Bible Software Review Weblog

Olive Tree Bible Software has announced the availabitiy of the mobile version of iLumina for both Palm OS and Pocket PC. This excellent multimedia Bible software can now be installed on handhelds. Pretty cool!

Sean Boisen posts about his use of BookBuilder (Laridian's authoring tool, which I referred to here). He has prepared a copy of his Gospel Composite Index for use with PocketBible. A beta version of this user-created reference tool can be donwloaded here.

Sean's description of the process followed and his general thoughts on the matter, over at Blogos, are well worth a read.

As announced by Brandon Staggs on his blog, there is now a SwordSearcher User Forum up and running. Good move, no doubt.

I stumbled upon a website where the author, Jerry Foster, shares his personal reflections on low-cost Bible software programs. He says, "I set out to test all of the free or inexpensive Bible packages I could find, compare them to each other, and make a decision." I thought his conclusions might interest you. Take a look here.

I have been thinking a lot about freeware/shareware Bible software lately, and have found a few interesting "gems". I will share all about it shortly.

BibleWorks is taking preorders for the latest version of its Bible software package, which should be shipping in a matter of days (late January). You can find all the information about new features and contents here. There is also a video introduction available.

All I can say is that I am looking forward to reviewing this new version as soon as I can lay my hands on it.

I couldn't agree more with Joe Weaks when he asserts that "the real key to fluent productivity at your computer is to work towards never taking your hands off the keyboard."

These words, of course, are written in the context of Apple computers and Mac OS X, but I was immediately reminded of how true this is for me when I am in front of my computers (any of them), using Bible software (of any kind). It may be because I learned to type when I was a teenager, or perhaps because I was pretty adept at working with MS-DOS. Whatever the reason, I get much less tired and I do a lot more -- and a lot faster! -- when I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard every so often and start using the mouse. Come to think of it, one of the features I really like in a Bible software application is the ability to search and jump from one place to another by simply using some handy shortcuts.

Naturally, I know a number of people who feel just the opposite. But the beauty of keyboard shortcuts is that you are not forced to use them, and besides they never get in the way. So I appreciate it when software developers not only pay attention to drag and drop, context menus, and the like, but also to good old keyboard shortcuts. And my wrist appreciates it too!