We are pleased to announce that Paratext 9 is now available as a beta version. Paratext 9 will help translators work more efficiently, creating better layouts, and providing easier access to reference materials through Enhanced Resources. It has already gone through a lot of testing and users have been very happy with it. You may encounter some minor problems that we aren’t aware of yet, so there will continue to be some minor changes over the next couple months as we work towards the official release. However, we are confident that it is stable enough for everyday use.
Should you use the Paratext 9 Beta?
Yes, if you:
- want to try new UI features that let you organize your work environment to simplify your work.
- want to try Enhanced Resources for easier access to Greek and Hebrew, encyclopedia-length articles, images, and media from a gateway language translation.
- have good computer skills or support from people who do.
- are willing to take the time to report bugs promptly.
- are connected to the Internet frequently to receive updates.
You can download the Paratext beta from the Paratext 9 download page. Double click the downloaded file to launch the installer. The installer will then guide you through a short installation procedure.
You can continue to use Paratext 8 while you try out Paratext 9. Just don’t open them both at the same time. If you already have Paratext 8 on your computer, the installer does not remove it. If other members of your project are using Paratext 8, you can do Send/Receive with Paratext 9 on the same project. We know that some teams are slow to adopt new versions, so we will continue to support Paratext 8 for a long period after Paratext 9 is fully released, giving people time to adapt and learn the new version.
The user experience of Paratext 9 is quite different from Paratext 8, with a new approach to menus and window layout. Based on our user interface testing and user feedback, we expect experienced users to be able to learn the differences in an hour or two, whereas users who usually require support will be able to learn the differences in less than a day of active use. Please take the time to review the following guide to help you get started:
We hope you enjoy it!
The Paratext development team
