The Omni Group
Encyclopedia
The Omni Group is a company that develops software for the Mac OS X
platform. The Omni Group was informally founded as a NEXTSTEP
consulting company in 1989 by Wil Shipley
, who immediately brought on Ken Case and Tim Wood. The three incorporated together under the name Omni Development, Inc. in 1993, because the name "Omni Group" was taken by another Seattle firm. Omni initially produced custom database software for the NEXTSTEP platform for clients such as the William Morris Agency
and McCaw Cellular Communications (then Cingular Wireless
; now AT&T
). During this period they also ported a number of games to NEXTSTEP, then later to Mac OS X (after Apple acquired NeXT in 1997). Around 2000 the company decided to start focusing on their own consumer applications for the Mac, and as of 2004 the vast majority of their revenue came from their consumer products. In 2003 Ken Case took over as the chief officer of Omni, and in March 2004 Wil Shipley left with another Omni employee, interface designer Mike Matas, to form Delicious Monster
. Matas later left for Apple.
The Omni Group also administers several mailing list
s related to Mac OS X and software development. They also provide several frameworks for Cocoa software development under an open source
license.
Advocates say that their productivity applications, especially OmniGraffle
and OmniOutliner
, are excellent examples of user interface design. They have won several awards, such as an Eddy for Most Innovative Browser from Macworld
for OmniWeb
and an Eddy for OmniGraffle
. At the Macintosh Worldwide Developers Conference
in 2001, OmniWeb 4.0 won two Apple Design Awards
: "Best Mac OS X User Experience" and "Best New Mac OS X Product." In 2002 OmniGraffle 2.0 won two more Apple Design Awards.
in their applications, and releases them under an open source
license. Most of the frameworks are dependent on the Mac OS X platform, and require Xcode
2.3 and thus Tiger
.
s of games for NeXTStep/OpenStep pro bono, especially maintenance updates of id
games. They continued to do so during the transition through Rhapsody into OS X
, catching the eye of the existing Macintosh games industry in the process, and were then contracted to port a number of games commercially.
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
platform. The Omni Group was informally founded as a NEXTSTEP
NEXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP was the object-oriented, multitasking operating system developed by NeXT Computer to run on its range of proprietary workstation computers, such as the NeXTcube...
consulting company in 1989 by Wil Shipley
Wil Shipley
William "Wil" Jon Shipley is a Macintosh software developer, best known for co-founding and heading The Omni Group in 1991, where he did consulting work and developed software for the NeXTSTEP operating system, Rhapsody and later Mac OS X...
, who immediately brought on Ken Case and Tim Wood. The three incorporated together under the name Omni Development, Inc. in 1993, because the name "Omni Group" was taken by another Seattle firm. Omni initially produced custom database software for the NEXTSTEP platform for clients such as the William Morris Agency
William Morris Agency
WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
and McCaw Cellular Communications (then Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless
AT&T Mobility LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T that provides wireless services to 100.7 million subscribers in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands...
; now AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
). During this period they also ported a number of games to NEXTSTEP, then later to Mac OS X (after Apple acquired NeXT in 1997). Around 2000 the company decided to start focusing on their own consumer applications for the Mac, and as of 2004 the vast majority of their revenue came from their consumer products. In 2003 Ken Case took over as the chief officer of Omni, and in March 2004 Wil Shipley left with another Omni employee, interface designer Mike Matas, to form Delicious Monster
Delicious Monster
Delicious Monster is a software company based in San Francisco, California that sells the shareware software program Delicious Library. Its founders are Wil Shipley, one of the three co-founders of The Omni Group, and Mike Matas, who worked as an interface designer at The Omni Group...
. Matas later left for Apple.
The Omni Group also administers several mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
s related to Mac OS X and software development. They also provide several frameworks for Cocoa software development under an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
license.
Advocates say that their productivity applications, especially OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle is a diagramming application made by The Omni Group. OmniGraffle is built only for Mac OS X and the iPad. It may be used to create diagrams, flow charts, org charts, and illustrations. It features a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface...
and OmniOutliner
OmniOutliner
OmniOutliner is commercial outlining software for Mac OS X produced by The Omni Group. OmniOutliner has most features of a conventional outliner, allowing the user to create nested lists of topics for almost any purpose, but has additional features extending its functionality beyond simple...
