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ZenWriter Giveaway
$9.95
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Giveaway of the day — ZenWriter

ZenWriter a text editor for Windows that cuts out all the distraction and lets you focus on letting your thoughts flow.
$9.95 EXPIRED
User rating: 362 96 comments

ZenWriter was available as a giveaway on March 20, 2011!

Today Giveaway of the Day
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ZenWriter a text editor for Windows that cuts out all the distraction and lets you focus on letting your thoughts flow. It’s a full screen, zen-like program that offers few formatting options but a whole lot of tranquility.

If you find yourself, skipping between tabs in your browser checking up on email and Facebook when you’re meant to be writing, ZenWriter is the solution to your distracted mind.

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ Vista/ 7

Publisher:

Beenokle

Homepage:

http://beenokle.com/zenwriter.html

File Size:

46.5 MB

Price:

$9.95

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Developed by Microsoft
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Comments on ZenWriter

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#96

I want the app to have the option of locking the app open until a maximum of words is met of a set time has passed.

Reply   |   Comment by Irene  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#95

I lost about 3 days of material due to the lack of a save feature. Terrible software, sorry, but that would never happen on Word. Never using again. I like the idea, but it has to save correctly, perhaps even autosave. Sort it out.

Reply   |   Comment by tom  –  7 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#94

Program save the file automatically under My Document ->ZenWriter

Reply   |   Comment by Jugem  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#93

Was not gonna try this but I am now glad I did. Normally I like my programs to have all the bells and whistles but since I regularly go through this weird ritual of poetic brainstorming on paper that for some reason feeds my brain and leads to inspiration in my passion hobbies (painting and photography), I figure this might be of some help. For this particular purpose simple seems to fit my needs in this area and this program delivers Simplicity! I just love the "KISS" principle this program provides and although I was weary of the music option, after trying it, I found it added to the inspiration. I quickly fell in love with this little gem and consider it a keeper!

Thanks GOTD and Beenokle.

Reply   |   Comment by Filtereyez  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)
#92

@81 Click on Documents. Create a folser name and/or sub folders. You can customize each one and they will be saved upon exit.

Reply   |   Comment by Spacepixie  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#91

Downloaded and Installed with NO Problems on a Win Vista Home Basic Laptop (Core Duo 4 Gig Ram)
Whomever thinks that the typing Sounds are NOT with YOUR typing must NOT have ever used a "TypeWriter" !!! If you HAD you would know that the SOUND of the Typewriter does NOT come when you hit the Keys... the sound comes as the Key Stikes the Ribbon (& puts the letter on the Pape)!!! There is a very slight delay between the two, JUST as there is in this program !!!
I hadn't planned on Getting this but I find it's better than I thought. It's a Keeper for me!!!

Reply   |   Comment by Chris Roy Jackson  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#90

I really like the simplicity of ZenWriter. It feels like writing on an electronic paper. Although it doesn't have the full word processing power of other programs, I think its main selling point is in helping to eliminate distractions. The writing flow is better and I managed to write more compared to when I type in a word processor.

It's probably because there are no buttons, icons, tabs, and other windows to snatch my attention. This keeps me focused on the actual writing. (Note: for final editing, just press Ctrl-A to highlight all the text, Ctrl-C to copy and then Ctrl-V to paste it on your favorite word processor. Or just open the rtf file in your word processor.)

I also noticed that all keyboard shortcuts in other editors also work in ZenWriter, e.g. Ctrl-B for bold, Ctrl-I for italics, the Tab key to indent paragraphs, etc.

Would like to add, though, that for future versions, should the developer decide to add the scrollbar (like an above user requested), to keep it as an option. Let the user choose between showing the scrollbar or not, because personally, I'd rather not see the scrollbar.

Thanks GAOTD and Beenokle for a neat program!

