Any updates on Mac/Windows compatibility?

Have been absolutely flat out with the day job for months, so unfortunately using Scriv on the Mac has been put on the backburner.

But I’m now returning to the fold - at least I hope so - and suddenly realised there’s a Windows version :smiley: </cough - this time contemplating why I bought a MBP last year just to use Scriv (had I known a Windows version was in development)!> Anyway, the Windows version is probably going to be my workhorse, but I still like the “slickness” of the Mac original - and will use it.

So, before I delve into paying for a Mac upgrade alongside a new Windows license, can anyone summarise where we’re at with cross-platform compatibility? I’ve noted various issues that seemed to be more apparent in Nov/Dec 2010, and am wondering if these have been ironed out?

FTR, I’ll be using:

MBP: SL
Windows laptop: Vista 64bit
Windows PC: Win 7 64bit
Project sharing: Dropbox

Am really keen to get back into the groove, but want to be sure my content is safe and stable. So any feedback appreciated.

Thanks

Simon

EDIT: One of my main concerns (other than general stability) is whether or not any of the richer features, e.g. formatting, annotations etc, in the Mac version will be lost if opened in Windows? If that is the case, then I guess there isn’t an advantage to using the Mac.

I’m also interested in this - I have a license for Scrivener 1.0 on the Mac, but now only have a Windows 7 laptop and would love to transfer these projects to use Scrivener for Windows.

I have my old Mac projects in two forms - fully exported to .rtf, and as original Scrivener 1.0 folders. The 1.0 projects seem not to have .scrivx files just a binder.scrivproject, and their internal folder structure etc seems significantly different from my new Windows Scrivener Beta 2.0 projects.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday just importing the exported versions of the files for 3 small projects with minimal metadata, but the one I looked at this morning has significant metadata and would take days to import.

The import of exported Mac 1.0 projects is further hampered by me not being able to import a folder hierarchy. I’m not sure if this is a bug or user error - the tutorial says that subdirectories should be able to be imported:

But I can’t select folders in the import window (the import button then just opens the folder in the viewer). The projects I have imported so far had to be done per subdirectory, which, with the way I structured my references, also slowed down the process considerably.

As I don’t need backwards compatibility to Mac 1.0 I have two main questions:

  • Is there a way (or a hack) to upgrade Mac Scrivener 1.0 projects to be used in Windows Scrivener? (I’m willing to build the .scrivx XML by hand, if necessary, but the difference in the folder structures for the old projects makes me think this might not be straight forward…)
  • If not, how can I get importing the whole folder tree to work, so I can at least import all of the project files in one go, before spending hours fiddling with reincorporating the metadata documents into their respective files?

Ashtah–The easiest way would be to convert your 1.x projects to 2.x on the Mac, since it will do everything for you and the 2.x version will be compatible with Windows. Since you only have access to a Windows OS at the moment, do you know anyone with a Mac who could download Scrivener (free 30-day trial) and upgrade your projects?

Excellent suggestion: I do know such a person…

Thanks so much - I will be off bugging them immediately! :smiley:

But just how comprehensive is “will be compatible with Windows”?

Will any of the extra goodness (or indeed the everyday goodness) in a Mac 2.0 file be lost when opened in Windows? Or will it just not appear? Either way, will it “be there” after saving on Windows and opening back on the Mac?

Thanks