14 DAY TRIAL // Considering the fact that writing is a big chunk of my daily routine, I have developed quite an affinity towards text editing programs. There is a lot of choice here and many specialized programs deal with one aspect of writing or another, or even with what kind of writing you are doing. Despite there being a great variety, few programs actually bring anything new to the table, most of them building on options and features that have long become mainstream. However, every once in a while, you come across something that is rather unique, something that adds something new to the table... something like Diamond.
What it does
Diamond is a text editor, similar to TextEdit in scope, but quite different in execution. With a minimalist look, and an approach to working with documents that is a mix between resizable document windows, stackable palette windows and collapsible stickies windows, it is like nothing you've seen before.
Working with it
In terms of the actual editing of text, Diamond is very similar to TextEdit. In fact, if you make the rulers visible, it will even look exactly like a TextEdit document without the margins. They both use nearly the exact same menu system and the same palettes for fonts and everything else. Diamond reads and writes RTF, RTFD, Text, and MS DOC formats, whether created by Diamond or by other applications, and handles them properly. The differences between the two are in the workspace. And these differences are huge.
The first thing you notice when you start up Diamond is the Backdrop. This special window is as big as your desktop and above it, giving you a nice clear workspace with no distractions. By default, both the Backdrop and the windows are a plain dull grey color. Fortunately, you don't have to keep them like this, and both Backdrop and windows can be customized to look pretty much any way you like. The windows themselves are something else. They look and act like regular border-less windows, but they can also be collapsed into thin strips, and even stacked one on top of the other so that they become one single unit. Once stacked, windows can also be unstacked, and you can also combine stacks with other stacks. All in all, the windows give you a lot of flexibility and you can have heaps of them open at the same time with little to no clutter.
Another important difference between Diamond and other similar programs is that it works horizontally rather than vertically. When your text reaches the bottom of the window, it does not keep going down. Instead, it starts on the next column, to the right of the one you were in. Thus, documents in Diamond are never higher than the window, but are a lot wider. The size of the column can be adjusted from the preferences, and can be as thin or as wide as you want. This concept might sound strange, but if you've ever used Tofu or other similar reading programs, you'll love it. The horizontal approach lets you see more of your text on screen at the same time with the vertical approach, simply because screens are wider than they are taller. This eliminates a lot of redundant scrolling and makes both reading and writing smoother.
Some issues
As much as I like the way Diamond works with documents, there are things about it that make little to no sense.
The first issue I ran into was the color of the Backdrop. I would have liked a nice black with 75% opacity so that you can still see some of what's behind. Unfortunately, the color you assign to the backdrop is also the color the program automatically gives to the background of the 'preferences' window. So you can't use black unless you want a black on black window for settings.
Next up, Diamond does some great things with the windows. You can keep several documents open as a collapsed palette docked in the corner of the screen and it will take next to no space whatsoever and still be instantly available when you need it. Unfortunately, once you stack up about ten documents, all minimized, you stop and stare and realize you have no idea which is which. When documents are opened, Diamond shows you their name and word count, but when you minimize them, it shows nothing. Sure, you can give each one a different color and use that to distinguish between them... not. The minimized window height is just big enough to display its name in there, anything else is just absurd.
Last but not least, for some strange reason unbeknown to man, mouse right clicks are completely ignored in Diamond. However, holding down Control and clicking will bring up the contextual menu. This is as silly as it is disruptive.
The Good
A very different way to work with text documents. Makes having lots of files open at the same time a breeze and works horizontally rather than vertically.
The Bad
Has some absurd design omissions, such as the lack of right clicks and the absence of titles in minimized windows.
The Truth
With some small changes, this program could be a great replacement for TextEdit, and highly recommended to people who work with many files open at the same time. As it is, you run into these small issues so much that they become a major source of frustration.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