Reply   |   Comment by Dian  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)
#89

Seemingly installs on Win7 64, but then the program freezes and also stops Task Manager from responding. Nothing happens when I click anywhere on the screen so I can't even register. Worse, doing nothing the program uses 85M bytes of memory and 26% of 4 processors.
Very poor job of programming.
Uninstalling.

Reply   |   Comment by Bob R  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#88

It appears that the program forgets most of your options when you close it and run again. You'll have to set the font again, the music, background, what you want displayed in the info bar, directory in which to store your file...

It's not a major problem, but it is a big annoyance.

--H

Reply   |   Comment by Hamachisn't  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#87

BTW for a really zen experience d/l http://www.guernsey.net/~moorman/Daimoku.mp3 and drop it in the music folder (good with the fuji background). And now to sit back and send blessings to the tsunami survivors while ZenWriter chants...

Reply   |   Comment by Dr Tzap  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#86

Coincidentally, Lifehacker linked us up with OmmWriter, a formerly Mac-only app similar to Zenwriter. I wrote a review of it here: http://lifehacker.com/#!5782717/ommwriter-brings-its-relaxing-distraction+free-writing-tool-to-windows

OmmWriter, BTW, has already been purged from my computer.

I like Zenwriter better, mainly because I can add my own music at least. I tried adding my own backgrounds, but it only like .jpg, apparently, and I primarily use png. S'ok, I think plain works best for me anyway.

WIN with the ability to create structured documents (main folder, chapters or sections). WIN with bold and italics supported. WINWINWIN with clean copy/paste to and from Word.

As I will mention in the feedback, I want a right click menu available at all times for features like "save as" (to at least .rtf format, please) and print. I wasn't able to tell if it was working with Phrase Express because it didn't trigger during my test, but would love to be sure it integrates. Hugely second the "needs dictionary integration" comments. Maybe you can hook to existing dictionaries on a user's computer?

Reply   |   Comment by Keter  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#85

Update: Installed on Win 7 64. No problems. Settings are very cool - day and night themes, multiple sounds and graphics, awesome relaxing music. Very well done! Will recommend to others. Unique and thoughtful software. Should get points for a unique and different concept that is very well executed. Thanks Again to GOTD and Bennokle software.

Reply   |   Comment by richiewa  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#84

But is it USB portable?

Reply   |   Comment by hbcg  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
#83

Finally had a little time to try out zenwriter after reinstalling !@#$%^ M$ Internet Exploder - I use Firefox and so wasn't aware M$IE had suicided *again* until GAOTD's setup wrapper kept aborting "unable to connect, try again later" w/o actually making an attempt (no requester from ZoneAlarm to allow/deny access until M$IE was fixed so clearly "unable to connect..." really meant "cannot access M$IE engine to connect". OK, ZenWriter is... well... very zen... nice mood music, backgrounds are pleasing but not distracting... who cares if I ever write anything, it's good for just relaxing after a stressful day 8-)

kinda like chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō without having to learn the words... *blissful smile*

Reply   |   Comment by Dr Tzap  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#82

In spite of the fact that my initial test took place with my pop-up spell checker active and TV running in a PIP window on my monitor, I could immediately see the charm of this little gem. As a gadgeteer, I find this appealing in the same way I find a pad and pencil a nice change from graphics apps.

ZenWriter is billed as a text editor, but it's not; it's really an atmosphere-rich notepad alternative that's useful for creating an environment conducive to creative and stream-of-consciousness writing.

As a touch typist, I prefer keyboard commands to mouse-activated buttons, so I don’t mind that aspect of the app (I think that less mousing helps maintain the creative flow). I also don’t mind copying my sound and graphics files to ZW’s directories (I’m listening to Anonomous4 as my current ZW music selection). That said, I can understand inexperienced users not knowing how to accomplish these tasks (and the wisdom of not having random users mucking about in programme directories), so perhaps adding a way for users to personalize their experience from within ZW might be nice.

