Here is my scenario: I am editing books for an author who writes using Scrivener on Windows. I have a MacBook (10.14) and Scrivener 3. I know in the past it was recommended that Mac users use Scrivener 2.9 to work with a Windows computer, but that no longer seems possible for new users.
What I need is to be able to open and edit projects created and still active on the Windows computer.
I was told by Scrivener support on Twitter that the projects will be “updated” as they’re opened in Scrivener 3 on Mac.
Does this “updating” still allow the projects to be seamlessly accessed and used on Windows?
That should still be a viable way of working. What troubles did you run into when attempting to use 2.9? (Granted, next year with 10.15 that will no longer be an option as Apple is cutting off 32-bit application support.)
No, it is a one-way process, but what you can do is use the File ▸ Export ▸ as Scrivener 2 Project… menu command, once you’ve finished with your round of edits. That will produce a project they can work on.
So if you are using a share folder of some sort, it might be less confusing to copy their project outside of that area, work on it, and then export back to the original share folder with the 2.x version (really, 1.x for Windows).
I never got a chance to try – with the change to Paddle the update reads, “Scrivener 2.9 for macOS is now free to use on macOS 10.11 and older. Previously we allowed Scrivener 3 licences to be used with Scrivener 2.9, so that those needing to run Scrivener on an older system could do so. As it’s not practical for us to port the Paddle code to the now hoary 2.9, we’re making it free on those older systems. (It won’t run on 10.12 or above unless you have an old eSellerate licence - on 10.12 and above, you should be using Scrivener 3.)”
I am using a Mac beyond 10.11 – and I don’t have an old eSellerate license.
If your serial number begins with “SCRIV” then you should be able to unlock it. The only folks that won’t be able to use 2.9 are those that bought Scrivener after June 26. If you’re in that group, you’ll need to use the export feature.
Thanks Amber. Yes - I have not purchased Scrivener yet, so I’m in the second group. I just have the free trial and was waiting to understand compatibility before purchasing. Which of course now leaves me past that date!
Unfortunately, our needs really are active collaboration between my Mac and his Windows computer. So the file exporting is not ideal.
Just to be clear, collaboration is a back and forth thing with Scrivener anyway, you won’t both be opening the project at the same time and working on it together like Google Docs or something. So the two extra steps you’d be taking to receive an update and then send one would be the whole of the difference in the procedure.
The only other option right now is the Windows 3.0 beta. Some are already using it for all of their work, but it is a beta.
I’ve been collaborating with my Windows-v.3 beta-using colleague for about the last 9 months without problem. It has been very stable. But it is a beta and you should check if anything that might be essential to you still has issues. Apart from lists, I get the impression that many are UI glitches, though there may be some still in Compile.
It’s very much worth your collaborator giving it a try, though I’d get them to try it on a copy of the project for safety’s sake.
