iA Writer for Windows 2.0
One done, three to go. The next Winterfest 2024 gift is here: A freshly squeezed iA Writer for Windows 2.0, now in public beta.
Rebuilt from the ground up in the Windows 11 design: A full 2.0 with a new foundation, a complete UI overhaul, the same dynamic type engine as our apps on Apple platforms with liquid font weight, width and line spacing adjustments, a much-needed performance boost, and a big Santa sock full of careful improvements.
We put a lot of thought into the new foundation. Our main goal was to improve iA Writer’s general responsiveness. It now boots in a whizz, and it is snappy as jazz when you type.
How did we do that? If you really need to know, we split the code base into two.1 The first part is a minimal, fast-loading core module that starts immediately, followed by a group of secondary components that load in the background.2
Why was this so difficult? Clearly there was some code wizardry involved that not everyone may care too much about.3 But chances are high that you will like the result. Look how much faster 2.0 (left) loads, compared to version 1:
