Ulysses II for Mac

User Reviews

• Way too Expensive, but a good program

  MacJunkieOctober 29, 2007

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I really like the program, but I can not recommend it at this price. Its worth $70 US Max! If they dropped the price to a reasonable point I would highly recommend it.... Instead try OmniOutliner...

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• Magnificent

  humhumMarch 29, 2007

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This tool is magnificent, particularly in the current version. You can define the various views, easily hide/show the browser view by clicking, the notes, the control panel, all done in subtle ways. The main thing is to work with the editor for serious writing, whether fiction or non-fiction. And, in contrast to the previous review, it *does* support footnotes also in formats other than LaTeX (but TextEdit is not yet able to show these footnotes, which may be the cause of the confusion; try Mellel for RTF-files and you'll see that footnotes work). Moreover, these footnotes are not in your face, within the main body of text, but in a side panel (which "stacks" notes). The browser allows you to view collections (sort of folders) but also filtered groups (where you can define the filter yourself). Incredibly flexible, and clean in presentation. Experience learns that this tool is not for everyone: those who insist on editing in RTF-format don't like it that Ulysses does not follow suit. For good reasons, and I am happy that the developers have their own take on things, while simultaneously allowing for several export facilities which are powerful.

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• Rocks!

  schildieMarch 10, 2007

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Wow. Just try out the new version. It really rocks and all the other products announced in the last few months just stink against it. This is really hot! I wish Thomas Mann had had Ulysses, he could have been writing even Zauberberg Pt. 2 (even longer &amp; more complicated) easily with Ulysses 1.5!

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• The best of its kind

  bobbyquineJune 4, 2006

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Stable, intuitive, fast, beautiful... I just wish more apps worked the way Ulysses does - and for the people out there who don't 'get it', well, it's their loss I guess. Meanwhile, the ones who do get it quietly keep smiling...

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• So, why such high price?

  sasha_efiNovember 17, 2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I think it promises to be an excellent product. Some time later, when the developers build in the consumer feedback (which I hope they do -- Consumer is God, as Japanese say, after all). Design is nice, and stability is great. Full screen is cool. But... I don't really understand why such a high price tag. For what? You have to jump through hoops to do basic text formatting, and the program only offers linear chapter outline... Jer's Novel Writer, which is free, offers better options, in my humble opinion -- flexible notes and outline, and also the famous full screen (no, I'm not Jerry). Mellel, more than half price, is reacher in offers for writing, even though the lack of full screen kills it for me. DevonThink, in the same price range, offers MUCH more, and includes my beloved full screen. Call me thick, but I'm missing what for should I fork out my 100 euros for this program. Any opinions?

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• the best writing environment on the Mac

  junkyar0-suspectsSeptember 20, 2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Can't say enough good things about this software. It's the only writing software I've come across that focuses on the writer and his/her process of writing. The fullscreen mode is unparalleled. It is as simple and undistracting as a typewriter, but with very powerful organisation and note-taking features. The lack of itallics only speeds up the writing process (itallics and bold are marked using character codes during writing and formatted at export). Very stable, great developer feedback, and a carefully thought-out interface. Also, it evolves steadily without becoming bloated with the new features. One of my favourite Mac-only pieces of software, and well worth the price if you're serious about writing.

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• Indisepensable part of a pro writer's workflow

