OS X users have long been able to take advantage of Scrivener’s set of tools that has been put together with writers in mind. Journalist, novelists, scriptwriters, students and professional have been able to use the application to make sense of lengthy documents and help to better organise and structure lengthy passages of text. More than three years after the release of the Mac version of the software, a Windows edition has been made available as a public beta.

The program can be used in a variety of ways, but it has not been designed to be a complete replacement for a word processor. Scrivener can be used as a research tool, making it possible to keep all of your notes and files in one place, including images and PDF files.

The corkboard and outliner tools can be used to re-arrange the order of longer documents. Lengthy documents can be split up into as many sections as you like so you can focus on individual passages of text without getting distracted by other areas of your work. By working with your writing in more manageable chunks, it is far less likely that you will be distracted and you will be more able to focus on what needs to be written.

Notes can be saved and sync with mobile devices such as iPhones ad iPads so you can continue working whilst out and about before combining your work into a single project. Completed manuscripts can be saved in a variety of formats, including ebook formats, but you also have the option of export documents to a word processor is necessary.

The final version of Scrivener for Windows is due for release in early 2011. When the software goes on sale, pricing will be $40 for a standard licence and $35 for an educational licence.