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Inquisitor 3, present and future

Inquisitor 3.0 (v43) is now available for download. This release restores instant search results for users using Google.com (US) as their search source.

This minor release aside, I’d like to talk about something a bit more serious. It’s been widely reported that Apple will be eliminating the Input Manager construct in Leopard, which is the mechanism Inquisitor uses to add its features to Safari. Quite simply, if the reports are correct, Apple will effectively be sounding the death knell for Inquisitor (and the many other popular application extensions users rely on).

For me, this is deeply saddening news. Inquisitor started as a crazy idea conceived of on an airplane, and has grown far beyond my expectations into a community with hundreds of thousands of loyal users. Inquisitor provides a unique user experience that streamlines the common task of searching the web, and using Safari without it feels like taking a step backwards. I had been looking forward to taking things to the next level through new features and further refinement of the Inquisitor user experience, but it now appears that my hands have been tied.

I realize that I’m but one person who has no ability to influence policy at Apple. That said, if you as an Inquisitor user feel disappointed by this, you should probably send some feedback to Apple, though I don’t know if anyone is listening.

Thanks,
David.

  • August 24th, 2007 12:01 am

69 comments...

David...

InputManagers are a fundamentally broken idea. They bypass so many layers of security that they should not be present. They are virtually equivalent to INITs in the old Mac OS. I hope Apple removes them (despite the fact that I use two of them with Safari all the time). What we should do is petition Apple to provide a plug-in interface to Safari so these hacks are not needed.


Stuart...

The following programs will allow Inquisitor to work under Leopard.

http://millenomi.altervista.org/PlugSuit/
http://www.cocoamug.com/pimpkit/index.html


Adam...

So, does it work? I may not upgrade to 10.5 if it doesn’t. DW, this is an amazing plug-in, is there no way you could use SIMBL or something else if it doesn’t work?


sven...

Today Leopard is out. And Inquisitor is out too – out of Mac OS X. As is Saft, PithHelmet and a bunch of other great apps that were in my Input Manager folder.


se7en...

PLEASE PLEASE, do what you can to make Inquisitor work in Leopard.

I am NOT installing Leopard for this very reason: I won’t be able to use Inquisitor. There must be some other way around this?

I use Inquisitor religiously – I absolutely need it.


Tim...

Hmm.. so far looks as though Leopard HAS broken Inquisitor. Which is a crying shame – and much like another app I use daily – well, more than daily (Sound Source, the menu bar app) will be missed.

.. for now.


Ben...

So we all know now Apple didn’t listen. What a pitty, I really, really like Inquisitor. Next to the Monty Python ones, of course.


Berndt...

Actually, I’m using it on Leopard right now. You need to do a couple of things.

1) move the Inquisitor bundle from “/Users/yourname/Library/InputManagers/Inquisitor” to “/Library/InputManagers/Inquisitor”

2) in the terminal:
cd /Library/InputManagers
sudo chown -R root:admin *

restart safari, and you are golden.


JT...

Just installed Leopard, and I’m reinstalling all of my favorite old software.

I was appalled when I learned Inquisitor wouldn’t work.

I sent feedback to Apple. They have to hear us. Good luck David.


Bob...

Awesome Stuart, I got Inquisitor working with Plugsuit. I dont seem to be able to get to the Inquisitor preferences however. Do you know how to do this?


Samet...

did any one tried programs stuart suggested?
i didn’t install leopard yet, so i didn’t have a chance to check

i have three adorable plugins, inquisitor, synergy and transparent dock
if leopard don’t let one of them, im not installing it!


meatleg...

sweeeeeeet! thank u Stuart!!!!!!


Jason...

That works. Except that I can’t change any preferences as the Inquisirot Prefs icon does not show up in Safari Preferences.


Eugene...

You can actually use inquisitor just fine on Leopard without any additional programs.

All you have to do is put inquisitor in your /Library/InputManagers directory and then go to terminal and type: “sudo chown -R 0:0 /Library/InputManagers/Inquisitor” without the quotes.

Runs great!


raul...

I’m wondering if there might not be another path to take…for example I’d love to have inquisitor in the menu bar…hit return and it opens up the search in the default menu bar… the it would work in both Safari and firefox…


Kotoeri...

Excellent!!

Please add Google.co.jp/Yahoo.co.jp (Japan) site.


laura...

well i love inquisitor but it really does bug me how i can’t turn it off! its great most of the time but sometimes i just can’t deal with it. is ther a way or could you make a way… i’ll be with tiger for a while…


wess...

sent feedback as well – inquisitor keeps safari my number one browser.


Andrew...

How do I uninstall Inquisitor 3.0? The installer package doesn’t have an uninstall option.