  BargepoleAugust 28, 2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />The latest (1.2r2) version of Ulysses maintains its position at the core of my workflow. As a professional writer & part-time academic, I use it for everything except formatting of documents with scads of footnotes or which need extensive bibliographic information (for those, I use the equally excellent Mellel). Both apps share two things of prime importance: (1) they keep out of your way while you're writing, and (2) they are utterly stable. Having had to work on the execrable Word for the last couple of weeks, I cannot imagine how people live with the damnable thing; and the idea of being confined (like the majority of the world's computer users, the poor sheep) <em>entirely</em> to Microsoft products is simply horrifying. . . Ulysses has had some criticism in the past for being dictatorial about italics (and other text formatting). I'd go along with that. I find italics handy to mark emphasis for myself, let alone for final copy, and saying "Oh, you can output formatted text" is just plain inadequate. Actually, it would be farm more useful to be able to type italics, underline or whatever and export them as tagged, since Quark (which most publishers use) tend not to see .rtf formatting. But I can live with it. In return, I get a fast, elegant interface, access to the full text and notes of any other document in the project without leaving the one I'm working on, an elegant UI (don't knock elegance; you live in an app for hours each day, it <em>counts</em>) and a high level of organisation convenience. There are even workarounds for footnotes/endnotes. Just tag 'em in the text and note them in the "notes" pain. It all comes good with very little effort. But, as I say, this is a pro-level product. If you can't see the difference between Ulysses and the (excellent in its own way) CopyWrite, then you probably don't <em>need</em> the difference, just as I'm fine with PhotoShop Elements and Freeway Express & have no need for PhotoShop CS or DreamWeaver. Horses for courses... Writing, at a pro level (whether creative, non-fiction or academic) is about getting the right words in the right order. Ulysses excels at getting out of the way while you do that, and being ready to assist (without any goddamn paperclip) when you require it. It's a fine piece of work and if I only give it four stars for features, that's solely because of its inexplicably dictatorial approach to simple formatting -- i.e., italics/underline. I don't like being told what I may or may not do. Most writers don't. The developers might listen. . . Otherwise, it's the full monty. If you are, or aspire to be, a professional writer, it's probably the best drafting tool around.

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• Nutritionally Balanced :

  Mr TeaApril 1, 2005

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br /> There's a big debate going on in the UK at the moment about the poor quality of school meals. High-profile TV chef, Jamie Oliver, is campaigning for real food to be prepared and served in school canteens instead of the usual processed, fat and salt laden, mechanically-reclaimed muck. Trouble is, many kids are terminally addicted to the simple, strong flavours and bland textures of processed foods. Their little taste-buds have been dulled by a diet of chips, sweets and novelty breakfast cereals at home, and their under-nourished palates need re-educating. Encouragingly, a recent trial in an inner-city school district showed that even chronic junk-food junkies can learn to appreciate real cuts of meat and freshly prepared vegetables, given time, patience and commitment. And that's all it takes to appreciate Ulysses â?? a little time, patience and commitement. If you have the stomach for it, you'll soon be savouring the subtle flavours and exotic trimmings of this satisfying, well-balanced app, and the alternatives will start to look increasingly like the software equivalent of fried turkey twizzlers and reconstituted smiley potato faces.

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• Impressive but way overpriced.

  chili palmerDecember 10, 2004

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Having read the review in MacWorld about Ulysses, I was excited to try this product. To be concise, it seems to work as I do, with a convenient notes field and a easy to use feature to access data from other documents. Overall it's a great app with lots of potential. Ulysses may develop into a truly great Mac app. It does need additional font support - it doesn't handle bold, italic, or underlined fonts. But at $120, Ulysses is far too expensive for what it does. I'm more than willing to pay for shareware but it has to be worth the money. As good as it is, I may be willing to pay $60 for it but even that's a lot of money for Ulysses. I'd pay $40 or even $50 for it in a second though. Frankly I have no idea what the developer's thinking by making this app so expensive. I feel that many users would like this app -- and buy a copy -- but most would use another solution rather than pay such an exorbitant price.

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• willfully perverse

  ncjycAugust 16, 2004

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  This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Ulysses is to be admired for its singularity of purpose and the elegance of its execution. But itâ??s frustrating, too. As it stands, itâ??s an almost perfect tool for the organistation and composition of first drafts, especially of long, complex documents â?? Iâ??ve used it to put together both a novel and a screenplay, before exporting the respective files to more appropriate apps. in order to begin polishing them off. And thereâ??s the rub â?? that, good as Ulysses is, in the end, I need those other applications. On a second or third draft, I want to format text. Not much. I might want to put a paragraph in bold, to function as a visual reminder to re-write it on the next pass, or to check a piece of potentially dodgy research. Thatâ??s just the way I write. It seems perverse that my software doesnâ??t allow me the option because it disapproves of such practice and has deliberately hobbled itself. Thereâ??s no reason for Ulysses to be like every other WP on the planet. I like its purity â?? and I will continue to use it, up to the point when its idioscyncrasies become frustrations and Iâ??m obliged to export to other applications. Denying the writer the basic ability to format text because it somehow equates to document design is stretching the ideology a little too far. Basic WP functions do not bloatware make.

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