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The best writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone is Ulysses. It's powerful and simple, with features that provide great support for any writing project. YWriter may be the best free novel writing software because it was created by an author and breaks your novel into scenes so it isn’t a huge disorganized mess. There is not yet a version for Macs though, which is a deal-breaker for mea former Apple employee.
| A MacOS version is in progress!yWriter for MacOS |
yWriter5 is designed for Windows XP, Vista and beyond. Win98 and Win2k users should be able to use it, but those operating systems are unsupported.
Download yWriter5 5.2.1.3 as a self-installing EXE file (recommended)
yWriter5 exe installer (2.1mb)
Download yWriter5 5.2.1.3 in a zip file (advanced users)
yWriter5 zip file (1.6mb)
Getting started: After installing yWriter, create a new project, add one or more chapters, select the first chapter, add one or more scenes. Then double-click the first scene in the list and away you go.
1) Download the installation file. Internet Explorer users are forced into a series of pointless* security warnings which look something like this:
Just click Save. You'll get another warning (this one with a nice friendly red X):
Click View Downloads:
Once the downloads folder is open, locate the downloaded file and run your normal anti-virus scan on it. Once you're happy it's free of viruses, run the installation file. Now Windows will probably throw up another warning similar to the one below:
![Writing Writing](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126485072/443210606.png)
At this point you either trust me (and my company, Spacejock Software) and click 'Yes', or you click 'No' and delete the installer. That's up to you - just bear in mind I set up this website almost twenty years ago, and if I was offering dodgy software someone would have closed it down by now, wouldn't they? I'm also an author with over a dozen novels in print, and my reputation matters to me!
![Free Free](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126485072/799551368.png)
2) Follow the prompts to set it up. (The defaults are fine)
3) Locate the Spacejock Software entry in your start menu. The program you just installed will have an entry there. Click the program icon to run it.
4) If you get an error message about a missing framework, visit microsoft.com and download the dotnet 2.0 runtime.
* Why are all these warnings pointless? Because dodgy security certificates have been issued in the past, making genuinely harmful software appear legit and above-board!
System Requirements:
This program runs on the Microsoft Dotnet Framework, which can be installed on any version of Windows from Win98 on. (e.g. Win98, ME, Win2K, XP, Vista, Windows 7, etc) Note that it's already included with Windows Vista or later.
Hardware requirements:
An Athlon or Pentium 4 with 512 megs of ram will be ample. Should also run fine on older hardware.
Linux/Mac users:
Many of my apps will run on the Mono framework, version 2.4 or later. See the yWriter5 Linux page to see whether this application has been tweaked for Linux yet.
You can run my programs from a memory stick. See How to run your applications from a thumb drive for more info