atomicbird

Ever since MondoMouse came out I've tried to explain why it's so useful. I've had mixed success, drawing a dedicated band of users but not quite so many as I might hope. I'm not sure I really get the MondoMouse message across well.

So, I was more than a little pleased to see "Power Windows for Your Mac", Mason Mark's writeup on MondoMouse. Mason takes the time to analyze and explain how MondoMouse can save time and frustration when using your Mac, complete with diagrams that'll make it all clear even if you only skim the article.

Mason's post basically illustrates Fitt's Law, one of the cornerstones of user interface design. It provides a solid mathematical basis for why MondoMouse's approach to moving and resizing windows is not just way cool, but also provides a significant improvement in the overall Mac experience. Mason's writeup is more entertaining, and drops the math in favor of some obvious illustrations.

Fitt's law, by the way, is the reason that Macs have always had their menu bars firmly attached to the top of the screen. Applying Fitt's law, the menu bar can be regarded as if it were infinitely tall (because it's impossible to move your mouse too far when you want to click on it).

Mason is also the guy behind the excellent iGet and the promising iGet Mobile. Check them out.

I've just released MondoMouse 1.4.2. This version makes two changes:

• MondoMouse will not make "choose application" windows appear anymore. This has been happening on Leopard systems, when MondoMouse works with certain applications (e.g. OmniGraffle Professional).
• If a window can't be resized, and "highlight windows being moved or resized" is turned on in MondoMouse preferences, the window will be highlighted in red to make it easier to tell what's going on. Thanks to Brian Cooke for suggesting this.

This upgrade is free to all registered users of MondoMouse. If you already have MondoMouse, the best way to get it is to use MondoMouse's "check for updates" button, or else just wait for MondoMouse to check automatically.

Otherwise, you can download the new version here.

• Download MondoMouse 1.4.2 (1.1MB)

According to numbers sent in by Sparkle, Leopard usage among people using my software has just passed 50%, just over 7 weeks after Leopard's release. The most recent numbers show 51.9% on 10.5 (49.7% on 10.5.1 and the rest still inexplicably sticking with 10.5). The plot below also shows a solid 40% sticking with 10.4.11 for now.

I'm waiting to see what sudden changes might occur after Christmas, or possibly after MacWorld next month. Either could mean a lot of new Macs replacing or supplementing old ones.

The latest numbers from Sparkle can always be found on the Sparkle Stats page, which is automatically updated every night.

Yesterday Atomic Bird was one of the featured developers at MacSanta. It went well. It was the first day of MacSanta and I was concerned that not many people would have heard about it yet. As it turned out, well, I don't release specific sales numbers but yesterday's MacSanta customers here at Atomic Bird came to more than 90% of the number of MacSanta customers last year. Last year of course MacSanta ran for about a week, with all developers listed every day. So I'd call MacSanta a smash success already, and it's still just December 2.

And it's still going

Although Atomic Bird isn't the daily featured developer, MacSanta deals continue for the rest of the month. You can find Atomic Bird on the participants list where everyone who's participated in MacSanta so far will be offering discounts all month. Just use coupon code MACSANTA07TEN. And of course there are new featured developers on the main MacSanta page every day in December.

The MacSanta promotion is back for a second year!

For the month of December, independent Mac software developers will be offering special deals on their software through the MacSanta web site at MacSantaDeals.com. Every day new developers will be featured, offering 20% off of their software for that day, using coupon code MACSANTA07 when purchasing. After their featured day they will continue to offer 10% off through the end of the month using coupon code MACSANTA07TEN.

Atomic Bird is featured December 1

We drew the very first day, so on Saturday December 1, all of our software will be 20% off with coupon code MACSANTA07. That code can be used in our web store, but be sure and visit the MacSantaDeals.com web site to see what else is available. After December 1 the coupon code MACSANTA07TEN can be used for the rest of the month.

Thanks

The MacSanta promotion is run by Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba, who does all the work on a volunteer basis. Most of the participants also volunteer to buy Paul a beer if we ever meet in person.