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Movie Magic and Final Draft on Windows 7?

Jack Lynt

Jack Lynt

So, this friend of mine recently bought a new laptop along with Windows 7, and he's been telling me about his problems with getting "old" programs like Nero to work on the new operating system. He tells me that it's because Windows 7 is a 64 bit thingie that will not accept "old" programs like Nero. So, that has me concerned. Will those of us who have spent an arm and a leg on programs like Movie Magic and Final Draft be getting the shaft when we purchase-up to Microsoft's new OS? That is to say, will our expensive screenwriting programs not work on operating systems like Windows 7?

Does anyone have any info or personal experience with this?
 
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No specific experience, but I'm an IT guy. In general, most 32 bit programs will run on a 64 bit system. Not all, but most. Quite a few of my servers are 64 bit, and I run 32 bit applications on them all the time.
 
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Windows wouldn't do that to themselves, most everything is backward compatible. But I suppose it is a case by case basis with software. Some may use things that are phased out and not compatible.
 
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Ahhhh, good good, Gonzo and indie, thank you both, I really appreciate the reassurance. I feel better.

Casey, thanks for a great link! I used it to look up Movie Magic Screenwriter's compatiblity with Windows 7, and it seems to assure us that it is compatible, too.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Software&p=Movie%20Magic%20Screenwriter&v=Write%20Brothers%2c%20Inc&uid=6&pf=0&pi=1&s=movie%20magic%20screenwriter%206&os=32-bit

I was worried because only a few months ago I had purchased it. Then, my friend has been telling me about his problems with backward compatibility with his Windows 7 and previously released programs.

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with Celtx. The truth is that I have yet to open Screenwriter up and take it for a spin. The fact is that I am not qualified to recommmend, or warn against, Final Draft. After much googling of Final Draft and Screenwriter and reading reviews, I was perplexed. This essay, http://www.storylink.com/blogentry/82704, by Jeffrey Stoltzfus was a big factor in my supposing that either one would be just fine. I went with Screenwriter because, among other things I'd read about it, it was significantly less expensive, offered an online download, and came with a backup CD.

Whatever course you take, good luck!
 
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the only advantage you'll have leaving Celtx is that you'll know your page count without having to typeset. I actually started out with FD, but moved to Celtx because it offers me more as a filmmaker. Try a demo, and see what you think, but I left it, even after paying for it.
 
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El Director said:
the only advantage you'll have leaving Celtx is that you'll know your page count without having to typeset. I actually started out with FD, but moved to Celtx because it offers me more as a filmmaker. Try a demo, and see what you think, but I left it, even after paying for it.
Click to expand...

Does Final Draft have the "Studio" element like Celtx? That's really the selling point on Celtx for me. Makes it easy to collaborate, makes it easy to work on the script on different computers (home, work, etc...).
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Does Final Draft have the "Studio" element like Celtx? That's really the selling point on Celtx for me. Makes it easy to collaborate, makes it easy to work on the script on different computers (home, work, etc...).
Click to expand...

I haven't upgraded to version 8 yet (still using version 7), but it does come with two activations so you can load it on a work system and a home system (or laptop). I have two different systems, one desktop in my office and one laptop that goes with me to Starbucks (or the park, the beach - wherever I can find inspiration).

You can use it in a studio environment for sure, but you'd just have to get more licenses to activate the other systems.
 
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