There are certain applications I just know, without even trying them, it’s worth paying to upgrade. Acorn by Gus Mueller is today’s example.

Another is BBEdit.

@BestofTimes For some reason I had kind of forgotten about Acorn since v5. Purchased a new license today for v7. Thanks for posting!

@wearsmanyhats and I think that last point is part of its charm and its main asset.

@BestofTimes With you on both apps! I don't even bother reading the release notes for those until after I've paid for the upgrades. Acorn 7 is a good one, too.

@BestofTimes Still using Byword every day. I appreciate the fact that they don't try to add more features. It does what it does and it does it very well…

@BestofTimes I've been using Byword as my only editor for more than 7 years. It does everything I need and nothing I don't. Apart from my writing for the weblog, I use it as a scratch pad.

@jeroensangers Right there with you.

@BestofTimes I don’t feel any great lack. It is still the main writing app for me, except when I can’t think straight and then I use Folding Text.

@jeroensangers Thanks. I'm sometimes mystified when I read that a product has been "abandoned" because it hasn't changed in a while. Maybe it's just what the creators wanted it to be. You could say that paper clips have been "abandoned" because the design hasn't changed in 100 years, or you could say they do their job perfectly.