Use without Admin rights + Comments on cosmetics

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

Hi there,

I run Scrivener for WIndows (Beta v1.3) on a Windows XP machine with no Administrator rights. I followed the advice of Lee and installed the programme on a flash drive using a different laptop and am able to run Scriv on my work laptop without issue.

I had been advised that:

  • I would need to manually allocate .scriv extensions; and
  • I would not be able to use the spell check

I haven’t bothered with the former as I just access projects thorugh the Scrivener programme itself, and re: the latter, the spell check seems to work fine. Thought I’d let you know!

The only issue I have with the programme is cosmetic. The programme looks very oldschool, by which I mean it looks like an old Windows 95 programme with pixelated fonts and clunky 8 colour buttons. I appreciate that this is Windows not Mac, but we don’t have to conform to the stereotype - a pretty interface is perfectly possible!

If the entire programme had more of the look and feel of the full-screen mode it would be better. The use of fade in / pop-up toolbars and menus is much nicer - at the moment we seem to be weasting half the screen for occasional infomation and buttons.

Perhaps I am too set in my ways: I like to write in double spaces lines (for the same reason editors like double spacing) and in a page layout view. The pixelated fonts are a complete no-go for me as well. It’s a shame, as the functionality provided by Scrivener is just the sort of thing I’d want to use for future projects. Yet, I suspect I will continue to use MS Word for writing and a notebook for organising for the moment. But I did want to let you know WHY, rather that just silently moving on.

Thanks,

Rog

2

Thanks Rog: bear in mind that it’s still early days for Scrivener for Windows… feedback like this is good, though, and thanks for taking the time to post about it. Just one small thing - the double spacing is coming before the release date, so do check back occasionally (before and after) and see whether it is more functionally and aesthetically pleasing at a later date.

After three years of being ‘out there’, Scrivener 2.0 for Mac has finally had all its icons etc made over by a professional designer (sparking a massive thread on how awful they look, but that’s another topic entirely - we like 'em so that’s that, grr), so there’s hope yet! All the best, J