Just to give the official reply on whether there will be a Windows version of Scrivener (although I have covered this elsewhere and I believe it is also in the FAQ thanks to Amber):
The Question
Will there ever be a Windows version of Scrivener? / Please let me know when there is a Windows version of Scrivener. / Please hire a Windows developer to port Scrivener to the PC! / Hey you! Port Scrivener to Windows! NOW!
The Short Answer
No.
The Prolix Answer
I get requests in my inbox for a Windows version of Scrivener nearly every day. And honestly, if I was in it for the money (as Supergrass might sing), spending a year or two porting to Windows would no doubt give me some healthy returns and triple any profits I make on the Mac version, what with the 95% market share of Windows and all. Butā¦ and itās a big butā¦ Iām not in it for the money. Well, not entirely. Scrivener is not freeware or open source - you have to pay for it - because I put a helluva lot of time into updating it and supporting it and it is my baby and so on and so forth. But, as I have always said, I wrote it primarily for myself, so that I could write my Great Novel with it. It was the tool I always wanted. And I use a Mac. Iām no Mac snob, mind - I hate Mac snobbery, as it goes, a machine is a machine is a machine is a machine - I just happen to have a personal preference for OS X. I just like it better than Windows. Moreover, back when I used to use Windows, I bought loads of programming books on MFC and C++ (the things you need to know to write a good Windows program) with the intention of writing something like Scrivener for the PC, but found the tools and programming language obtuse. I would have had to spend years reading the Windows programming books. So, I gave up. Then, when I switched to a Mac, I found that Xcode (OS Xās main programming environment) came free with the OS (whereas the Windows programming environment, Visual Studion, costs somewhere around ĆĀ£1,000 for commercial use). And I found that with books such as those by Steve Kochan and Aaron Hillegass, I could learn how to program for the Mac in a matter of months. That is how Scrivener came to be a Mac program rather than a PC one.
Because I initially wrote Scrivener for myself, I now want to use Scrivener (I keep saying that: after the next update, after the next updateā¦). I certainly donāt want to spend two years trying to learn how to program for a platform I donāt even use. And I canāt afford to hire a Windows programmer to port Scrivener to Windows, because I donāt make enough money from Scrivener to pay another programmerās salary.
Which brings us back to the short answer:
No, it is unlikely that there will ever be a Windows version of Scrivener.
One of the reasons that it continues is that relatively speaking, not that many people seem to want to be tied to Mac hardware, and it is also possible that folk may just have a preference for Windows.
It might be good to take the Windows vs Mac debate to the āNow for that Coffeeā¦ā part of the forum. We are fortunate enough to have very rational human beings on this forum who are not so-called fanboys and who are unlikely to flame one another for preferring one platform over the other (although clearly Mac is going to win out on a forum dedicated to Mac software ). It would be interesting to hear why you might prefer Windows over OS X, for instanceā¦ In fact, I am starting a thread, here:
I donāt care to get into any debates regarding Win-vs-Apple, but I do find the need to add my experience with great Mac apps gone cross-platform. 99% of applications that are ported from Mac to Windows start to degrade in quality rapidly. I donāt exactly know why, but Iāve seen it time and again. Itās maddening when apps as gorgeous and powerful as Scrivener begin to degrade soon after they cross the binary barrier. I hope Scrivener doesnāt find the same fate as some of the others. Thanks!
Yes what usually happens here is that once they hit the Windows platforms, they realise that they now have many more customers who are easier to cater for, so the Mac version tends to wither and die.
Annoying, but just business.
This is much less of an issue than it used to be; most of the smaller Mac developers are really enthusiastic about the platform, so even if there was an easier way to port Mac apps to Windows, I donāt think many of them would take it.
I would love if it was true, since Iāve been waiting for something like this for years. Only, I hope it would have a better quality than the smaller Sony Vaio. Just yesterday I played with one of them, and was impress by its (lack of) weight, but disappointed by the keyboardās really short run, and the āwashed outā colors of the display.
I also hope it will run for several hours out of a single battery. My Pismo, with a Newer extended battery, runs for over six hours if I turn the hard disk down as soon as possible (via the āsudo pmset -a disksleep 1ā command). I wish the small laptop can do at least the same.
If the rumours are true, and it is entirely chip based, as I understand it, (i) there wonāt be a hard disk to put to sleep; (ii) there will be no real distinction between RAM and the main storage, so technically all apps should be instantly available, and (iii) battery life should be extended hugely. Just think about battery life in an iPod Nano or Shuffle compared with that in the iPod Mini ā¦ multiple times as long. I would think you would be looking at running in the order of 12 hours ā¦ It will depend on the screen which will be the most power hungry bit, and the size of the battery that Apple puts in it.
But this is, of course, all speculation.