Some features I *would* like to see:

Stay off the internet unless I tell you to get updates/support
Scalable window
Spell check (with user dictionary) and thesaurus
Printing
A portable version

For me, this fits into the “must-have (if priced right) toy” category (along with vector media software’s Atmosphere Lite Plus—also a GOTD) and I think the developer hit the price point perfectly.

Thx Beenokle (I'll be keeping my eye on you) and GOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by webdancer  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#81

How do you save a document as opposed to exporting a document? I don't see a button or menu entry to do so.
I second the 'Print' function. I don't want to go to a separate program if I just want to print a copy.
Tire tracks in the beach scene? Maybe that's something I need to come to terms with. :^)
I think that there ought to be a basic set of functions included as long as they are hidden behind a menu and gotten to only when you want them.
None the less, thank you for an uncluttered, non technical slate on which to turn my thoughts and ideas into words.

Chris

Reply   |   Comment by Chris Barker  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#80

It's been a long time since I last saw more negative votes than positive for a software program on giveawayoftheday

Reply   |   Comment by ilikefree  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-9)
#79

I went to the website and it says beta? I don't see that mentioned here, are they the same or is this a final release? Thanks, no need to click helpful or not, it is to me Thanks

Reply   |   Comment by lb  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#78

It does not install (XP).

"ERROR: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

:-(

Reply   |   Comment by Rachel  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-7)
#77

I hadn't planned on trying out this program until I read the comments. And I'm a bit surprised to find that I really want to keep it. Yes, it's really meant for creative writing only, and it does a surprisingly good job of setting the mood and minimizing distractions.

I successfully imported some of my own images, which worked beautifully. I also tried to import a couple of short mp3 tracks, but when I tried to play them got an error message: "No MCI device open." Any idea how to fix this? Also, has anyone tried importing fonts?

Reply   |   Comment by Kathy  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#76

@Joe
If you do not provide a title, this program will not automatically save the program when it closes. If you did provide a new title by clicking on the UNTITLED heading, it will be saved to the Unfiled Notes folder in either the desktop or in My Documents\ZenWriter\Unfiled Notes --- Good program but would like to have a gamma option to adjust background brightness.

Reply   |   Comment by Tex Jay  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#75

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by this. It's a completely different desktop writing experience that feels focused, free of clutter and distraction with a crisp, clean & attractive layout. I was leery of the music, which seemed like a cheesy, kooky gimmick, but it was much better than I expected- I left it on.

It seems word processing is long overdue for a more artistic presentation rather than the office-oriented one, and I'm surprised nobody has thought of something like this sooner.

I'd like to see some more conventional word processing features that have already been mentioned, providing they could be discretely included without cluttering the GUI. Other than that, I really like it.

Reply   |   Comment by JD  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#74

Installed without a hitch. Took a while to find where to enter the registration code, but I finally took care of that. (Go to the ABOUT page, then click on BUY and enter the code. Yes, it did accept ctrl(V) for my code!)

I'm definitely liking the music. The backgrounds are mostly nice too, although one or three are a bit distracting. The water-drop sounds seem nicer than the typewriter sound, but that's just a matter of taste (as are many of my comments here). I hated the default font, but found at least one I can stand to use, out of the choice of five fonts.

The biggest problem I have with this program is the fact that text is limited to between 1/4 and 3/4 of the screen width. I'd like to put a lot more information on my lines (sometimes writing tables, etc).

Other comments here almost implied that once you run the program you're stuck in that window until you leave; that's not the case... there are still all the other windows that can distract you if you bother to switch over to them :) At least the menu bar doesn't pop up; you have to alt-tab to get to another window first.

One last comment: I noticed that the background pictures ARE in color but the program apparently displays them only in black and white. Nice! It also changes from light grey shades to dark grey shades (day/night).

Summary: It's not a full-featured editor, but that's not what it's there for! I think I'll keep this one.

--H

Reply   |   Comment by Hamachisn't  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#73

I had absolutely no problem with cut/paste re: reg key. This prgm is, like most, subject to each individual's personal taste and/or requirements. While I am pretty careful with my pennies, I think that 10 bucks is a reasonable price for this one.

