Over the next week, I will posting some more details about the new features and improvements in Together 2.0 (formerly KIT) in the hope that it will be useful for those who’ve upgraded and answer questions for those who either haven’t or can’t just yet.

Folders

Since KIT’s initial release in 2004, people have been asking for folders, a hierarchy, sub-groups, etc. I mention the different terms because rather than a compromise, Together now has real folders that can be nested to your heart’s content and are mirrored in the Finder. At the same time, Together retains KIT’s groups, although they now have a different icon to avoid confusion.

The challenge was to add folders while maintaining the existing functionality that was KIT’s appeal. KIT was based on applications like iTunes and iPhoto and doesn’t force a decision about where to store a file or drag some text for safe keeping, making it quick and easy to store files. This model includes groups that work like iTunes playlists, where a file can be in more than one group at a time.

KIT’s playlist-like groups will not work in a hierarchy (and the same applies to groups in Together). Dragging files to groups adds, rather than moves, the files. I contemplated having a file only exist once within a hierarchy or putting groups in pseudo-folders like iTunes these days, but it would only create confusion. Many things depend on a folder structure. A local copy of a web site is one example, lose the hierarchy and links will be broken, images will fail to display, etc.

So, in Together the solution is this: you can use it exactly as you used KIT. Drag to its library and the items will be stored automatically. You can still create groups and smart groups and items can be added to many groups, no matter where they are stored. In addition, you can now create and import folders. Files in folders still appear in the Library group and can still be added to groups, but will be stored in the actual folder. To store an item in the Library, rather than a specific folder, drag it to the Library.

Where

Of course, with folders and multiple groups, you can often find yourself wondering just where an item is stored. In KIT, there was no quick way to see which groups items belonged to. Together introduces the “Where” view, shown as a new section in the Info view. This acts as a cross reference, showing all the groups containing the item.

Selecting a particular group or folder shows its path in the hierarchy and double-clicking selects the group in the source list and highlights the item. The Where view also shows the folder on disk where the original file is stored.

Tag Browser

Another frequent request is a way to browse and manage tags. KIT could only find tagged items through its search field or using smart groups.

Just as you could see a list of groups in KIT, in Together you can switch that view to a list of tags. But there is more: folders, groups, labels and ratings can also be browsed as tags and this turns out to be a very useful alternative view of your entire library.

The list can be sorted by name, item count or kind and searched. Tags can be renamed and removed, dragged to items and vice versa. The system tags (folders, groups, labels, etc) can be hidden and switching between groups and tags is a single click. You can enable the system tags in the View Options panel.

These are just some of the new organization features in Together. Next: Searching.

Before I start posting about some of the features in Together, here are some more details for people upgrading from KIT. Together is my first 2.0 release, and not a free update, so I’ve tried to be very considerate to existing KIT users.

Together costs $39, KIT was $24.95 and an upgrade to Together is $14.95, roughly the difference in price. Anyone who purchased KIT in the three months preceding Together’s release (Aug 15 onwards) is entitled to a free upgrade. To get that, go to purchase Together as normal, choose an Upgrade license and enter your KIT registration code. There’s a form built into the store to email the code to you if you’ve mislaid it. You will then be told if you qualify for a free upgrade.

As Together is a paid upgrade and Leopard-only, KIT users won’t receive the usual Sparkle update notification (incidentally, Sparkle can’t handle name changes). Instead I reworked my pre-Sparkle software update mechanism to show an alert that a major new version is available (but you have to download this manually), a list of new features and the above pricing details. On this alert there is a “Skip Version” button that prevents the alert from being shown again.

Finally, I realise existing KIT users will want to try Together to see if it’s worth upgrading. Together’s library format is completely incompatible with KIT’s, and as it works with real files on disk, things could get seriously out of step if the two apps were used in parallel. So, on first run Together will offer to import your KIT library and will make copies of all the files. Once the import is completed you are given the opportunity to move your old KIT library to the Trash. If you want to keep using KIT or have any problems with the import process, you shouldn’t do that. You can also choose to defer importing until later.

It feels like an eternity since I last wrote any sort of product news on this blog, so today is a long-awaited one for me and judging by some of the emails I receive, some of you too!

I released version 2.0 of KIT today and it’s now called Together. I decided to shorten the name to make it easier for people to find.

Amongst the new features in Together 2.0:

• Folders! Considering the number of emails I’ve received on this subject, a billion people should be cheering right now.
• A new tag browser with special tags for ratings, labels, etc.
• Widescreen mode for editing and previews.
• Edit can now be done directly in the main window and in tabs.
• Editable text documents, web archives, bookmarks, etc.
• Quick Look previews for all kinds of files.
• A new system-wide Shelf for dragging, browsing and making quick notes.
• Spotlight searching and improved smart groups, with content searching and relative dates.
• Encrypted documents.

