Using Write by Zaweba on a Mac or Linux computer
Write by Zaweba runs on macOS and Linux with the same engine as Windows, an Avalonia interface, Cmd shortcuts, a Mac menu bar and CUPS printing.
Not everyone in a household or office uses Windows. A family might have a Windows desktop, a MacBook and an old laptop running Linux, and documents need to move between them. Write by Zaweba runs on all three, so the same word processor and the same files work wherever you sit.
The same engine underneath
The Mac and Linux versions use the same engine as Windows. That engine does the work that matters for your documents: reading and writing files, laying out pages, placing headers, footers and footnotes, and drawing what you see. Because it is shared, a document laid out on one computer is laid out the same way on another.
Write saves its own .zawr files, which are .docx inside, and it opens and saves .docx, .odt, .rtf, Markdown and plain text. A letter started on a Windows PC can be finished on a Mac and printed from Linux without conversion.
An interface that fits
On macOS and Linux, Write uses an Avalonia interface, a toolkit for building desktop apps that run on several systems. The menus, dialogs and panes are there as you would expect.
On a Mac, the shortcuts use Cmd where Mac users expect it, and Write uses the Mac menu bar at the top of the screen rather than a menu inside the window. That small detail makes it feel at home rather than like a Windows program in disguise.
Printing on Mac and Linux
Printing goes through CUPS, the printing system used by macOS and most Linux distributions. Printers set up on your computer are available to Write in the normal way.
What runs where
According to Write's specifications, it works on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 12 or later on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs, and 64-bit Linux on x86 and ARM. That covers most desktop and laptop computers in use today.
Why it helps
Sharing files is the obvious gain. When everyone uses the same word processor, nothing changes as a document moves around. Fonts, spacing and page breaks stay put, provided the same fonts are installed.
It also helps when you change computers. If you move from Windows to a Mac, or put Linux on an old laptop to give it a new lease of life, your documents and your habits come with you.
Students benefit too. A home computer and a school or college machine may run different systems. A word processor that runs on both, saving .docx, removes one source of trouble when handing in work.
Good habits across systems
Stick to common fonts if documents will move between computers, because a font installed on one may be missing on another. Exporting a PDF embeds the fonts, so a PDF looks the same everywhere.
Keep files in one place you can reach from each computer, such as a shared folder or a USB stick, and save in .zawr or .docx so nothing is lost.
Wherever it runs, Write is the same offline word processor, free software with no account, no cloud and no ribbon, ready to type in.
