Mariner Write

Mariner Write is 32-bit ABANDONWARE. No updates ever.

I bought and used this program back in Mac OS 9 days. The latest version (ever?) is 3.9.5 from 2015. It can be downloaded (and they are still selling it) from here:
http://marinersoftware.com/products/marinerwrite/
— My macOS Mojave 10.14.5 warns me whenever I try to open it that it is not optimalized and must be updated. Version 4, promised more than ten years ago, never materialized. I guess this is the end?

I tend to agree with most of these reviews. It IS about time there was an update to Mariner Write. I can't say I have a lot of problems with it, but the thing that drives me crazy is I can't get it to hide when I've finished with it and want to do something else but don't want to quit it.

Apparently this is compatible with OS 10.12, via their website. Man it's ugly, the font looks terrible, I would look elsewhere if I were you.

Extremely disappointed -- long-time user, and have supported Mariner for years. After abandoning MW for more lucrative pursuits. Mariner Write needs the complete update that was promised over six years ago. The interface is cumbersome and outdated, speed and user enhancements are needed, and iCloud and import/export options must be made stable and robust. MW needs a lot of work before it can be truly competitive, and sadly, I no longer trust this developer to get the job done. That is also why I cannot support any new software they produce.

This used to be an up-and-coming -- and very promising -- alternative to MS Word bloatware, but they basically stopped developing it about 6 years ago, leaving it buggy and crippled. I switched to Nisus Writer Pro and have been delighted to find a robust alternative to Word. I'd steer clear of Mariner Write and recommend looking elsewhere.

Currenly only around $10 in the Fall Mac.Creatable bundle: https://mac.creatable.co/the-fall-mac-bundle/

Is a Mavericks update forthcoming for MW? I finally started using it system-wide for my project note taking (having bought it in a bundle awhile back), and while I really like it for the most part, it's exhibiting some glitches that I could do without: - Often "sees" a text doc as needing to be saved right after opening, before editing. - Sometimes open text file windows vanish; they can be switched to via cmd-~, but they don't actually appear. - Sometimes the entire title bar and most of the header editing area are pushed above the system menu bar, such that you can't move the window. - Seems to want to switch many of my .txt docs to a serif font/size that hadn't been selected when I first open them, forcing me to manually switch to a larger sans font.

Release notes for version 3.9.2: Updates for this release: • Made cosmetic improvements to the ruler bar • Set the default to not show ribbon bar, page guides, or ruler • Fixed Help>Online Support Forum link • Set check for updates checks at launch for new updates

I downloaded the .dmg file and only get "disk not recognized. Has anyone else encountered this?

50 bucks for a word processor... it better be great. Sure, it's lightweight... compared to MS Word. Sure it's like Word... but Word 97 (no inspector, no easy access to functions. Even Word 2007 is better). Sure it's easy to use, compared to my 1990 Wordperfect on my DOS machine. Sure it's (sometimes) stable... and funny: when you navigate through the app menu, the app would freeze and show you the MacOS 8.1 little black and white clock. Sure it has desktop publishing capabilities: you can add images to your document. I swear: you can! Sure it's a piece of crap. Really, it is. Yeah, you guessed: I don't like it. Apple Pages is really Mac like with real desktop publishing functionalities. Bean is really lightweight and free. Mellel is really packed with features. And much cheaper. Mariner Write is an awful, arrogant and overpriced piece of software. Exactly what a word processor shouldn't be.

I am sorry to see that the upgrade from 3.8 to 3.9 abandons support for Tiger.

I wouldn't download this update unless you want to say "bye-bye" to your saved files and data. Have a backup...Thanks for Time Machine. A good app gone bad. Sad

This program is at best vaporware and at worst dead. Long promised new version keeps getting pushed onto the back burner. What's really galling is that right before Mariner stopped active development they promoted "lifetime upgrade" program for which they got a bunch of extra money. Shame.

Ultimately, what word processor is best comes down to personal preference and needs; there will never be a definitive end to this debate. For my needs--taking class notes and writing short and medium-length papers--Mariner Write achieves the perfect balance of features and weight. It's quick to open and respond, and its essential features for my purposes are more easily accessible and intuitive than in any other word processor I've tried. My only real complaint is something that's come up several times on this page: improper spacing of characters. With some fonts, you end up with the occasional ugly gap between letters. This is a minor issue in the end, and no software is perfect. I've noticed that Mellel has come up a lot on this page. It's also a fine word processor, and contains more advance features, though Mariner Write is still more streamlined. Also, if you use Spell Catcher, Mellel will not allow automatic replacement, which can create issues with bulleted lists since Spell Catcher has to backspace to make corrections. The only way to choose the best word processor for your use is to try what's out there. There are good options on the Mac platform besides the huge, feature-intensive office suites (though these are still essential in some situations).

