Review: CopyWrite
CopyWrite isn't quite a word procressor (May 28th, 2004)
The Good
- Simple, very hard to lose data, free for small projects
The Bad
- Link function unclear from help documentation. No ability to rearrange order of documents in the Binder (to come in a future version). Although there is an option to change it, everytime application is opened, it asks where to save a new project, while I would rather have an option to open existing projects.
CopyWrite isn't quite a word processor.
It isn't quite a notepad application like textedit either.
Instead, it's a way of writing. CopyWrite keeps different versions of a document, keeps notes on a document or project, and not lose data... Ever.
It saves with each keystroke, so that should the computer crash, application crash, or some other rarity, nothing is lost.
In fact, I prefer to compose in it, solely for that reason. It keeps all documents listed in a Binder drawer that hangs off to the left side of the interface. I can place the chapters of a book project in the Binder drawer and then proceed to write each chapter, and different versions of each chapter, taking notes in a separate drawer on the chapter, and have it all saved and waiting for me, no matter what may happen. 
Then I'll take it to my favorite word processor and format it and apply styles to the text.
In it's newest version, it has version management which freezes all but the current version. If you please, you can freeze the current version and revert to any previous version, or create as many new versions as necessary. It has find, replace, bold, underline, and delete tools, as well as a link feature for creating links to web pages or html files stored on the hard drive. It does not allow you however, to link to other text files created with CopyWrite, or link within a CopyWrite document.
This may be more useful to some folks than it is to me. Unfortunately, the help documentation doesn't really cover how to use it. I figured it out through experimentation.
It does cover the basics:
- Creating a Project
- Working with Documents
- Creating and Deleting
- Global Replace
- Using Version Control
- Document Notes
- Exporting a Project
- Customizing a Project
- Editing Categories and Stutus Lists
- Setting a Goal
- Setting the Author Name
- Including Notes in Statistics
- Enabling Automatic Backups
Again, it's simple, it is plain, and it's all about creating the text itself with little attention to format. I do appreciate the statistics across the bottom of the document window, and the ability to set a goal which it will track for you. If you've ever had to write a paper and estimate that 20,000 words is about the correct length then this is a tool that comes in handy.
CopyWrite is completely free for small projects (limited to five documents per project).
To remove that limitation, registration is $29.99.