Iād like to tell you something (unimportant (especially in the larger scheme of things) but true).
I have no real need of the program as Iām a computer consultant (and computer geek) for education,(and I used to code in windows hell - donāt do it unless you enjoy suffering) rather than a writer, but since I decided to take some classes (late in life) I happen to look around for something other than word so I would not have to get so frustrated. I found your program, and I hate to repeat what so many seem to have said already ā¦ but it amazes me how the program āthinksā as I do. So, right now Iām in the demo phase but I already know that I will buy it. As I said, I donāt really need it but I will buy it for several other reasons (besides having something great).
Those reasons include the fact that there is this guy who really seems to be in it for the love of making something wonderful. Its not just some hired PR guy writing this BS ā¦ its for real and he even spends time on a bulletin board helping his customers. Wow ā¦ I thought that disappeared twenty years ago. That is worth the cost of entry right there.
Next ā¦ in this windows world he has enough gumption to stick to what he believes in and make it Mac only. Cool! Iād pay a bit extra for that! So to hell with diplomacy ā¦ thank you for your coding skills, your vision, your drive ā¦ and thank you for making it Mac only.
Iāve got a windows box as well as several Macs ā¦ but honestly ā¦ a program as cool as Scrivener ā¦ well, it would just not be the same on that āit will doā platform.
Iām an avid apple lover myself. Unfortunately the only computer I have that I can statically devote in my office is my pc. My powerbook I use everywhere else. While Iād adore to add another apple to my household, I donāt believe that is financially possible at the moment. I use Scrivener when I write and honestly thereās no other program that can match it on Mac or Windows. Since thereās no hope of having Scrivener on Windows, I had to come up with a way that it could. Parallels has already been mentioned and my solution is very similar. Hereās what I did for those fanatics who want it as bad as I did:
Youāll need to get the following:
Pear PC
TransMac
OS X CD
Scrivener (of course!)
Install Pear PC on Windows.
Insert the OS X CD in Windows Machine
Use TransMac to read the cd and create an .img file.
Write the config file for Pear PC (or you can download a configuration utility for it)
Launch Pear PC from the command prompt and install Mac OS X
Install Scrivener.
A little warning though, the emulation cannot see the host machineās hard drive or usb devices so youāll need to use TransMac to be able to move files to and from the PC.
I know this sounds to be a drastic method to use Scrivener on Windows, but for meā¦ itās TOTALLY worth it. Iāve tried whatās out there but thereās no place like home, no place like Scrivener. I hope this was helpful and good luck to everyone who gives it a try.
But how exactly does this switching between Mac and Windows under Parallels take place? Is it a question of simply pressing a key while both systems are running, or is it a more complicated procedure?
I cannot imagine why a MacBook would be too big. I have a MacBook Pro, which is bigger, but itās as portable as a machine can be. I put it in my backpack and bike to school with it. I walk around campus with it without being burnened by its weight, and, when needed, it fits on a Starbucks tiny coffee table and on an airplane tray. So, I would be interested to know where you are planning to write.
Do you fly first class? Or on underutilized routes? A MacBook Pro emphatically does not fit on an economy class tray, unless youāre willing to be more friendly with your seatmates than I am with most relatives.
Even simpler than that, actually. At least when running Windows under Parallels on a Mac (the opposite situation), the Windows environment appears as just another window on the Mac desktop. Click your mouse inside the Windows window, and away you go. Itās very slick.
(Fast, too. I run Dragon Naturally Speaking in a virtual machine and get near-instant response. Now, thatās on a fast iMac with lots of memory, but still impressive as DNS is a pig.)
Ah! Thatās an epoch-making discovery in my computerized existence; because it implies that finally I can easily use applications like Classical Text Editor on my Mac. Or rather, not on my present Mac, because I still have a PowerMac G5. This means that sooner or later (and rather sooner than later) Iāll get tempted to exchange it for an IntelMac Ć¢ā¬Ā¦ Ć¢ā¬Ā¦
I guess so. Parallels 3.0 even improved on the graphics side - for testing purposes I played Doom 3 in 1024x768. No problem - Windows becomes just another OS X app. From time to time I have to use certain Windows software for a customer, and until now I had to use an old Dell machine for this. Which has become obsolete now.
The procedure is just that simple. Windows is running the same time Mac OS X is (itās more or less an app like Word would be). To switch to windows just click the Parallels icon in the dock. To switch back to OS X just step off the Parallels window. Easy, no?
I can say the 15" version fits nicely on the tray of a second class seat of an Italian Eurostar train. But, by recollection, I fear this is more comparable to a first class airplane tray, than the economy variety.
From time to time I have to use certain Windows software for a customer, and until now I had to use an old Dell machine for this. Which has become obsolete now.