The Omni Group on Tuesday decided to make three of its apps available as freeware. The applications are available for download with no restrictions.
“We’ve been thinking about this for OmniWeb for a while because every other browser is free,” Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group, told Macworld. “We didn’t feel comfortable charging for something that we are not updating as frequently as some other apps.”
The Omni Group said OmniWeb, OmniDazzle, OmniDiskSweeper, and OmniObjectMeter are all available with no licensing restrictions and are fully functional. The company said none of the applications are currently under active development.
The fact these apps are now free is no reflection on the state of the company. In fact, the company has never been in better shape.
“We have had by far our best year ever last year,” said Case. “Things are going very well.”
Case said The Omni Group is even looking for new engineers to work on the ideas for the company’s other applications. Development on applications for the iPhone also contributed to the decision to make the four apps available as freeware. Case said the response to the iPhone app has been very positive.
“As a small company with limited resources, we have had to make some difficult decisions about where to focus our attention as our business continues to grow,” said Case.
Case said the company isn’t dropping the products from its arsenal. In fact, he didn’t rule out future updates as engineering resources allow.
“We’re keeping our options open,” said Case. “We still have a long list of stuff we want to do with those apps.”
The company still has numerous applications under active development including OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, OmniPlan and OmniFocus.
Update: Added information from an interview with company CEO, Ken Case. 2/24/09 6:15 pm PT.