The next prototype of Compositor for Windows, release 0.4 is available! 🎉

Managing Expectations

A lot of progress has been made, but this is still a rough prototype. Expect things to not work here and there. There are also currently two known crashers on Windows (#663, #664).

This version also doesn’t have any error reporting UI yet. So if you are trying to open a file that has errors, you’ll either see a broken document or nothing at all. The next version 0.5 will bring a basic error reporting UI.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into

What’s New?

WYSIWYG editing of arbitrary user documents #647

There’s now a File menu with an Open item that lets you open any .tex file:

For WYSIWYG editing, there is now a Format menu that lets you apply formatting to a selection:

and an Insert menu to insert different structural items into the document:

Automatic package downloader and installer #648

Compositor will now automatically download and install any packages referenced by documents (via \usepackage{...}) that are not available locally:

Convert multi-file documents to single file #657

As of now, Compositor can only handle single-file documents. If you try to open a document that includes other files (via \include or \input), a dialog will pop up asking you to flatten the document into a single file:

Don’t worry if your document is large, Compositor can comfortably handle documents with hundreds of pages.

Use ApplicationData folders for release builds #644

With this ticket, Compositor now uses the appropriate folders to store e.g. LaTeX packages downloaded from CTAN.

Change in Trust Level

To make the File picker work, I had to change the application’s trust level from Windows.PartialTrustApplication to Windows.FullTrustApplication. That’s why you will notice a new capability in the installer screen:

I will try to get rid of this if possible in a later release. (Oh yeah, the icon needs fixing, too)

Bugfixes

• Noticeable lag after key press #652

Other

• Rename installer from amd64 to x64 #646

Try it Out!

Prerequisites

For the time being, I am using a self-signed certificate to sign the app installers. If you want to install a prototype build, you will need to install my self-signed certificate (once) by following these steps:

• Download and double-click the certificate file: Compositor.cer
• Click “Install Certificate”
• Choose “Local Machine”
• Select “Place all certificates in the following store” → “Trusted People”
• Complete the wizard

The forthcoming “real” releases will of course be signed with a proper code-signing certificate, and these steps will not be necessary.

The Installer

Compositor for Windows is distributed as an MSIX installer to provide a modern installation experience:

• intel/AMD installer: Compositor-0.4-x64.msix
• ARM installer: Compositor-0.4-arm64.msix

Your Feedback is Much Appreciated!

If the installer doesn’t work for you, please let me know. If the app doesn’t launch or crashes, please let me know. If something doesn’t work, please let me know.

In general, any sort of feedback is much appreciated! You can reach me by email at support at compositorapp dot com.

Next Up

The next milestone 0.5 is already layed out and will bring basic source editing and a basic warnings & errors UI, along with bugfixes and other improvements.

Stay Informed

Follow @compositorapp on Mastodon or or Bluesky for news and updates about Compositor for Windows!