas available with new features). The next major release of Books, 3.0, is going to take advantage of some of the newer Mac OS X features (such as CoreData) for improved performance and ease of use.

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