My opinion on word processors for OS X: The last days I've tested many word processors and I found Mellel to be the best so far, Mellel is not bloated like all the "Office" suites (Neo, OO, MS, are all to slow, ... for me Neo Office is the best of these beasts.) and Mellel is better than: - Nisus (Nearest competitor but Nisus doesn't support soft hyphen!, I simply cannot work without soft hyphen.), - Mariner Write (really bad font display/spacing for many years now, only english, carbon - so it needs to be rewritten for future OSX releases, will they do that? I'm unsure.) - Pages (Again no soft hyphen!, occasionally crashes and after a while gets very slow, ... but I exspect the next versions will be much better) - Papyrus (very ugly, carbon, no real testdrive possible - crippled trial version, but some interesting features - I keep an eye on it) - AbiWord (Many bugs and no updates the last 2 years, I think they don't support the Mac anymore) - Bean (really fanstatic freeware, but based on Apples buggy text-engine. No soft hyphen! So only usable for some very short texts, best freeware I've seen for many many years - of course I keep an eye on it) For now I will use Mellel. The only things that I don't like are related to the interface design, for example the round beveled look of the ruler and tools section is very outdated now, a boring all-grey mix of alien spaceship ("aqua"-style) or early iTunes versions ("metal"-style). But besides that Mellel has the best combination of features for me, so my money goes to them.

could be good but doesn't support right to left languages such as arabic and hebrew.

It's a breath of fresh air, in the Mac world, to have a word processor open quickly. Mariner Write opens in one or two seconds on my MacBook 2.2Ghz. Apple's own word processor Pages takes a lot longer, and Microsoft Word 2008 seems to take forever. The efficiencies of the program don't end there. All of the essential features are quickly accessible and well thought out. I used it to take notes tonight for a non-profit meeting and it worked very well for that. Things I like about Mariner Write: Open - Option to open files from previous session Fonts - Hierarchical font menu, and WYSIWYG Bullet Indent ! (woo hoo!) Date Format - Ability to set to many different kinds of formats -- useful. Ruler - Paper edge vs. printer edge. - A full page is readable from a standard MacBook's resolution. Files - Can specify the number of backup copies to make. I haven't experimented with this but I think it will be a very handy feature. File format - Can specify RTF - Word Thoughtful touches - When adding buttons to the toolbar when customizing, there is an Add after and Add before. There is not a move up or move down but that hasn't been too much of a hindrance. Keyboard shortcut for entering date.. Tables work intuitively - Can increase a column by dragging from any point in the verticle line - New rows added automatically when tabbing from last row - Easy access from the editing window. Fonts - Floating font panel that makes it easy to choose fonts, and lets you set up font collections of your favorite fonts. - Easy font selection at the top of the editing window - Easy color and highlighting form the editing window - Choosing from MANY different font styles from the font menu - Highlighting and font color are at the top of the editing window Editing - Remove leading ">", handy for quote in e-mails Graphics: - Easy to import - Text can wrap around a graphic! - Easy to enlarge graphic proportionally - Easy to insert graphic into a table cell Save: - Save a copy as Print Envelope - VERY EASY, DEDICATED FUNCTION FOR THAT Speak! - Selection - All - Good voice Insert Rule to separate items is intuitive Font, Size, and Style all get their own menus which makes it a snap to easily change something. - Click the font menu then start typing the letters of the font name and you go right to it. - Click size menu and select size or if you want 18 point just click 1 and 8 then enter - Click the style menu and select "strike through" or just type s and t, it hightlights then hit enter To sum it up, it's a word processor that opens fast, that is easy to use, that has all the most used features right there. There may be a rare instance in which I would want to use MS Word over this program but this is my word processor of choice for the vast majority of documents I will be creating. (and note: I am a power user; in this program the power is the speed, and quick access to the main features usually used)

I've been searching for a word processor that was simple and powerful. I was a clarisworks/appleworks user when those products were supported. I wanted a program that could effectively communicate with Microsoft Word, read/write, etc. Mariner Write works great. It's simple interface reminds me of Clarisworks and it is much more powerful and intuitive. I recommend this program for anyone who has to write. There aren't a lot of surprises with this program, just the functionality you need to get the words on the page.

Since I completely moved to Mac I've been trying to find word processor that will work as smooth as MS Word does in Windows. Right now, I'm still juggling between Mellel (quick and usable, but ugly to my taste) and Nisus (some text rendering problems). But Mariner has been the biggest disappointment by far - apart from looking so ugly (toolbars from OS 9?!) It doesn't even support standard OS way for switching keyboards. C'mon. And all of this before you type first words and realise that it can't properly render text. As I said Nisus has it's quirks, but Mariner doesn't look like Aqua application. Does anyone checks for reviews that are posted on MacUpdate?