Introducing Curio 11

We thrilled to announce that Curio now goes to 11. 😉

Back in late 2002 work first began on Curio and version 1.0 was released to the public in February 2004. I'm so proud that Curio is still going strong 13 years later with the release of Curio 11.

Curio 11 is a massive update so let's go over some of the highlights.

Editions

The first big news is that Curio 11 is now available in Professional, Standard, and Core editions. For those that remember we had an identical tiered arrangement prior to Curio 8 but moved to a consolidated, single edition -- simply called "Curio" -- from Curio 8 through Curio 10.

The reason and the key advantage was that a single edition was simpler to create, maintain, and market. However, a key disadvantage was that we no longer had a strong, low-cost edition for those that wanted basic functionality nor a version that could cater to the power users that wanted higher-end, professional features.

Fortunately we came up with a great solution. For Curio 11, Zengobi is still creating just a single application, just like Curio's 8, 9, and 10, but its interface can dynamically change based on the license key purchased and entered.

Downloading Curio 11 will begin a 2-week trial with all Professional features fully enabled and includes a bundled “Welcome to Curio” guided tour, complete user documentation, and sample gallery.

Enter a purchased Professional, Standard, or Core license key and Curio’s interface will dynamically change to reflect that edition’s features. You can even purchase a crossgrade from Core to Pro, for example, and once the license key is entered you instantly see the new functionality. You don't have to download a different app or anything like that.

Reader Mode

On a related note, once the trial expires, Curio will enter into a simplified Reader mode for read-only browsing, printing, presenting, and exporting of Curio project files and contents. This means we no longer have a separate Curio Reader application either.

So, one Curio 11 application can offer Professional, Standard, Core, or Reader functionality. Nice!

Note for Upgraders

For those coming from Curio 8, 9, or 10 you essentially have a Professional edition of Curio since all features are available to you in that release. If you decide to upgrade to Curio 11 you can choose whether you want to continue with Professional features or perhaps move to Core or Standard's functionality.

For those coming from a Curio version prior to Curio 8, we had Professional, Standard, and Core editions back then so you can maintain that same level or cross/upgrade to a different edition.

New Features

Now on to the new features!

Masters

Curio 11 Professional now has an ultra-cool new feature: masters! Specifically, master figure and idea space styles, master figure stencils, and master idea space templates.

These allow you to create a style, stencil, or template that is private to a project with the super ability of allowing changes to be broadcast instantly and dynamically to all uses throughout a project.

For example, create a master figure style and use it hundreds of times in a project. Decide you want to tweak the coloring or font and, with just a click, update the master style and instantly broadcast the change to all other uses throughout the project.

Same idea with a master figure stencil -- perhaps for a website prototype or a gardening or floorplan element -- which can be dynamically updated whenever you wish.

And master idea space templates are incredibly powerful. Create a master idea space template, styled as you wish with figure content including boilerplate items. Then use that master to create idea spaces. Change anything on a master and all uses refresh. You can even nest masters, or change an idea space to use a different master.

Auto Backups and Stencils Shelf

Curio 11 Professional can now automatically manage project backups for you for peace of mind. It also supports storing project assets in an external folder which sits alongside the project file which allows Spotlight to search your project’s asset library.

Sleuth Shelf and Stencils Shelf

In Professional and Standard, Curio now sports a slick new mini Sleuth shelf for quickly finding images, definitions, or inspiration. An updated Stencils shelf is also available with more functionality.

Tons More!

New features available in all Curio 11 editions include Organizer Trash and Archive for smarter temporary and long-term storage; figures with autolayout that can move and resize themselves when the idea space resizes; a new faster and more robust project file format; automatic Finder tags for project categories; improved Search and Library scopes; vastly improved multipoint orthogonal line drawing; text typeface and transformations; support for iThoughts v4 and MindNode zip mind map file formats; plus dozens of other features, interface refinements, and enhancements.

Please check out the Curio 11 What's New page for a great overview of all the new features.

Yosemite, El Capitan, and Sierra

One important note I wanted to add is that Curio 11 supports the same macOS (aka Mac OS X) versions as Curio 10. For those still on Yosemite or El Capitan, don't worry, you can still run the latest Curio on your Macs.

Enjoy!

Check out the Curio 11 overview for more information. This is a massive code release so I'm so happy to finally make it available. 😀