Can anyone give an estimated release date for Scrivener 3 for Windows? I’m excited for its development and looking forward to using it once it comes out. Thanks.
I’m glad I’m not the only one wondering about this. There’s nothing on the BLOG since last year.
From what I can see from this forum, it seems like they’re working hard fixing bugs and implementing the features. So, I hope they release it soon. I would love to buy it.
I believe that I read that a beta version is available. All depends on how adventurous you are. 
A beta version is available, but not everything is fully functional yet and many bugs are in the process of being identified and squashed. It’s there for testing purposes, not really intended for “production work”, so you use it at your own risk.
As for a target date … when it’s fully ready for release. Lit & Lat wisely don’t set target dates.
Mark
Yeah, I am not using the beta version for production work, just trying out some of the working features. 
Perhaps it’s time to hire some outside help to get this done. Maybe beat the release of the new version of Windows.
A 3-day-old post from another thread in the forum:
([url]Scrivener 3 for Windows but when? - #14 by kewms])
Perhaps it is time for people to just chill and let L&L do their thing without all the back-seat driving.
I’m only whiny because I had to replace my old Mac with a PC. and the current version of Scrivener for Windows isn’t as good as my Mac version 2. It’s like turning 18 then moving to a state where you need to be 21 to drink.
However long it takes, I’m ready!!
With regard to simply waiting vs. “backseat driving”…
How long?
How long is an appropriate amount of time to wait for L&L to release what was promised well over a year ago?
The fact of the matter here is that we live in a world where people use more than one OS platform and expect to be able to work collaboratively. The fact that Scrivener (the product) provides the ability to pass exported versions of the .scrivx file back and forth is NOT a viable way to collaborate across platforms.
At some point, it no longer makes sense to simply wait for an indefinite period of time for the product to be released; and it’ll make more sense to just dump Scrivener and move on to something other solution.
A cobbled-together collection of tools that work is better than an elegant solution that has yet to be delivered.
I agree that it does seem inordinately long for the next update. I’ve been using the beta edition for Windows, but sigh, what’s the hold up?
Development
I can’t speak for L&L.
I can say what’s obvious to me, though.
The short answer? Development, as mentioned.
The long answer? The Mac version uses many calls that are built into the OS. Many of those calls aren’t available on Windows, and converting what was simply a system call on the Mac into Windows requires programming that system call’s functions into Scrivener. And there are a lot. In addition, the language on the Mac is likely somewhat different from the language on Windows.
“Porting” from the Mac to Windows is not easy, and the more complex the program, the harder it is. Some programs are never ported, because the tools just aren’t easily available. Scrivener is a fairly complex program, with many little bits that connect together. I’m amazed they’re porting it at all.
So the devs are building the bits needed. And those need to be tested to find the bugs (programming is the art of putting in bugs, you know).
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Now, as to time: Scrivener initially released in January, 2007 on the Mac. It released in 2011 on Windows. We waited impatiently for 4 years to get the goods. And even then, it wasn’t the same.
Mac v3 Scrivener was released in November 2017. The Win version will no doubt be released when it’s ready. And it isn’t, yet, is it? Is it close?
There are some serious bugs still present, and a large number of minor bugs. And while the devs said some months ago that the Beta was feature-complete in comparison to the Mac version, that doesn’t mean they all worked right. Or worked at all. But they were there.
The bug list isn’t available to look at, but you can page back through this forum and see the bugs reported, and compare to the ones reported as solved (in the release notes post(s))
Old engineering rule of thumb: Good, cheap, fast: pick any two. Scrivener is not expensive, so we get the first two. But not the last.
Many of the bugs don’t look that hard to fix at first glance, but I think there are hundreds left, some of them major (the list bug(s), for example). And often, the bugs that initially look simple have dirty code underneath, and it really needs to be properly fixed, or it will bite you later on.
So is it close? I’m not sure. It could be. However, I doubt it’s closer than six months.
Why? From various comments, both in this forum and on their blog, I infer they want to put out something that’s as reliable as the prior Windows version (I’ve had no problems with it – as in zero issues); that’s as functional and robust as the current Mac version; that simply works.
For that, I’m willing to wait.
L&L has been very clear that they want their customers to select their software based on what the currently released versions are, not on the planned roadmap for future versions. If the current release versions don’t meed your needs today, then there’s a very strong case to be made that Scrivener is not the right tool for you.
So downgrade the Mac version to 2.9 where you can transparently pass projects back and forth with Windows 1.9. If cross-platform ease is your top requirement, that’s a viable strategy. And with 2.9, the license is still compatible with the 3.x version of license, so you don’t have to do anything extra there. And buying Windows 1.9 now means that you get a free upgrade to Windows 3.x when it releases, so you can upgrade both sides at the same time and stay in cross-platform sync. Luckily, iOS Scrivener already works with both.