, are excellent examples of user interface design. They have won several awards, such as an Eddy for Most Innovative Browser from Macworld
Macworld
Macworld is a web site and monthly computer magazine dedicated to Apple Macintosh products. It is published by Mac Publishing, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California...
for OmniWeb
OmniWeb
OmniWeb is a proprietary Internet web browser developed and marketed by The Omni Group. It is available exclusively for Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system...
and an Eddy for OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle is a diagramming application made by The Omni Group. OmniGraffle is built only for Mac OS X and the iPad. It may be used to create diagrams, flow charts, org charts, and illustrations. It features a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface...
. At the Macintosh Worldwide Developers Conference
Worldwide Developers Conference
The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, commonly abbreviated WWDC, is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference is primarily used by Apple to showcase its new software and technologies for developers, as well as offering hands-on labs and feedback sessions...
in 2001, OmniWeb 4.0 won two Apple Design Awards
Apple Design Awards
The Apple Design Awards is a special event hosted by Apple Inc. at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The event is meant to recognize the best and most innovative Macintosh and iOS software and hardware produced by independent developers, as well as the best and most creative uses of...
: "Best Mac OS X User Experience" and "Best New Mac OS X Product." In 2002 OmniGraffle 2.0 won two more Apple Design Awards.
Productivity
- OmniDazzle
- OmniDictionaryOmniDictionaryOmniDictionary is a DICT client by The Omni Group. Unlike Apple Computer's Dictionary, it retrieves definitions from the internet via the DICT protocol instead of a file on the hard drive. Starting with the release of version 2.0.4 is now a universal binary....
- OmniDiskSweeperOmniDiskSweeperOmniDiskSweeper is a utility by The Omni Group that is used to find and remove unused files in Mac OS X, such as unused language files ....
- OmniGraffleOmniGraffleOmniGraffle is a diagramming application made by The Omni Group. OmniGraffle is built only for Mac OS X and the iPad. It may be used to create diagrams, flow charts, org charts, and illustrations. It features a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface...
- OmniGraphSketcher
- OmniOutlinerOmniOutlinerOmniOutliner is commercial outlining software for Mac OS X produced by The Omni Group. OmniOutliner has most features of a conventional outliner, allowing the user to create nested lists of topics for almost any purpose, but has additional features extending its functionality beyond simple...
- OmniPlanOmniPlanOmniPlan is a planning and project management software product from The Omni Group. The software was released as a public beta on 6 June 2006. Among other features, OmniPlan 1.0 provides an ability to create project schedule outlines in the Gantt format....
- OmniWebOmniWebOmniWeb is a proprietary Internet web browser developed and marketed by The Omni Group. It is available exclusively for Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system...
- OmniFocusOmniFocusOmniFocus is a personal task manager by The Omni Group for Mac OS X and iOS. The declared goal of the program is to be able to capture thoughts and ideas into to do lists....
Frameworks
The Omni Group uses many frameworksApplication framework
In computer programming, an application framework consists of a software framework used by software developers to implement the standard structure of an application for a specific development environment ....
in their applications, and releases them under an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
license. Most of the frameworks are dependent on the Mac OS X platform, and require Xcode
Xcode
Xcode is a suite of tools, developed by Apple, for developing software for Mac OS X and iOS. Xcode 4.2, the latest major version, is available on the Mac App Store for free for Mac OS X 10.7 , and on the Apple Developer Connection website for free to registered developers Xcode is a suite of tools,...
2.3 and thus Tiger
Mac OS X v10.4
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger is the fifth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Tiger was released to the public on 29 April 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X Panther , which had been released 18 months earlier...
.
- OmniAppKit
- OmniBase
- OmniFoundation
- OmniHTML
- OmniNetworking
- Omni Web Framework
Games
As users of a platform that was not targeted by commercial porting houses, the Omni Group historically did source portSource port
A source port is a software project based on the source code of a computer game's engine that allows the game to be played on operating systems or computing platforms with which the game was not originally compatible. Source ports are created by fans after the original developer hands over the...
s of games for NeXTStep/OpenStep pro bono, especially maintenance updates of id
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
games. They continued to do so during the transition through Rhapsody into OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, catching the eye of the existing Macintosh games industry in the process, and were then contracted to port a number of games commercially.
- Activision Anthology: Remix Edition
- Alchemy Deluxe
- Aliens Versus Predator 2
- Big Money! Deluxe
- Doom
- Doom II: Hell on Earth
- Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role Playing Game
- Fallout 2
- Freedom Force
- Giants: Citizen Kabuto
- Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²
- Incoming: The Final Conflict
- No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
- Oni
- Quake
- Quake II
- Quake III: Arena
- Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix