What's New in v3.0.0
This major release represents a complete evolution of BookCatalyst with groundbreaking new features, comprehensive improvements, and a refined user experience. Version 3.0.0 transforms BookCatalyst into the most powerful writing application for Windows.
✨ Major New Features
🎨 11 Professional Themes NEW
Complete theme system with scientifically-designed color palettes:
- Gruvbox (Light & Dark) - Warm, retro-inspired with excellent readability
- Solarized (Light & Dark) - Precision-crafted using color theory
- Catppuccin (4 variants) - Latte, Frappe, Macchiato, Mocha
- Nord - Arctic-inspired professional palette
- Dracula - Popular dark theme with vibrant accents
- Tokyo Night - Modern neon-inspired dark theme
- True Black - Pure OLED-optimized dark theme
- Sepia (Light & Dark) - Vintage paper aesthetic with reduced blue light
Auto Theme Switching: Automatically switch between light and dark themes based on time of day or system settings.
📚 Custom Dictionary System NEW
Professional dictionary management for character names, technical terms, and specialized vocabulary:
- Export/Import: Backup your dictionary or share with writing teams
- Three Import Modes: Merge, Replace, or Add New Only
- Search & Filter: Instantly find words in large dictionaries
- UTF-8 Support: International characters fully supported
- Metadata Support: Export with date stamps and word counts
- Keyboard Shortcut: Quick access with Ctrl+D
⏮️ Partial Content Restoration NEW
Revolutionary version control feature - restore specific paragraphs without replacing entire documents:
- Paragraph-Level Selection: Choose exactly what to restore
- Smart Comparison: See deleted, modified, added, and unchanged content
- Flexible Insertion: Restore at cursor, at end, or replace all
- Preview Before Restore: See exactly what will be restored
- Undo Support: Immediately undo with Ctrl+Z if needed
📊 6 Industry-Standard Readability Formulas ENHANCED
Comprehensive text analysis with professional readability metrics:
- Flesch Reading Ease - 0-100 scale measuring text difficulty
- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level - US grade level estimation
- Gunning Fog Index - Years of education needed
- SMOG Index - Alternative education level formula
- Coleman-Liau Index - Character-based grade level
- Automated Readability Index - Fast, reliable calculation
Color-Coded Results: Instant visual feedback on text difficulty with green/yellow/red indicators.
✍️ 8 Legendary Author Style Profiles NEW
Compare your writing style against literary masters:
- Ernest Hemingway - Simple, direct, minimalist prose
- William Faulkner - Complex, flowing, stream-of-consciousness
- Jane Austen - Witty, elegant, observational
- Stephen King - Conversational, accessible, engaging
- Virginia Woolf - Lyrical, introspective, experimental
- Mark Twain - Humorous, dialectical, satirical
- Agatha Christie - Clear, methodical, plot-driven
- J.K. Rowling - Imaginative, accessible, descriptive
Detailed Metrics: Sentence structure, word choice, voice, dialogue ratio, and pacing analysis.
📝 31 Professional Templates NEW
Comprehensive template library across six categories:
- Novel Writing (8 templates): Three-Act Structure, Hero's Journey, Scene Template, Character Profile, Chapter Outline, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy World Building
- Screenplay (5 templates): Feature Screenplay, TV Episode, Short Film, Scene Headings, Character Introduction
- Technical Documentation (7 templates): User Manual, API Documentation, Tutorial Guide, Technical Spec, Release Notes, Design Document, README
- Business Documents (5 templates): Business Proposal, Project Plan, Meeting Minutes, Business Report, Case Study
- Academic Writing (4 templates): Research Paper, Essay, Thesis/Dissertation, Literature Review
- Blogging & Content (2 templates): Blog Post, Article
Custom Templates: Create and save your own templates for reuse.
💾 Three Storage Modes NEW
Flexible storage options to match your workflow:
- SQL-Only Mode: Lightning-fast performance, perfect for single-computer use
- File-Based Mode: Standard .md files compatible with Git and other editors
- Hybrid Mode: Best of both worlds - database speed with file accessibility
Switch Anytime: Change storage modes in Settings without losing data.
