In the age of the internet, it seems like the surest way to prevent people from trying out your browser would be to charge for it. Charge for a web browser? Why would anyone pay for a browser when the big boys such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera and Chrome — and even the little guys like Flock and Camino — are free? The Omni Group however, has been charging for OmniWeb since the dawn of time (ok, since 1995) and its business model must have some logic behind it as its browser still has a sizable niche user base. But alas… Times they are a-changin’ and now that everything on the interwebs is free, the Omni Group’s hand was apparently forced. As of yesterday, four OmniGroup apps have moved from pay to free distribution models: OmniWeb, a Mac-only web browser – the company’s most notable offering perhaps; OmniDazzle, a collection of visual effects; OmniDiskSweeper, a disk cleanup utility; and OmniObjectMeter, a memory management and repair utility for developers. With this move the Omni Group hopes to gain a slightly wider audience and as heralded as its software is by many current users, we don’t doubt that the unshackling of these apps will pay off in the long run.
[Via Cult of Mac]