Reply   |   Comment by rule62  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#72

@joe
Try to look into “Unfiled notes” folder

Reply   |   Comment by Ruslan A.  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)
#71

This software is great; albeit not the best.
for a student like myself that is overwhelmed with technological stimuli this works great to maintain focus.
That said it really needs a spell checker, and a better way to print than to export then print the exported document.
By default it is set to exit without confirmation but that is easily fixed by changing the settings and the save only seems to work if you give the document a name otherwise all is lost. So just be careful here.

Reply   |   Comment by Computer Inept  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#70

Simply put: This is very beautiful. A nice, simple approach to uncluttered layouts on WPs (Notepad, journals etc - all of which I also use). Refreshing. Nice music and I especially like the beach scene. If inclined to only have a blank page - can turn off background. If inclined to not have music - dbl click off (I actually went through all music selections - very nice indeed.) As with all SW, there is a learning curve and I found one for myself - called "SAVE" (Ctl + S). Did not look at the shortcuts stuff. LOL (red faced) - cannot tell you how often I got from ITs -"save your work". But now have that one down. My short tested document saved to its default folder, but I went a little further and created my own folder on another drive. The document now can open in all of my WP suites as well open in ZenWriter. No problem about spell checking. Huh? For me, this is a keeper. It downloaded with no problem and installed great. Registration went smoothly and when I checked it was registered and even showed my name. Oh, you can follow the young man on Twitter. Look forward to the Library when it is online. Thanks GAOTD and Beenokle (ZenWriter). P.S. Do not know if it is suppose to do this, or I missed the info, but actually neat - when typing at length, all other items: title, menu items on right hide leaving you with just the music, picture and typed input. Now I like this. Enough from me now. So, everyone have a nice day.

Reply   |   Comment by Sharon  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#69

Actually to them saying the screen is to bright there is a feature that you can change from day to night.

Reply   |   Comment by Jas  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#68

pretty good little program for free. I wouldn't buy it though.. there is no spell check or copy and paste. The typing sounds don't match up with the key strokes. but as long as one can get past all the missing features.. it actually helps you concentrate on writing a draft. I downloaded that Q10 mentioned by someone here to compare the two. That Q10 is the worst I have ever seen.. I recommend to not even try it. It opened up in a full black screen with no features at all other then the typing sounds matching up with key strokes, there isn't even an exit button! I uninstalled it in a heart beat. This Zen Writer I will keep and use.. just wish it had a few more features.

Reply   |   Comment by Jas  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#67

Installed in Win 7 Pro 64b. without any problem; same about registration. All features tested repeatedly, working all without any snag or fault.
It is not a word processor so it is a mistake to judge it as one. Is, in my opinion, more like a virtual notebook for drafts, notes, basic brainstorming and agenda. Having features that, for me, are really effective to help to calm down and concentrate much more, as are the soothing faded backgrounds at full page, and sounds and music that work as white noise to soothe and to neutralize the distracting or irritating noises in the ambiance.For any basically knowledgeable user is easy to add his own music, visual backgrounds and keyboard sounds in the respective folders in the program directory.
The program has the features of importing and exporting text as .rtf from and into it (faded icons down and right of the documents window), so it is very easy to work with this program in and from any text sheet, as well as to save any work from it.The documents written in it are well preserved and are not erased after closing the program. It is effectively asked every time, if chosen the option,confirmation before closing; besides, even if accidentally is closed, if one took the precaution of marking the current text as "new document" in the Document window, it will keep.
I found some minor deficiencies for my taste and needs, but as is, in its genre, if a giveaway or freeware, for me is 5/5, and as a selling program 4.5/5.

Reply   |   Comment by Pluckah  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#66

For those complaining that they had problems installing on Win 7.

I didn't experience any troubles with installing or registering, however, that could be because when I install programs I always install as administrator.

As for registration, No troubles there either, I used copy and paste, no shortcuts.

