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Mac software deals for this Thanksgiving weekend
We're on the lookout for great deals this Thanksgiving weekend! Mike Schramm has already put up two posts on iOS apps which are on sale, and I've got a few Mac software deals to tell you about. The first one is Soulver, which is an app I've had my eye on since Marco Arment mentioned it on Build & Analyze. Soulver lets you do all sorts of mathematical calculations using words as well as numbers. Speaking as someone who isn't very good with numbers, I love Soulver because it lets me calculate things the way I think. It does conversions, currencies, file sizes (bytes to gigabytes), and yes, it can even calculate tips. To really get sense of how it works, watch the video. Soulver for Mac is on sale for $12 (50% off). The iPhone version is $1 (75% off) and the iPad version is $2 (66% off). This deal is only good the 24th and 25th. Mariner Software is offering a deal through Saturday on Paperless for Mac for $30 (40% off the usual price of $50) through their online store. Check their site for details on what scanners it works with. DEVONtechnologies is offering 25% off their apps DEVONthink, DEVONagent, and DEVONnote. Note that this deal doesn't start until Friday and ends Monday. These are great apps for searching for and storing information. Marked, from our own Brett Terpstra, is on sale starting Black Friday (and going through Sunday) as well, at 50% off. It's a terrific Markdown tool for previewing your work from any text editor. Speaking of Brett, if you look closely you can spot him in the team picture over at the AgileBits site (he worked there once upon a time). The company is offering a 50% off discount on all its products through 11/30, including the indispensable 1Password -- if you get it through the Mac App Store, you'll be upgraded for free to the forthcoming version 4. And, just in time for Advent, the premium version of Glo Bible is available for $35. If you order through their website they are offering a free movie on DVD, as well as 3 DVDs worth of content which allows you to use most of the Glo Bible off-line. They won't even charge you for shipping. You can download the "lite" version of the app for free and try it out first. Have you spotted any great Mac deals? If so, let us know in the comments! (Just a reminder, we have comment moderation turned on to stop the flood of spam comments we were getting, so your comments might not be visible right away, especially on Thursday!)
Beta Beat: DEVONnote/DEVONthink 2.0
It's certainly no secret that I'm a sucker for file and data organization programs, and have collected more than I use. Long ago, I received a copy of DEVONnote as part of a bundle, and have since upgraded to DEVONthink Pro. The program has long been intriguing to me -- auto-classification of files and advanced search relationships are great -- but various aspects of the app have kept me from really diving into it; a lack of pleasing aesthetics not being least on the list. You can call me superficial, but ... no, you'd be right. However, the public betas of DEVONthink 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0 just came out, looking great and adding a bevy of useful new features. DEVON Technologies states that the 2.0 versions represent an almost complete rewrite of the database core. With improved search (including advanced Boolean and proximity operators), a universal inbox accessible from multiple databases (DEVONthink versions can have simultaneous databases open) and a complete revamp of the user interface (including Cover Flow and much-improved overall aesthetics), this beta is a huge step forward. For me, the most important change is the file storage method. The applications now use a bundle format and store files "as is" on the drive, accessible by external applications and recoverable if anything happens to the database. Add the support for file templates and a wide range of new filetypes (Word, OpenOffice, iWork, Skim ... ), and DEVONthink just became a whole lot more useful to me. Check out the release notes for DEVONnote and DEVONthink 2.0 for more details on the changes. The betas are available on their respective pages (DEVONnote | DEVONthink). Upgrade pricing is available for existing customers (customers who purchased DEVONnote or DEVONthink, or cross-graded after July 1st, 2008 are eligible for a free upgrade). DEVONthink comes in three flavors: Personal ($49.95US), Professional ($79.95US) and Professional Office ($149.95). DEVONnote, which is more or less a lightweight (but very useful) version of DEVONthink, is available for $24.95US.
DEVONthink gains Spotlight support
The guys over at DEVONtechnologies have announced updates for a number of their applications. Most importantly the entire line of DEVONthink information managing software (along with DEVONnote) now natively support Spotlight. They note that this allows you to search multiple DEVONthink Pro databases at once from Spotlight. In addition they've updated their line of freeware applications to be compatible with Leopard, including the handy menubar folder utility XMenu.[via MacMinute]
