November 1, 2025
Is this cat dead or just napping?
Nisus Writer: Schrödinger's Word Processor
Beloved Mac app flickers between legend and ghost; fans plead for open-source, VMs, or a buyer
TLDR: Nisus Writer, a longtime Mac word app, briefly vanished from view but still works, sparking fears that development has stopped. Commenters split between open-sourcing, hoping for a buyer like Canva, or freezing it in virtual machines, as longtime users worry their trusted tool is nearing the end.
The internet is holding its breath: beloved Mac word app Nisus Writer is somehow both alive and not. After a website blackout and a vanishing act from the Mac App Store, users discovered the app still runs and can be licensed—but many fear development and support have flatlined. Cue the drama. Writers who’ve leaned on its multilingual and academic superpowers since 1989 are split: is this the slow fade to black or the surprise comeback? The Schrödinger jokes are nonstop—“it’s mostly alive!”—but so are the eulogies.
In the comments, emotions boil over. One camp begs, “open‑source it!” so years of craft don’t vanish into a black hole. Another dreams of a corporate rescue—“Canva, buy it and port it to Windows and Linux!”—while pragmatists wheel in the tech ICU: keep it on life support in a virtual machine (an older Mac-in-a-box) until further notice. A spicier thread cites founders in their 80s and legacy code, sparking debates over whether a rewrite would cost more than reviving it. Others joke the site was “HN hugged to death.” For now, the community hits refresh on Nisus Writer and clutches backups. Cat, meet word processor.
Key Points
- •Nisus Writer (Pro and Express) has existed since 1989 and is known for multilingual, academic, and automation-focused features.
- •Users reported over a year of website issues, slow/absent support, and bugs from Nisus Software.
- •On 22 Oct 2025, the Nisus website went down and the app disappeared from the Mac App Store, raising concerns about the company’s status.
- •As of writing, the site is back, the app still works on macOS 26 Tahoe, and it remains downloadable and purchasable.
- •Despite current functionality, available evidence suggests development and support have likely ceased, making the future of Nisus Writer doubtful.