Can't comment about the program yet as I haven't tried it. But I did try some of the options mentioned above.

Reply   |   Comment by Mags  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#65

It's an interesting idea as a program, I could see the benefit it may offer of no distractions and some tranquility. I guess I'd have to use it a few times sometime after these 24 hours to see if I really like it or not. But anyway, it's nice to have an offering on this site that isn't some kind of graphics/system/backup software.

Reply   |   Comment by Ijimeko  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-7)
#64

i liked the programe, but does not save what you have writen, i lost a whole hrs work, i looked into document, when i went back to continue, everything i had done, disapered?? what a waste of time, no save button or nothing, so if you have any big writing to do, forget it,

Reply   |   Comment by joe  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-16)
#63

Yep, I dig it. Setting the option for confirmation helped make sure I wanted to close, but fortunately, it saves on exit.

What I liked is that I could do the brain-dump writing that often gets my juices flowing, free from distractions of even formatting options (because otherwise I'll fuss with fonts and spacing options instead of write).

For those who value free writing as a way to begin or get thoughts out, it's great. If you are looking for more, than it's not for you.

Reply   |   Comment by Kimberley  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#62

@8 RunesageMagik if you happen to hit the close button your work is automatically saved. That is if you bothered to open a folder for it. Sounds as if your cursory look at this wonderfully simple and definately Zen software didn't include this. Cudo's to the GAOTD team for giving us perhaps the best giveaway of this year so far coming on the tails of Egyptoid. Perhaps a nice underwater reed screensaver and that great robotic game we had a long time ago or so it seems. Also the program StNotepad a txt editor which was given away by Brothersoft not long ago would be greatly appreciated.

Reply   |   Comment by Spacepixie  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#61

The startup speed and import speed are very slow.

When I use another font and type some new text, new text are displayed in old font.

The idea of background music is not so smart and can be substitute by any media player program.

The adjusting range of font size is small. Sometimes I need very large font size.

Reply   |   Comment by Bany  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#60

Tried to install on Windows 7/64 it messed up my computer to the point that had to restore it to a previous date!

Also tried both methods to paste the key but did not work, so I uninstalled it! What a headache! Thanks but no thanks!

Reply   |   Comment by Duke Omega  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)
#59

Minimalist? No, editing with MINCE/Scribble with OS and app using less than 64k ram is minimalist >8-> Anybody here beside me that is old enough to remember that ? Seriously, this is not a "real" wordprocessor but rather the electronic equivalent of sitting under a shade tree vwith pencil and a pad of paper creating the outline for your next opus.

Reply   |   Comment by Dr Tzap  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#58

Really, people. Quit your constant criticizing and "I hate Fubar" moods. Obviously, most of you never read my comment #22, or just decided to be jerks. I don't use Word, so I don't know all of the shortcuts, but most of the common ones have been around for decades. Looking up WordPad shortcuts in Windows 7, ZenWriter responds to many of them. In addition to the things I listed earlier, it responds to standard keyboard shortcuts for line spacing, bullets (selectable styles), font size, sub-/superscript, caps, alignment, undo/redo, etc. Instead of constantly whining, why don't you actually try using the program? This isn't designed to compete with Word, it's intentionally minimal. If that doesn't appeal to you, wait for another giveaway.

Reply   |   Comment by Fubar  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+16)
#57

c1oudrs wrote

"My netbook is too bright even on lowest settings with all the lights off but the night setting turns it down to a better intensity."

Try a freeware called fLux. It will change the light on your screen according to the time of the day in your location.

Reply   |   Comment by Christiano  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#56

If you want a import a Word doc or docx document, open it first in Word, select save as - other formats and scroll down to .rtf and save.

You can then use the .rtf version in ZenWriter! Word .doc and .docx are proprietary formats that require payment to Microsoft, which a small company like this developer can probably ill-afford! The alternative would be a large increase in the purchase price to cover Microsoft licensing costs which would then be incurred!

