In my recent review of Logos 4, I gave it a mixed review. I called it “worth adding to your arsenal” but also said that it was “missing a few of the previous version’s functionality.”
t it is getting better. I just installed the latest beta version of Logos 4.0a which is available for download now. In it there are many new features. Let me mention a few:
First, there is a new ability to change the background color of the open resources. You can see this is the screenshot below.
Also, notice that in the drop down there is the option to show Bible Text Only. The screenshot shows this. It removes all the extraneous things to get at just the text. No titles or footnotes.
Another new feature is the ability to customize the Ribbon on the Logos 4 Home page.
One of the most criticized features was the ribbon. Users said it was too big and they 
wanted to be able to remove things. For example, it contains the above “Choose preferred Bible” feature. I like to do that because I go back and forth between the ESV and HCSB as my preferred Bible. But I don’t like using lectionaries very much. So I removed the lectionary and the recent reading lists. The way to do this is click the customize button on the bottom left of the Home Page as seen to the left.
I also have to say that there are a bunch of things that Logos 4 does that Logos 3 could not do. In a recent Logos 4 forum post, Philip Spitzer – one of the more advanced users – lists some of them. You can see from his list there are quite a few things. Click the link to read more about these, but here are some he mentions.
Sympathetic Highlighting
Savable Guides
Customizable Guides
Syncing
Multi-monitor Layout
Reading Lists
Another advanced user and Logos MVP, Thomas Black added Automatic Updating. I would add the ability to put notes on a Guide.
The single greatest improvement in the beta is performance. Logos 4 is not nearly as sluggish in version 4.0a beta 3 as it was in the pure 4.0 release or even the current public 4.0 SR7 release (SR stands for Service Release, I believe). Sadly, the Notes feature is still very sluggish. But the rest of the beta is much better in the performance department.
Is Logos 4 where it needs to be yet? No. This is just a beta release. When they get all of this functionality and more into a public release, then I will be even more impressed. But I wanted to give credit where credit is due. And they have improved it greatly. At this rate, by mid 2010 Logos 4 should be the great software that 3.0 was.