🚀 Performance Improvements
- 70% faster project loading for documents over 10,000 words
- 45% reduced memory usage through optimized caching and resource management
- Real-time spell checking with no typing lag, even in 100,000+ word documents
- Instant theme switching with no UI delays or glitches
- Background processing for version history, backups, and analysis
- Optimized database queries for faster search and version comparison
- Debounced auto-save prevents excessive I/O operations
🛡️ Enhanced Reliability
- Automatic Version History: Every save creates a version with no manual intervention
- Unlimited Versions: No artificial limits on version retention
- Automated Backups: Every 24 hours and on application close
- 10 Backup Generations: Keep multiple backup copies for safety
- Crash Recovery: Automatic recovery of unsaved changes
- Database Integrity Checks: Automatic corruption detection and repair
- Safe File Operations: Atomic writes prevent partial saves
🛠️ Bug Fixes & Improvements
- Fixed dropdown version selection in Partial Restore not loading new versions
- Resolved theme consistency issues across all UI components
- Fixed memory leaks in AvalonEdit text editor
- Corrected DynamicResource vs StaticResource usage for theme switching
- Fixed spell checker not recognizing hyphenated words
- Resolved version comparison showing incorrect timestamps
- Fixed word count discrepancies with complex Markdown formatting
- Corrected auto-save indicator not updating properly
- Fixed project tree drag-and-drop reordering issues
- Resolved export formatting issues for Word documents
- Fixed custom dictionary not persisting between sessions
- Corrected readability analysis edge cases with short documents
💎 Quality of Life Improvements
- Distraction-Free Mode (F11): Pure full-screen writing experience
- Typewriter Scrolling: Keep cursor centered vertically for comfort
- Line Highlighting: Subtle background on current line
- Word Wrap Toggle (Alt+Z): Quick switching for long lines
- Comprehensive Keyboard Shortcuts: 30+ shortcuts for efficient workflow
- Status Bar Metrics: Real-time word count, characters, line/column position
- Document Statistics: Reading time, speaking time, paragraph count
- Project Statistics: Aggregate metrics across all documents
- Enhanced Find & Replace: Regular expressions, match case, whole word
- Auto-Indent & Smart Indent: Markdown-aware formatting
- Improved Error Messages: Clear, actionable feedback
- Better Logging: Comprehensive debug logs for troubleshooting
📖 Documentation & User Experience
- Complete User Guide: 800+ section comprehensive documentation
- Keyboard Shortcut Reference: Organized by category
- Markdown Syntax Guide: Full reference with examples
- Tips & Best Practices: Writing workflows and productivity techniques
- Troubleshooting Section: Common issues and solutions
- In-App Tooltips: Contextual help throughout the UI
- Welcome Tutorial: Guided tour for first-time users
System Requirements
Minimum Requirements
- Operating System: Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11
- Processor: 1.4 GHz or faster, 64-bit processor
- RAM: 4 GB
- Storage: 250 MB available space
- Display: 1280 x 720 resolution minimum
- .NET Runtime: .NET 8.0 (automatically installed via Microsoft Store)
Recommended Requirements
- RAM: 8 GB or more for large projects
- Storage: 1 GB for application + project files
- Display: 1920 x 1080 resolution or higher
- SSD: Solid-state drive for optimal performance
- Processor: Multi-core processor for background operations
Installation Instructions
- Click "Get from Microsoft Store" above or search for "BookCatalyst" in the Microsoft Store app
- Click "Get" or "Buy" to download and install
- Launch BookCatalyst from the Start Menu or Desktop
- Complete the first-time setup wizard
- Choose your storage mode and theme
- Create your first project and start writing!
Benefits of Microsoft Store: Automatic updates, trusted installation, easy uninstall, secure payment processing, and seamless integration with Windows 10/11.
Upgrade from v2.x
Upgrading from BookCatalyst v2.x is completely seamless:
- Automatic Migration: All projects, documents, and version history preserved
- Settings Preserved: Themes, preferences, and custom dictionaries maintained
- No Data Loss: 100% compatibility with v2.x project files
- Automatic Updates: Microsoft Store delivers updates automatically
- Rollback Support: Can downgrade to v2.x if needed (backup first!)
Recommended: Create a manual backup before upgrading (File → Backup Project). While migration is automatic and safe, backups provide extra peace of mind.
What's Different from Competitors?
vs. Ulysses
- ✅ One-time purchase (£19.99) vs. £49.99/year subscription
- ✅ Automatic version history (Ulysses lacks this)
- ✅ 6 readability formulas vs. basic stats only
- ✅ 31 professional templates vs. minimal templates
- ✅ Custom dictionary export/import
- ✅ Windows-native with modern UI
vs. Scrivener
- ✅ Modern Windows 11 design vs. dated interface
- ✅ 11 beautiful themes vs. 3 basic themes
- ✅ Real-time readability analysis
- ✅ Automatic version history vs. manual snapshots
- ✅ Partial content restoration feature
- ✅ Professional spell checking with Hunspell
vs. Microsoft Word
- ✅ Distraction-free writing environment
- ✅ Automatic version history vs. manual saves
- ✅ Writing style analysis (8 legendary authors)
- ✅ Markdown-native workflow
- ✅ Hierarchical project organization
- ✅ Genre-specific templates for writers
Known Issues
- Very Large Projects: Projects exceeding 500,000 words may experience slower search performance. Optimization planned for v3.1.
- Import Limitations: Complex Word documents with advanced formatting features may lose some styling during import.
- RTL Languages: Right-to-left language support is limited in the current version. Full RTL support planned for v3.2.
What's Next? (v3.1 Roadmap)
We're already working on the next major update, planned for Q1 2026:
- PDF Export: Professional PDF generation with custom styling
- ePub Export: Create eBooks directly from your manuscripts
- Advanced Search: Regular expressions, multi-document search, search history
- Writing Session Analytics: Track when you're most productive
- Heat Maps: Visualize where you've edited most heavily
- Daily Writing Streaks: Gamification to maintain consistency
- Cloud Sync: OneDrive integration for seamless multi-device work
- Custom Theme Editor: Create your own color schemes
- More Templates: Additional screenplay, academic, and business templates
- Dark Title Bar: Full Windows 11 immersive dark mode
Support & Resources
Documentation
- Complete User Guide - 800+ sections covering all features
- Keyboard Shortcuts Reference
- Markdown Syntax Guide
- Troubleshooting Guide
Get Help
- Contact Support - Email support within 24 hours
- Community Forum - Connect with other writers
- Feature Requests - Suggest new features
- Bug Reports - Report issues
Release History
- v3.0.0 - November 14, 2025 - Major feature release (current)
- v2.0.0 - November 2024 - View changelog
- v1.2.0 - September 2024 - View changelog
- v1.1.0 - July 2024 - View changelog
- v1.0.0 - May 2024 - Initial release
Thank You!
Thank you to our amazing community of writers who have provided feedback, bug reports, and feature suggestions. Version 3.0.0 wouldn't be possible without your input. Special thanks to our beta testers who helped us polish this release.
We're committed to making BookCatalyst the best writing software for Windows, and we're just getting started. Your feedback drives our development roadmap, so please keep sharing your thoughts!