Great program btw!

Reply   |   Comment by Sparkles  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)
#55

I find the concept interesting. Downloaded to give it a try. Seems to be a unique and original program and concept. I think a portable (usb) version would be great. They have a second project on their website called Inspiration Gallery that is in development, that sound intersting to me also. I think the pricing is excellent (under $10), it seems to me that under $20 is the magic number for products for mass appeal. I also checked out some of the other software that was mentioned and downloaded portable and full versions of Q10 to try out. Thanks GOTD and Beenokle.

Reply   |   Comment by richiewa  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#54

Great for homework for the kids. Especially if you use it along with something like Keep OnTop.
Bad for just about anything else.

Reply   |   Comment by lostinlodos  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#53

Today's "Dilbert" [dilbert.com] is about as Zen as I get nowadays, but some people do like this sort of minimalist writing app [I've come across 1 or 2 before]. Zen Writer essentially gives you an attractive blank sheet of stationary, background music &/or sound FX typing that you can turn on/off, & a maximized screen that hides all distractions, including Windows' TaskBar. Practically speaking Zen Writer won't appeal to everyone as frankly you get more functionality & features with Notepad. Personally I miss the capability to use *any* fonts -- not just the 5 it gives you... given that this is all about setting a creative atmosphere, the appearance of the type [the font] can play a pretty big role, & you can do better. As others have commented you only have 2 choices, minimized or full screen, & IMHO you really need to be able to window Zen Writer if you're using a larger monitor -- if a blank sheet of paper is intimidating when you have writer's block, a large, very blank full screen can seem to scream at you... I'm using it right now in a windowed VM to get around that. And, perhaps because I'm more visually oriented, I find the text menus to be mildly contradictory to the app's central theme -- IMHO icons would *fit* better. Not having a spell checker, grammar checker, & more formatting don't matter as much -- the menu doesn't include a Print option -- but it could use a thesaurus, select all menu item, & some sort of save-as/export menu item.

Zen Writer itself uses Internet Explorer [ie9 seems to work OK] & Direct X -- I see more cpu load using Windows Virtual PC than I do using VirtualBox, which I think is due to V/Box having better/more Direct X support... could be a negative re: battery life using a netbook? Zen Writer also doesn't seem well-loved by win7 -- install added 65k new, but AFAIK temporary registry entries [mostly HKLM\Schema\... ], & once it opened without menus, needing a Cntrl + Alt + Del to bring up Task Mgr to close. It does not appear to use any VirtualStore folder however. In win7 Zen Writer is also semi-opague if/when Task Mgr is open & not minimized (?). Install adds the app's folder with 31 files, 5 folders, taking up ~47 MB -- XP got a 2nd folder under User Application Data, while in 7 it was added to User\ App Data\ Roaming. A default output folder was added to (My) Documents, but 7 also got C:\Unfiled Notes . Recorded registry changes were useless in 7 [65k ?], but XP only got 97 new entries.

I always keep an eye out for writer oriented apps since my sister in-law talks about how she &/or my niece are going to write a book -- otherwise (as you could probably tell from the 1st paragraph) I wouldn't have given Zen Writer a 2nd glance, but that's me & purely FWIW. If I want to write without distraction &/or when the creative atmosphere is important I use paper & pen/pencil, preferably on a nice day outside under a tree, if possible next to a lake or pond etc. Like many I find tech hinders rather than helps many forms of creativity... not everyone feels this way, but whether you're talking game development or movies or animation or cartoons, there are artists creating physical work in traditional ways that's then scanned in. For those that think actually writing on paper is too limiting, 7's handwriting recognition is not that bad at all, & scanners can be found cheap [last month I picked up a Canon all-in-one with ADF for $26 shipped]. But once again that's me, and there's certainly nothing wrong with an app like Zen Writer if that's what works for you. Personally I'm a bit bothered by its behavior in 7, so I'll see how it works in the portableapps.com format, & if that works OK, pass it along -- *If* it works for my sis in-law &/or niece, getting them to start writing, $10 is a pittance.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+10)
#52