And much, much more. The release notes tell the full story. Together improves on KIT in every single area.

I have been working almost constantly on Together since February, although the design process began before the release of KIT 1.2 in the summer of 2006. With that version, I intended to revive KIT after its extended break (due to my other app, Feeder, getting sucked into the podcasting whirlwind) to see if there was still interest in the application, because I had a lot of ideas I wanted to try. Thankfully, KIT 1.2 was very well received and I released KIT 1.3 in February of this year to follow that up.

However, while working on 1.3 it became clear that I was reaching the limits of what the app could realistically handle in that form. KIT was originally released for Panther in August 2004 and continued to support Panther for two years afterwards. In the meantime, things had moved on, and with Leopard, would move on again.

Considering KIT’s age and the need to retain my sanity, I decided to start version 2.0 immediately after releasing 1.3. I also decided that it should be rewritten as a Leopard-only application to use the latest technology and everything I have learned in the last three years. My aim was to create a compelling new version that would serve as a solid foundation from which the application can grow.

As such, this has been the biggest single development project I have performed to date. I wanted to blog about Together before its release but, for various reasons, the time vanished. However, I know from the emails I receive that KIT users really care about the app and write very thoughtful suggestions on how it could be improved. Much that is new in this version is the result of that feedback. So, in the next week or so I will post some more in-depth details about the new features in Together 2.0.

I released Feeder 1.4.9 earlier today, which includes some fixes for issues discovered in the GM version of Leopard and will add atom:link tags to all feeds. This was made a recommendation in the RSS Best Practices profile on October 15 and is now required by FeedValidator, which shows warnings for feeds that do not include it.

The other big change is that Feeder now requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. This has been the case anyway with the outstanding issue of compatability introduced by QuickTime 7.2, which Apple doesn’t seem in a hurry to fix. In order to make Feeder fully Leopard compatible, Panther had to go.

This was something I was planning to do anyway in the next major version as Panther support is holding Feeder back and my testing burden just doubled with the launch of Leopard. Panther usage is minimal these days, anyway.

In a post entitled, Satisfying UI Design is Often Illogical, Scott Stevenson defends recent changes to Leopard’s UI. Under a heading of “A Design Strategy” he writes:

So we need a fresh experience. What’s the criteria?

There are tens of millions of existing Mac users all over the world, and millions of new ones waiting in the wings. They need to an experience that is both brand new, and yet familiar. Stop short, and it will not spark the user’s interest. Go too far, and you may alienate your user base. So the task is finding the balance.

This is additionally complicated by the fact that Leopard must look like it belongs in the same universe as the iPhone, iPod, the Apple Store, and a wide range of Mac applications. It’s difficult (impossible?) to come up with something which satisfies all tastes, so compromises have to be made.

I think it’s a mistake, though, to assume that the shipping designs are ever reached via apathy for a particular audience. Finding the perfect balance is hard, but some version ultimately must ship to keep things moving forward. The goal, I think, is maximum user satisfaction for the target audience. This may mean making changes that some audiences would disagree with (because not everyone experiences things in the same way), but I really doubt it’s apathy.

However, rather than the subjective views to which he alludes throughout the post, much of the criticism about Leopard, voiced very consistently by developers and users alike, is that many of the changes actually degrade usability, making the user experience less satisfying.

Some examples:

• The new folder design makes it more difficult to recognise folders at a glance.
• The new Dock’s “lights” do a worse job at showing an app’s running status than the triangles in the previous versions of the Dock, by offering less contrast.
• Stack icons in the Dock make it more difficult to see which folder is represented.
• Stacks can only access a limited number of items in a folder before falling back to the Finder; the pop-up menu listing all items is gone.
• The menu bar is harder to read with some backgrounds.

You’ve read such a list a thousand times by now, I’m sure.

None of these things are so terrible that your Mac becomes unusable and overall Leopard looks good, but people expect better from Apple. The impression is that Leopard’s UI designers were unable to fuse form and function as well as we have come to expect. It’s both disappointment and frustration fuelling the complaints.

On the plus side, I would say Spaces, the unified window style, new Finder (undoubtedly my favourite change) and Spotlight results window are generally regarded as worthwhile improvements.

Taken as a whole, it appears more was lost than won with Leopard’s UI changes.

Scott ends with this:

If history can be used as a benchmark, the UI discussion cycle we’re currently in with Leopard is a natural part of the process. Any sort of change will bring disagreement from some users, but eventually it all settles down as people get used to it and various tweaks are made. That’s been my experience, anyway.

I would agree that some changes require an adjustment period and various issues will be addressed in time. Normally, this would happen in the next major version of the OS, but maybe we will see some changes sooner thanks to all the discussions going on.