Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Most data manager , like Chronos ’ StickyBrain ( , July 2005 ) , give up you to collect documents , notes , clippings , and multimedia system files in a searchable database . But multitalented Devonthink Pro 1.0.2 offers more , admit an integrated Web internet browser and news reader , and powerful AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) features to give you greater insight into your data . If you ’re a bookman , researcher , advisor , or anyone who has to naturalise an abundance of information , Devonthink Pro has the tools to aid .
Devonthink Pro is flexible , feature - racy , and extensible ( via plug - IN , AppleScripts , and Automator activity ) , but its interface is clean and visceral . Unlike information managers that mimic notebooks , such as Circus Ponies ’ NoteBook ( , November 2004 ) and AquaMinds ’ NoteTaker ( , July 2005 ) , a Devonthink Pro database offers a selection of horizon : List , Icons , Columns , Vertical or Horizontal split views , and a Three Pane view exchangeable to Apple ’s Mail , with folders on the left , text file on top , and a opinion / edit pane below .
you could create an empty database and add fresh documents , or consequence single file , brochure , Address Book entries , bookmarks ( from Camino , Firefox , OmniWeb , or Safari ) , and World Wide Web land site ( a download manager can link up to a site via FTP , but you ’ll need a password ; it wo n’t fawn a site and download content for you ) . To add clippings from a selection , you’re able to practice shortcut key , the Dock menu , or the Services menu . Dashboard thingamajig permit you add a agile note or search the assailable database . you could have only one database open at a clock time , but DEVONtechnologies says this limitation will be remove in a next edition . you could display more than one window of the open database .
Indexed files
When you import files , Devonthink Pro adds the data to the database . Large database can become unwieldy , but Devonthink Pro can also index file , read their contents and exhibit the external file without add the file to the database . For case , you could make a catalogue by indexing a CD - ROM . When you require to find a filing cabinet , just search the database , then insert the CD and set up the file from within Devonthink Pro . Indexed database are locked and require manual updating ( a succeeding edition will allow redaction of indexed files and update automatically ) .
Editing and browsing
Using OS X ’s built - in text engine , Devonthink Pro is a open text editor in chief . A full screen - mode makes it light to edit Indian file , but zooming while in full - screen modality also zoom along the normal view , which makes switching between scene a bother . you may exhibit a news count column in the written document list , and a Concordance function lets you analyse the words in your database in detail .
Devonthink Pro includes a built - in web browser app based on Safari ’s engine . you’re able to shop Web pages and RSS feeds , magazine contentedness , archive varlet ( once archived , you’re able to also edit them ) , and step through all of the bookmarks in a folder by come home arrow button . Devonthink Pro even countenance you look at Web pages in full - screen mode . It does n’t interchange Safari , but it ’s a big style to breakers when you ’re conducting inquiry ; select bookmark from the hierarchal booklet on the left of the window and capture notes and press cutting from Web pages into the same database .
Devonthink Pro is n’t just for documents and files . you could make collections of records , called sheets , using tables and form . The formatting of forms — in damage of school text , layout , and appearance — is limited , but adding new field is as well-off as add a new column to the tabular array aspect . A Devonthink Pro database can let in multiple sheets ; you could , for example , keep a contacts sheet of paper and a project notes sheet in the same database .
Finding data
All information managers provide some method of searching within your data . Devonthink Pro offer a search field in the toolbar and an enhanced Search dialogue , which gives you even more options . For example , you may search for an accurate match , a example - insensitive couple , or a “ bleary ” match , which will find similar and misspelled words . And Devonthink Pro ’s AI features go beyond normal hunt occasion , helping you to analyze even large database . A See Also clit open a drawer listing content like to the current document . A issue pop - up menu displays the most significant Good Book in the document ; flick a word displays a tilt of related files . A Classify release displays related to brochure , but the Auto Classify feature is spotted — if your files are too various , or your database does n’t have enough file cabinet , its selection of folders wo n’t be very exact or it wo n’t work at all . alas , the contents of a Devonthink Pro database are hidden from Spotlight ( this will also change in a next version , according to DEVONtechnologies ) .
you may export data point from Devonthink Pro to OmniOutliner ( , August 2005 ) or OPML format , Rich Text Format , text , or Microsoft Word . you could also export selected items such as spare text file to a third - generation or previous iPod . vane land site exportation converts files to HTML , but does n’t automatically make link or an index for navigation .
Macworld’s buying advice
Devonthink Pro 1.0.2 is brim with organizational and search feature without feeling bloated . It ’s powerful without feeling overwhelming . If you involve to make sense of a slew of information , Devonthink Pro is a smart option .
[ Robert Ellis is a freelance writer , a Mac fanatic , and an avid digital photographer . He sustain the blogFuturosity . ]