I'm rather disappointed. It installed fine on my Win7(x64) laptop, no problem registering, but on checking it out, I created a couple folders and text files in each ... and NOTHING saved. I went back, re-entered text and again, nada. Tried importing text, no go. I DID manage to import a text file into one of the folders. In checking for a *Save* option, a "Save To" option, "Back-Up* option ... nada. I like the concept of minimalism to free your mind for creativity, but the only "minimum" here seems to be the bells and whistles to set up a program that's not just usable, but really functional. I looked for some help files, again nada. I did manage to get some files saved, don't know how, but I'm sorry, I need something dependable I know I can make work. Give me the bells and whistles (spell checker, save, save-as, window capability, import/export backgrounds, music,etc), let me set it up to meet my needs, then make them invisible until needed. If any of those features are there, they're so well hidden I couldn't find them, and without a User Guide or help file, never will.

John38111

Reply   |   Comment by John38111  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#51

Anyone know if the line spacing can be changed? I've been using QDir which uses the same line formatting. I do NOT like it. If you don't know what I mean, the screen shots look like 1½ line spacing. Single line is easier to see and, for my purposes, easier to read.

I couldn't find an answer on their website. I hate installing something I would just have to turn around and uninstall.

Reply   |   Comment by kalmly  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#50

But is it USB portable?

Reply   |   Comment by Corek  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-12)
#49

It's a nice toy to help writers write, and it might be fine for doing a first draft, but I still prefer using OpenOffice for the main work. There's practically no editing features, so trying to write screenplays on it could be difficult.

The music really isn't necessary; I can easily play MP3s on my computer while writing. But it's nice to have something other than white space to type on. It would also be nice if it worked with the fonts installed in Windows so one can use fonts like Ariel and the like. And the backgrounds are limited. Adding in one's own would be nice.

Reply   |   Comment by Patrick McNamara  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#48

Hi,

@ Bubby #4
-- @3 – Expedia – “there was not copy and paste functionality on the input box to register”
“I’m not too sure of the logic some programs disable copy & paste to require the user to key in a long registration key manually. Surely the intent should be to make life easier for users and to reduce errors).”
..and some oiher sites won’t let you copy/paste your e-mailadress, your password (in the confirm-box), etc… Common explanation: “we don’t like robots doing these things in batch mode.” Plausible? In some cases I would say “Yes, plausible, but…” Security measures are not there just to make one’s life easier ;-)

@. RunesageMagik #8
“infamous bloviationist” :
A. Infamous:
1. having an extremely bad reputation: an infamous city.
2. deserving of or causing an evil reputation; shamefully malign; detestable: an infamous deed.
3. Law .
a. deprived of certain rights as a citizen, as a consequence of conviction of certain offenses.
b. of or pertaining to offenses involving such deprivation.
B. To bloviation:
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner; orate verbosely and windily [orate - talk pompously]

I did learn this one new word today, and it’s not “infamous”. It may up my status as a verbose writer by at least one notch using this one to describe myself. Thanks… ;-)

@ Joey #14
“I always look at the User Rating for the product being offered for that day. In my opinion, this is just useless (…)”
I never read any statistics here. There are lots of other sites around that will give you more accurate ratings. IMHO the “rating” here is implicit in the Comments…

@ Bubby #15
“(…) every long time user to these pages has found at least one suggestion of a freeware application that met their personal needs”
Hear, hear… I second that. I installed quite some goodies from GAOTD. But I do miss some good reviewing here, Ashraf-style.

Well, from what I make of it, today's offer is a nice plaything and different from the usual sunday-offers (screensavers and the like). I'll be in for some relaxed writing later today and try some tricks. Have to go to work first though.

Greetz,
Pat.

Reply   |   Comment by Patrick  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#47

will not accept registration code

Reply   |   Comment by Robert Branch  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-9)
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