I was halfway through my current book in the old version of Scrivener when I installed the 3.0 beta, and continued the project with it. My first draft target date is July 24th, at which time I will do a second draft, then compile it as a Word doc and send it to my editor. She usually takes about a month to get her edits back to me, and I’m hoping that the final version of 3.0 will be out by then, or at least a RC. If not, I figure I can just compile the final version in Word and do all the titles, page numbers, etc. in InDesign. I’ve laid out books without Scrivener in the past, and I can do it again.
I do like the interface of 3.0 and hope it’s finished soon. I love Scrivener.
The problem is that Scrivener 3 isn’t backwards-compatible, so if the beta stops working for some reason, you won’t be able to continue and you might lose your work altogether. I’m not that brave.
I’ve been using the Win Beta 2906 since it came out for a novel and a whole whack of short stories. I did the same for a v1 beta (don’t remember which one, now).
What I did both times was to take a look at the number of bugs reported in this forum. When the reported new bugs were reduced to what appeared to me to be a reasonable number, and the reports came with less frequency, I began using the newer BETA versions without problems. It worked for me. Of course, your own mileage may vary, and I’m certainly not recommending it by any stretch.
It’s mid-July now, and a replacement BETA will be coming out at the end of the month. Obviously I’ll be taking advantage of that, too. Again, I’m not recommending it. I’m merely reporting the decision-making process that worked for me.
L&L for Windows has continued to be my go-to platform for writing since December, 2011. I believe v1 was $U40.00 at at that time. Eight years. Forty bucks. Talk about ROI. Thank you to all involved in the L&L software development program.
Only with a copy of one that I’m not afraid of loosing. For like many there are still problems and has been posted to Use At Your Own Risk for ‘important’ work.
As I’ve covered ‘supposably’ with getting the new version working on that copy should pose no prob as publishing is still months if not a year away as other stories are in the pipe.
I am – happily, and with no issues thus far. Other than a couple of minor distractions standard for beta products, I find it a much more enjoyable working environment than v1 and since my work is nothing that would shake the earth if it were lost, I’m happy to take the risk.
I do try and copy/paste the day’s work over to a Scrivener 1 document for backup when I clock off for the day, just for peace of mind, though I can happily say I’ve never yet needed it.
Yes. I have too much I want to write and I don’t want to have to re-learn Scrivener when v3 is released (and it is quite a leap from 2). I’m not really worried about losing work or anything. I think it is too close to being ready for release to have any really dangerous bugs. I’ve written over 100,000 words with it this year and it hasn’t crashed once, nor have I lost anything. Some features are not quite ready yet, such as within compile, but I don’t need them yet anyway.
Same here! Went to Windows from Mac, and didn’t want to mess around with changing versions later. It’s been working fine so far. I’m not too worried about the beta-ness, hasn’t been an issue for me. -billb
Have they allowed any of the betas to expire? I.e., should I be concerned that this beta expires in a week (or less) and there’s no new beta yet? I haven’t paid that close of attention as to how near the deadline they get…
I do.
And I don’t see, why there should be any risk. As before, the filse are nicely saved as rtf. So, if ever thre would be a crash, the rtf-files are always accesilble from “outside”. And what is great now, they are stored in a folder togehetr with their document notes and synopsis. That’s veven progress
The only problem is the bud that prevents from compiliing the finishd book into mobi . So that needs a way around then… Hopefully thy get there soon.
I use Scrivener (among other things) for researching and writing articles for my wesite. I use it literally every day, since I have a daily photo-diary. It has never needed compiling and probably never will.
As a direct result of this thread I have switched over to using the beta version for this, and my other two live projects. After less than twenty minutes kerfuffle I was up and running - and I love it. The Composition Mode reminds me of FocusWriter which I used to use several years ago (this is a good thing!) and the interface is very nice.
I shall now pay close attention to all the beta testing posts
I am, but like some other users I have both the Mac and iOS version of Scrivener as well, and everything is saved onto Dropbox. So, even if Scrivener not only crashed but corrupted the files, all I would have to do is boot up my Mac without being connected to the internet and copy the old copy project onto my desktop before letting Dropbox sync.
I’m just so excited for the timing. I just found out my late 2011 Macbook Pro will not be able to upgrade to MacOS 10.14, Mojave. While Scrivener 3 updates currently on the horizon will be compatible with 10.13, it means the writing on the wall is there for my Mac and I simply refuse to buy a $2000 Mac. My late 2011 MBP was a $1300 bottom-of-the-line machine that still did everything I needed it to on the day I bought it, and I slowly upgraded it over time after the warranty expired (upgraded from 4GB of RAM to 16, added a Solid State Hard Drive when the original one failed, etc.) With Apple’s hardware decisions - soldering the RAM onto the MB so it can’t be upgraded, making it impossible to replace/fix individual keys without replacing the entire bottom deck (I’ve replaced 2 keys), and refusing to admit their mistakes with the butterfly keyboard and touchbar, my days with Mac are done for the time being. Mac used to have the best laptop keyboard’s on the market (I still think they have the best trackpad, though I don’t like the smaller amount of travel space), and the only windows laptop that even came close to providing a comparable experience was the Surface Laptop (probably due to lack of bloatware being manufactured by Microsoft), but MacOS with annoying hardware is not worth the price tag for me. I’ve already built a desktop so that this laptop can just stay in my backpack.
I’m in the exact same boat as you, RE no longer being able to justify the Mac price tag and being super-grateful for the timing of this version for Windows. Scrivener 1.x felt like a difficult adjustment, with several of my most-used features absent, but this beta has given me back everything I missed about the Mac version and then some.
As soon as the release of BETA was announced I jumped on board and have had ZERO problems.
Well, there was that one time the stripper jumped on my table and drop kicked my drink onto my laptop. But I guess that can’t be considered a BETA problem.
Jerry Nelson
An American freelance writer living the expat life in Buenos Aires
I am beginning to regret using the beta for live work. It seems my process (admittedly this is not the best measure) is riding that third rail. No data loss, just frustration.
I’m a developer myself so I know the process and how much it helps having outside users that do things differently than anticipated. So I’ll soldier on.
