Logos 4 Impressions So Far

Finally got Logos 4 fully installed on an alternative machine with a large part of my library in tact which is good. There are still updates downloading on my primary machine and the joy of indexing awaits ...

Installation

Generally I think that the the process seems fine I have faced some challenges along the way but I think that most of these are linked specifically to a corruption in the registry of the user account on my primary machine. The install can certainly take some time but I'm sure this will improve as Logos optimise the process and when the logging gets turned off.

Indexing

I share some of the concerns that have been expressed about the impact of this process especially as it is going to be required everytime we purchase and install a new resource. Whilst I can see how this might be less of a problem when we are all up and running live with our systems running of the old index while a new one is built as a minimum I would suggest that the process needs to have a checkpointing capability so that it can restart. I know that the pause option is designed to address this issue but it does not address an unexpected or unplanned shutdown.

To date my only successful index ran over night so I'm not sure how much the overall performance of my system is impaired. Based on comments here, I think that it would also be useful if the indexing processes could have a speed control with full, slow and auto options. Power users could then control the impact of the process on their work whilst novices could leave it on auto which would switch between fast and slow based on keyboard activity.

I know that a lot of users campaigned for an index and the speed gain for searching is impressive but as always the improvement has a cost in this case its time to build, processing power to build and we also cannot ignore disk space. Keeping the current index whilst the new new one is built means that a significant amount of free space will be required.

Home Page

After getting over the initial shock I think that this has real potential, I'm guessing that in future Betas we will have more options for customising this. Personally I would love to see my account integrated into this as an option so I can check on the status of my pre publication orders.

From a new user perspective I think that it lacks the immediacy of the Logos 3 Home Pages, I only understood how to use the box in the top left hand corner because of my Logos 3 knowledge of Topics and Passages. The other three items for the top are also not, in my opinion, that useful. The preferred Bible should be simply Open the Bible and on first use should prompt for the preferred version, the Lectionary needs to be optional and a devotion option should be added. The reading plan is OK but should ultimately be a selectable option.

Interface

Overall I like it my only issue is that whilst I'm happy for the software to fade to the background, some items are virtually invisible. I know that this will be less of a problem as I become more familiar with the software but it would be really useful to have a contract control for the whole visual interface so we can make it more visible until we are comfortable with it.

Collections

This is a great improvement, I think that most of my collections will convert quickly using the queries. Whilst this is redoing work that I have already completed the difference for me is that I build collections in case I need them in Logos 3 because they take time. With the new rules based system I can build them if I need them because it is so quick.

To help the process, it would be goo if every resource had a tag for every Logos collection that they belong to.

Tags and Rating

Another great improvement, I will definitely be tagging books and this will also mean that I need less collections.

Notes

Look a lot better, would still love a spell checker but appreciate that this tips the functionality towards this becoming the word processor that Logos do not want to develop.

Searching

Awesome! love the speed but unless the indexing issue is handled correctly this could be a source of a lot of frustration. Not being able to search new books until the index is rebuilt may also be an issue. Waiting for the indexing to compete before I could play with searching was a definite cause of frustration for me and I would not want to endure that experience everytime I add a new book.

Bible Puzzle

Like the new format, plus the fact that they are now documents so a library of Word Searches can be built up.

Interlinears

The new format is confusing me, I'm sure that I'll get to grips with it but having a small portion of text at the bottom of the screen is not as immediate as the old style. I'm also struggling to find out how to navigate the interlinear text at the bottom I know the answer will be in a forum post but if the new interface is easy to use I should be able to work this out myself and so far I have not. So far this is one area where the ease of use of 4 compares negatively with 3. My expectation of the current interface would be that the whole of the current verse be displayed at the bottom of the screen and for navigation I would want an easy to see next and previous verse control.

Performance

Given the level of logging that is still in this seems good so far, I have seen a few glitches where the rendering breaks down leaving a black screen and a not responding message for 2 to 3 seconds but nothing seriously slow yet.

New Features

Handouts look like a really useful addition, as do short cuts and I like the replication.

Summary

I can see a lot of hard work has gone into this and I would give 5 stars to much of the new program. Overall I would say the current Beta is a 4 star product I'm sure it will be a 5 star one in the future and I hope this will be in the 4.0 release not 4.1. In my opinion the areas that need the most attention are:

Indexing - ability to restart after shutdown and other features to make it compatible with the user (not a developers) world.

Finally

A massive thankyou to all the developers, designers and testers, this will be a truly awesome product when it is finished.

Interlinears - simply confusing to me.