DEVONtechnologies, LLC releases the seventh public beta of version 2.0 of all editions of its information manager DEVONthink as well as of the smart note-keeper DEVONnote. The new release adds full PDF annotations, smart templates, and simple image editing to DEVONthink, and brings compatibility to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to all editions. In addition, the updates make DEVONthink Pro Office’s Mail plugin, the OCR, and the scan functions work on Snow Leopard.
Coeur d’Alene (Idaho, USA) – DEVONtechnologies, LLC releases the seventh public beta of version 2.0 of all editions of its information manager DEVONthink as well as of the smart note-keeper DEVONnote. The new release adds full PDF annotations, smart templates, and simple image editing to DEVONthink, and – being the main reason for releasing this version early to the public – brings compatibility to Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’ to all editions.
Highlights In Version 2.0 Public Beta 7
* Compatibility to Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’
* PDF annotations
* Image editing
* Smart templates
* Support for third-party meta data
* Note-taking directly in the Sorter
* Contextual menu item for Mac OS X 10.5 ‘Leopard’
The Changes In Detail
Both DEVONthink 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0 have been updated for compatibility to Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’. They support the new system services (as a replacement for the discontinued contextual menu plugins) and take advantage of new features in the operating system. In addition, the updates make DEVONthink Pro Office’s Mail plugin, the OCR, and the scan functions work on Snow Leopard.
DEVONthink now offers the full range of standard PDF annotations from colored ellipses and rectangles to text boxes, post-it notes, and links. For images an edit panel allows to adjust exposure, gamma, saturation, contrast brightness, sharpness, and more. Images and PDF pages can be rotated and a number of predefined image effects can be applied to images, too.
New to DEVONthink Pro are ‘smart templates’ – AppleScript-driven templates that add localized documents to a database and modify them on-the-fly. Smart templates can, for example, fill in the current date, retrieve the user’s name and phone number from Address Book, or add the clipboard contents to the new document as text or link, depending on whether the clipboard contains an Internet address or just text. Out of the box DEVONthink Pro 2.0 comes with high-quality smart templates for general use from notes to quotes, classifications, registers, task lists, and project management.
“Smart templates make it possible to add intelligence to templates, not just simple styling. All our smart templates can be copied, modified, and extended so that our users can adapt them to their personal or their company’s needs.”, says Eric Bohnisch-Volkmann, President of DEVONtechnologies. “These new, exciting possibilities emphasize again DEVONthink’s focus on flexibility and customization and its positioning as the open tool for information workers.”
Meta data added to documents by other applications, e.g. MP3 tags or PDF properties, email sender, recipients, email addresses, and many more can now be displayed in columns, used for sorting, and be added to searches and smart groups. Indexed files are editable like imported files.
The ‘Take Note’ window introduced in public beta 6 has been integrated directly into the Sorter (DEVONthink Pro and Pro Office only) now, making it possible to take notes even when DEVONthink is not running. The Sorter, imitating the look and function of the sorter in post offices or hotel receptions, is an independent application serving a panel that can be used for quickly filing documents, folders, and clippings directly to a customizable set of groups (the ‘sorter boxes’).
Finally, these new releases add a large number of smaller enhancements, e.g. a contextual menu item for Mac OS X 10.5 ‘Leopard’, the possibility to list all instances and all duplicates of a document, and it allows to sort the groups pane of the three-pane view. The ‘Clip to DEVONthink’ bookmarklet can be fully used from the keyboard now. All editions also come with many internal changes, performance and stability enhancements, and bug fixes.
More About Devonthink 2.0 And Devonnote 2.0
The version 2.0 upgrade addresses a large number of feature requests from the active user community and modernizes almost every aspect of the applications. These public betas are still incomplete but the already existing functionality is stable enough for sharing with the public. For the final release only smart tagging has not yet been implemented and the user user interface will receive polishing.
New features of version 2.0 include but are not limited to: the ability to open multiple databases simultaneously (DEVONthink Pro), all advanced Boolean and proximity operators (as known from DEVONagent), wildcards and unlimited complex search terms, smart groups, unlimited undo/redo, an inbox, a trash can, and the support for almost all common file formats. The new Finder-like sidebar facilitates working with multiple databases.
DEVONthink 2.0 imports and displays Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), OpenOffice and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) files as well as Skim PDF packages and all other files that support or are supported by Mac OS X 10.5’s QuickLook. Using Spotlight importers and plugins for indexing DEVONthink can also search files that it cannot display due to the lack of QuickLook support (Spotlight does not need to be active). Metadata, e.g. from PDF files, email messages, or Office documents is imported, indexed, displayed, and can be selectively searched, e.g. using smart groups.
DEVONthink 2.0 allows to create documents from templates and DEVONthink Pro Office 2.0 shares databases with other users on the local network or over the Internet via an interactive web interface based on the latest web technologies. RSS, RDF and Atom news feeds can be added as self-updating groups to any DEVONthink Pro database and so integrate live content with local documents. The independent ‘Sorter’ panel lets the user add data to your databases even when DEVONthink Pro is not open. Tabbed browsing and editing as well as Cover Flow simplifies working with large numbers of documents. A PDF sidebar allows rearranging and deleting pages.
The new database engine incorporated into DEVONthink 2.0 not only speeds up working with large databases but also stores all files in their original file format, e.g. Microsoft Word files and email messages. Files are no longer converted when imported and can be edited using external applications. In addition, all documents can be accessed from outside DEVONthink using a standard URL. This highly improves workflow integration with third-party solutions such as iCal, OmniFocus Daylite, Bookends, or Endnote.
DEVONthink Personal 2.0 and DEVONnote 2.0 inherit the three pane view formerly exclusive to the Pro editions as well as separate document windows and the full screen mode. In addition DEVONthink Personal is no longer limited to 10,000 images.
Availability and Pricing:
The public beta releases of DEVONthink Pro and Pro Office 2.0, DEVONthink Personal 2.0, and DEVONnote 2.0 require Mac OS X 10.5 or later and can be downloaded online. DEVONthink and DEVONnote can be test-driven for free for 150 hours of non-continuous runtime until they need to be properly licensed. The public beta releases run without registration until December 31, 2009, before they need to be replaced by new betas or the final 2.0 releases.
DEVONthink Professional Office sells for $149.95 (USD), DEVONthink Professional for $79.95, DEVONthink Personal for $49.95, and DEVONnote for $24.95 in DEVONtechnologies’ online shop. DEVONthink Pro Office and DEVONthink Pro are also available with the Internet research agent DEVONagent as bundles.
Users who purchased DEVONthink Personal, Pro, Pro Office or DEVONnote 1.x on or after July 1, 2008, are eligible for free upgrades. Users who have purchased before the grace period will be able to upgrade for attractive upgrade prices available on the DEVONtechnologies website.
DEVONtechnologies: http://www.devon-technologies.com
DEVONthink 2.0 Beta 7: http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/devonthink/devonthink2.html
Download: http://www.devon-technologies.com/download/
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