Re: Comments Please ... Omnis Studio v WC
This WebDNA talk-list message is from 2001
It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 36642
interpreted = N
texte = Terry Nair wrote: > > Hi all ... > > Trying to swing a client to buy WebCat for his Ecom needs. After pointing > their CTO to SM site and doing a presentation to their BOD, a question was > raised that surprised me. > > Check out www.omnis.net and their software Omnis Studio 3. It is a RAD > software with tremendous capability. It even comes with client side > processing via a plug-in for browsers, has a great IDE to facilitate a quick > learning curve and ease of linking to industry standard database system. > > The question posed by the CTO then ... Between WC and Omnis, it is obvious > that Omnis has greater potential and scalability. Why then is WC more > expensive? Would it not be more prudent to invest in an Omnis backend at the > get go since it does lots more then WC and cost less? > > Well ... I graciously conceded that I was not aware of Omnis and would get > back to them during the second round of meeting, after having had the chance > to check it out. Well, I downloaded the demo and all the documentation. Am > still in the process of evaluating .... > > If anyone out there has heard, dwelled on or used Omnis Studio ... I would > appreciate your take on it with respect to the CTO's question. I especially > like the web client component capability. I am all ears and put learning > curve aside as a factor. > > Thanks all - Terry D. N. > WARNING!! PERSONAL OPINION FOLLOWING!!!One thing that immediately leaped out at me what that Omnis is a client server package, not a web-based development system. What I mean by this is that the client must load software (in this case a plug in) to use the server. In other words, a plain web browser is not sufficient. So comparing this package to WebCatalog is like comparing Macs and PC's; sure they both are capable of doing the same things, but there is very little in common with how they work.I am not saying that this is inherently bad, only that it is a very important difference. By looking at the Omnis website, I see that they support IE and NN under Windows and Mac and NN under Linux. No mention is made of Opera or Lynx or any other web browser. By going this route you are limited to those platforms supported by Omnis. This may be an acceptable limitation for your development.Also, and I hope I don't sound pedantic about this, Omnis is a general purpose development environment; WebCatalog is an e-commerce system with full development capability. Compare the price of Typhoon Plus at $499 to Omnis for a comparison of equivalent packages. There are a lot of features of WebCatalog which would need to be replicated in any other package, regardless of cost or ease of use. That expense needs to be taken into account.My 2 cents - John-- John Peacock Director of Information Research and Technology Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 4720 Boston Way Lanham, MD 20706 301-459-3366 x.5010 fax 301-429-5747------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list
. To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://search.smithmicro.com/
Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:
Terry Nair wrote: > > Hi all ... > > Trying to swing a client to buy WebCat for his Ecom needs. After pointing > their CTO to SM site and doing a presentation to their BOD, a question was > raised that surprised me. > > Check out www.omnis.net and their software Omnis Studio 3. It is a RAD > software with tremendous capability. It even comes with client side > processing via a plug-in for browsers, has a great IDE to facilitate a quick > learning curve and ease of linking to industry standard database system. > > The question posed by the CTO then ... Between WC and Omnis, it is obvious > that Omnis has greater potential and scalability. Why then is WC more > expensive? Would it not be more prudent to invest in an Omnis backend at the > get go since it does lots more then WC and cost less? > > Well ... I graciously conceded that I was not aware of Omnis and would get > back to them during the second round of meeting, after having had the chance > to check it out. Well, I downloaded the demo and all the documentation. Am > still in the process of evaluating .... > > If anyone out there has heard, dwelled on or used Omnis Studio ... I would > appreciate your take on it with respect to the CTO's question. I especially > like the web client component capability. I am all ears and put learning > curve aside as a factor. > > Thanks all - Terry D. N. > WARNING!! PERSONAL OPINION FOLLOWING!!!One thing that immediately leaped out at me what that Omnis is a client server package, not a web-based development system. What I mean by this is that the client must load software (in this case a plug in) to use the server. In other words, a plain web browser is not sufficient. So comparing this package to WebCatalog is like comparing Macs and PC's; sure they both are capable of doing the same things, but there is very little in common with how they work.I am not saying that this is inherently bad, only that it is a very important difference. By looking at the Omnis website, I see that they support IE and NN under Windows and Mac and NN under Linux. No mention is made of Opera or Lynx or any other web browser. By going this route you are limited to those platforms supported by Omnis. This may be an acceptable limitation for your development.Also, and I hope I don't sound pedantic about this, Omnis is a general purpose development environment; WebCatalog is an e-commerce system with full development capability. Compare the price of Typhoon Plus at $499 to Omnis for a comparison of equivalent packages. There are a lot of features of WebCatalog which would need to be replicated in any other package, regardless of cost or ease of use. That expense needs to be taken into account.My 2 cents - John-- John Peacock Director of Information Research and Technology Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 4720 Boston Way Lanham, MD 20706 301-459-3366 x.5010 fax 301-429-5747------------------------------------------------------------- This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to the mailing list . To unsubscribe, E-mail to: To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to Web Archive of this list is at: http://search.smithmicro.com/
John Peacock
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