Sorry to be a cowardly of Clapham (although currently I am a hesitant of Hawaii) but am about to put 80k words into either Scrivener or A.N. Other.
I am just a little concerned that the Beta I have downloaded expires at the end of June.
Can you guarantee that EITHER there will be a new beta OR the life of this one will be extended.
Sorry to be a worrier but will be putting in upwards of 100 hours into this.
Thanks in advance
Steve
Dear Steve,
I´m using the beta more or less since the beginning and there was only one time, when they didn´t have the next version ready to the expiry date. They had it some days later ready. And to have still excess to the files after the expiry date, you can just set the date on your computer some days behind, at last that worked last time 
.
Hope this helps,
Sarah
Thanks Sciley
Does not 100% inspire confidence!
I see MM one of the mods eulogising about new features not sure iof they are in new release. She talked about the new release being available “the week before” but that is today and it ain’t up yet .
Mods any idea of when new version will arrive please.
TIA Steve
Actually, stevehomer, I believe the given estimate for the new beta version was “in the week before” which still gives another 7 days.
If you require 100% confidence, using a beta to finish a large project is not a good idea. Why don’t you use old tried-and-true to finish it and revisit the beta when you can just have fun?
Dave
A fairish point but I have to use SOMETHING. Large complex thriller and I am getting very confused so God help the reader.
Scriv has some benefits over the others I have been looking at so am probably going with it. (Wish it had a timeline like one I saw and character tracking like another - but you cannot have everything!) I think it is the best writing tool which is what I need now. I may port it into another package for a final edit.
Be that as it may… I am not used to seeing time-limited beta releases like this where the new version is only available at the very last minute. Typically beta releases overlap by a month or two specifically to avoid uncertainty and to allow for unforseen last minute problems. Having a beta come out just days before the existing beta explodes seems pretty daft - but this ain’t my party!
Now off to ask about a real problem and will just have to keep my fingers crossed that the hours I have put in learning Scriv have not been wasted!
ATB
Steve
Hi Steve,
I’m a Mac user, but …
1 Scrivener is produced by a very small team, basically one person coding for the Mac and 1 and at one the beginning 1.5 people coding for Windows. There was the one case of slippage with the Windows version beta-timing. It’s a highly complex project and with a team of one, that it has happened so little is amazing – I have abandoned a couple of Mac apps which looked promising, but where the projected development path slipped a year or more out of sync, apps where the data structure was not so open as Scrivener’s.
2 The Scrivener project … on a Windows box it is a folder titled yourproject.scriv, with ‘yourproject’ being whatever you’ve called it. That is entirely separate from the program itself, so even if there was a hiatus such as you fear, you do not lose all your data; it is still technically accessible, as each of your separate Scrivener documents in the binder is a separate RTF file within the folder structure. The only problem with going into that is the file-names are designed for the project management system, not for the user, so are not so transparent. But they are there and RTF is readable by all major word-processors. By the way, you should only open and modify those in emergencies, as, if you do, they will get out of sync with the project management files and may cause real trouble.
3 In spite of the above, it is only common sense, if you are using the Windows beta, to compile your project as it is shortly before the beta expiry date, so that if the beta is delayed, you have a standard version of the entire text that you can open in your favourite WP … Word, OpenOffice, whatever … And when the new beta/release candidate is available, if you have done any work on the compiled version in the meantime, you can import that into a new project and split it up once more.
In my experience, on both Windows and Mac — and on Atari “Jackintosh” — on no PC can you have 100% confidence in any piece of software or hardware … 99%+ on a few things, but never 100%.
Mark
Mark you are not quite getting MY situation.
I have a short window in which I have to do a lot of work on a book. I am just trying to make sure the tool I think is the best for the job keeps on working. I already have 80k words plus in Word. Not a lot of point learning Scrivener and then going back to Word five days later.
As Scrivener is produced by a small team, all the more reason to have a more secure overlap between betas IMHO.
Steve
Steve,
Sounds to me like you should stick with Word. You’ve already produced 80k words in it, so are clearly comfortable in that environment, and it will give you the confidence you need for the pressurised situation you find yourself in.
However, Scrivener is a very intuitive piece of software and you may find that the small time investment in getting familiar with the basics saves you time and stress in the end. You can always “compile” a copy of your manuscript to RTF or Word daily so that you always have a non-beta format version should you change your mind or the worst happen - in which case you will be no worse off than if you’d not tried Scrivener in the first place.
This is how I am working during the beta phase, although it must be said that I am a strict hobbiest writing in moments stolen between meetings and on trains, and if I was to lose 80k words of my work I would probably be the only person to ever notice.
As I said I was look for a tool to use AFTER writing 80k words in Word. QED I was looking for something that was not Word!
Anyway taking the plunge and praying!
Hi, first of all, if safety is your biggest concern, I don’t recommend using Beta products. Anything can happen in Beta.
Second, I have used the beta version both ways. Started in Scrivener and then finished the polish draft in Word. And started in Word and copied it all into Scrivener for easy revision. I find it way easier to start in Scrivener and end in Word, but that’s not been possible until now. I highly recommend bringing your Word doc into Scrivener and breaking it up if you have major revisions to do.
That said, it is still Beta, you need to be at peace with with the risk.
Good luck
Actually, what you said was you were looking for a tool to use HAVING written 80k words in Word. QED Word isn’t exactly restricting your creative flow. Unless it’s 80k words of crap, of course.
Good luck with your project. Don’t forget to tell us all about it in the “Scrivenings” and / or “I’'m a Writer” sections of the forum when you’re done!
May I just add to the points expressed in this topic… I have already bought the Mac version of Scrivener, but will be going away in early July for a while and only have a PC laptop to continue working on my book. I’m very concerned that the Windows beta expires in a couple of days with no new version mentioned. This is going to cause some inconvenience.
I fully understand that you don’t exactly have a huge team working on this, but some clarification at least would be appreciated.
Congratulations by the way on a brilliant piece of software. My project is at the moment very fragmented, and Scrivener is ideal for my needs. Your pricing also is very welcome, much appreciated. I will in any case be buying a Windows licence as soon as it becomes available.
I think the situation is very clear. It’s been mentioned in several posts that there will be a new version a few days before the 30th June i.e. (checks calendar) in the next day or two.
It seems to me some people don’t really appreciate the fact it is still Beta software. You should expect (or at least be prepared for) bugs, delays, odd behaviour and so on in Beta software and therefore not use it (or, at least, not rely on it) for critical work.
Thank you for that reassurance. Sorry to seem a pest, but am new to the forum and haven’t seen mention of the new version, or obviously wouldn’t have asked.
Caution noted about the use of Beta software. I’ll be careful, I promise. 
Hi,
You’re not being a pest at all – I hope my post didn’t seem hectoring, it wasn’t meant that way. And you’re not the only one asking about the new version or whether it’s suitable for use in its beta state.
Probably the best place to keep an eye on for news on new versions, bugs etc is the ‘Windows Bug Hunt’ forum, especially the announcement posts pinned at the top (and especially over the next couple of days).