I am a long time Scrivener user (1.1), and I was very excited to be able to download the Mac preview yesterday. I kept hitting refresh on the forum and Twitter. And finally, it was available! Twenty minutes later (it wasn’t on Amazon S3 yet…), I installed it, created a test project and played with it for an hour. I was pretty impressed, but not as much as I thought I would be. Ok, the interface is good.
Today, I spent the entire morning reviewing the settings, tweaking the interface, learning the new features. The manual was very helpful, thank you AmberV (I think you did it, right?). And… wow! Backups! Simplenote sync! Scratch pad! Quick references! New compile screen! Collections!
Now I get it, and I don’t know why I didn’t see the need for these features yesterday, maybe I was tired. Thank you so much for this release, everything is easier to find and to understand (this is the most important new “feature”), with incredibly useful additions. I still don’t see the need for a freeform corkboard, but I guess others will appreciate it.
I have a question: is the new tutorial complete or should I wait a week to be sure I don’t miss anything?
Since my only feedback so far has been complaining about the new Scrivenings divider, I figured I should also mention that everything else got better. I have nicknamed this version “Squeevener” in conversation with a long-suffering friend. Because… squee
Thanks for the kind words! Everything’s a bit hectic at the moment, as you can imagine, but I am grateful for the positive feedback (whew).
RodIX - the tutorial is complete (although there is a note from Ioa to me lurking, which I forgot to take out). Glad you like it. My emphasis has been very much on refining what’s there, making things easier to use, integrating the tools and adding features that may not always be obvious but which should come in handy when used with everything else.
Just a few words to say how impressed I am with the preview version
A large project opened and converted flawlessly and was soon ready to go. The new layout takes a little getting used to but that will come in time. Main feature I like? It just seems so much faster which suggests a lot of time spent on optimizing code.
Well done Keith, you deserve all the praise that will undoubtedly come your way.
I finally took the time to really go through all the new features in 2.0, and I have to say I’m really impressed – it’s a beautiful piece of software. Many thanks for all your hard work Keith (and the crew) – you should be really proud of this.
I just thought it appropriate to join in the praise.
I have been using Scrivener for around 18 months - nothing major or creative really, bits and bobs, work stuff etc, but I love it. It is wonderful software that just makes me enjoy my MacBook even more.
Anyway I have signed up for Nanowrimo and am currently suffering sweaty palms as I try to think of a story to write - hugely scary!!! Downloaded the beta and am just blown away with it. Absolutely fantastic Keith and the team. If you have list of certain purchasers you can add another tick.
I tried to resist downloading the preview version, thinking that I could hold out for the “official” release. It’s only a week, right? Yeah. I lasted one day.
So I’ve been playing around with it ever since, and I can say, without reservation, that this is one of the best pieces of software that I’ve ever encountered. Not only is it brilliant in concept, but the execution is fantastic. If I were to design and code a writing tool myself, I could only hope to come up with something as well crafted as Scrivener (and I fancy myself a pretty good software developer).
I’ve been using Scrivener 1.54 for about the last 6 months. As good as it was, 2.0 is better. Way better. I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am to Keith for his amazing work (and everybody else at L&L, too).
There is so much I love about this program. So much I loved about the previous version and then just in case that wasn’t enough to tide me over for the rest of my life, 2.0 came out.
And this is so minor, but I just got totally knocked out by the “suggestion” feature when I went to create a Scrivener link. I know it seems like such a little thing but…wow, I cannot tell you how much it blew me away. In a good way. I always hated making links in that backward way (selecting text, context menu, create link…rather than just dragging in an item from the Binder) because it’d take me forever to work through the menus to find what I want. This suggestion feature just popped it up right there! Beautiful! Like, I’m stuttering kind of beautiful. So. Much. Love.
Also the whole wiki style for making links–snazzy. I just have to remember it’s there.
All right, I really should stop pla–ah, working, before my computer battery dies. Siiiigh.
Another cool link feature that is 100% keyboard (if you have full access turned on in sys prefs) is using Cmd-L. Select the text you want to link; Cmd-L; RightArrow to switch to existing docs tab… and if the title is an close match just hit Enter and you are done. I think it just takes the top “Suggestion” and highlights it in the tree for you. If the match isn’t right, or the text has nothing to do with a title, you can tab down and navigate the tree with arrow keys.
My first book comes out next week – it began life on MS Word, but after 5 minutes of utter frustration I searched the net and came across Scrivener. I wouldn’t have made deadline without it.
Have begun playing with 2.0 - using it for my work in television, which requires the much improved tables – and love it even more. Congrats on the program and hope you make a cool million (in the currency of your choice) out of this update.
You guys RULE! :mrgreen: This new preview is incredible. I imported my Scrivener project into the new version, and have been tweaking things, using the quick reference panes, template sheets, etc. All stellar.
Oh, and don't give a hoot about the naysayers: the icons are stylish, practical, and pleasing to the eye. And the app icon's spot on.
As always, I bow to ya’ll (must keep with the southern motif as I’m in Georgia for the time being).
Yes I have to say there is no problem with the icons whatsoever - any of them. I think I like the small ones best. They’re still easy to see and take up less room.
We actually had the designer hand-craft all of the small icon versions as well, rather than just resize them all down like most apps do. This way they stay crisp and “legible”.
