wordcraft/docs/gaps.md

Where WordCraft falls short of Word

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-11 · Change: trivial (the Font list no longer keeps every previewed font in memory, #848; previously trivial: table column and row markers on the rulers, #700; previously trivial: table borders and the resize handle drag on the page, #217; previously trivial: formatting revisions landed, #41; previously trivial: Draw Table and Eraser landed, #303; previously minor: beta distance restated: ~15 points, ~150–230 h; previously: first version; every known shortfall from the 2026-10-10 re-measure, ranked) · Target: Microsoft Word (Microsoft 365) for Mac 16.113.4

Printing update: 2026-10-12 · direct desktop printing through craft-print; details below.

The work list. One entry per shortfall, ranked by how much it stops a Word user from switching (B = blocks beta). Each says what's missing, the evidence, who it hurts, an Opus 5.5 agent wall-clock estimate, and which parity document tracks it. Agents: pick from the top, check open PRs first (gh pr list), and update this file and the parity doc when a gap closes.

Native save reliability: synthetic cases on macOS reproduced loss through the predictable temporary-file name. Saves now use owned, exclusively created siblings, synchronize before replacement and clean up on failure; originals survive pre-replacement errors. This narrows save-path reliability under gap #3; the listed field failures and broader stability work remain open. See save-path guarantees.

Ranked

#	Gap	B	Evidence	Impact	Hours	Doc
1	DOCX never tested on real-world files. No corpus of files from Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Pages has been opened, rendered and round-tripped and compared with Word page by page	B	No corpus in the repo; crates/docx/tests are synthetic fixtures (including omitted/empty paragraph defaults and imported TOC range preservation); "DOCX fidelity corpus: not started" since 2026-10-06. Field reports fixed one by one: a cover page's theme-coloured shapes (#611), freeforms inside groups and text-box margins and Resize to fit (#743)	Everyone: the files people receive are the files that break	30–50	file-format-parity.md
2	Remaining native ink forms are dropped on open and lost on save, silently; OLE objects show only their picture	B	Drawing-level native ink is preserved with its optional picture fallback; direct run-level content parts and ink nested in groups/canvases remain unsupported. Drawing canvases are read and written (#344); group shapes (wpg) read and written (#267). Charts and SmartArt are drawn (#292) and, with OLE objects, written back with all their parts on save (#319)	Documents with diagrams drawn in Word or pen notes lose content without warning	4–8 to preserve remaining native ink forms; 45–70 to render and edit charts and SmartArt (#13)	file-format-parity.md
3	Crashes and freezes in the field: startup crash on Intel UHD Graphics (#170) (lag on GPUs without a DirectX 12 driver fixed, #316; 32-bit Windows exited at launch because DirectX 12 graphics pipeline creation failed, now OpenGL), freezes (#77, #59 Thai fonts, #31 font selector), no writes without admin on Windows 11 (#218), broken shape tool (#142), images can't be moved (#82); memory growth on every font change fixed (#848: the font list no longer loads each family it previews)	B	62 open issues, ~15 of them crashes, hangs or data-path failures	Anyone hit loses work or trust; the never-crash standard covers panics, not hangs or GPU driver faults	20–30	target-app-parity.md (Stability)
4	Pagination differs from Word: Aptos has no metric-matched substitute; legacy compatibility options ignored; no page-by-page comparison harness	B	layout-parity.md; typing-parity.md Known gaps	Page counts and line breaks differ, which matters for forms, legal and academic work	30–50 + owner (font)	layout-parity.md
5	Content controls landed (#381): w:sdt kept, shown and edited (Developer tab, Design Mode, Properties). Move tracking landed (#400): w:moveFrom/w:moveTo with their named ranges round-trip, a tracked cut and paste of a paragraph or sentence records a move, either end accepts/rejects both, green double strike/underline markup and "Moved from/to" balloons; still missing: drag-and-drop moves (no text drag yet) and move options in Track Changes Options. Formatting revisions landed (#41): w:rPrChange/w:pPrChange/w:tblPrChange/w:trPrChange/w:tcPrChange/w:sectPrChange/w:numberingChange round-trip, are recorded while tracking, accepted/rejected and shown in balloons; still missing: tracked style-definition changes and table/section changes made in WordCraft. Opaque custom XML backing stores now survive saves; binding evaluation remains absent.	B	Issues #41, #400; source grep	Legal and editorial review workflows; templates with form controls	5–8	file-format-parity.md
6	Print dialog depth: desktop printer choice, copies, collation, duplex and grayscale submit through craft-print; File › Print retains preview, page ranges and odd/even (#641); driver tray/options and pages per sheet remain; web prints through the browser (#209)	B	ui.print → apps/wordcraft/src/print.rs; issue #15	Everyone who prints	5–8	hardware-parity.md
7	Dialog depth: 54 modal dialogs vs Word's ~100	B	Dialog enum in crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs.rs	Power users reach for dialogs the ribbon alone doesn't cover	11–19	ui-parity.md
8	Proofing covers English, Polish and Portuguese only; no dictionaries, grammar or hyphenation for the other ~47 languages Word proofs (text in them is left unmarked)		crates/proof: English, Polish and Portuguese (pt-BR via the installed VERO dictionary, 2026-10-12), a language per run (2026-10-10); Word ships 120 proofing tools; issues #25, #40, #100	Every writer outside English, Polish and Portuguese	20–40	localization-parity.md
9	Password-protected files can't be opened or saved		#55; docbin detects and refuses RC4/XOR	Corporate and legal users	6–10	file-format-parity.md
10	Objects: no group (#267 open), text in a freely rotated text box (free rotation and flips landed, #332; text direction, alignment and linked text boxes landed, #369; contour wrap and wrap side landed, #354), shape effects, WordArt 3-D effects and connector routing around shapes (WordArt effects and warps and glued connectors landed, #416), dragging members inside a Drawing Canvas (the canvas landed, #344)		parity-checklist.md (Shape Format 6/6, Layout › Group)	Newsletters, flyers, reports with diagrams	20–30	target-app-parity.md
11	Interface languages: 7 of the 12 key languages missing (hi, ar, fr, id, ko, vi, pt-PT); no mirrored RTL interface; ~5% of strings still English in the translated catalogs		localization-parity.md	Most of the world's writers	50–80	localization-parity.md
12	Draw tab / ink: pens, pencil, highlighter, eraser, Select and Hide Ink landed (#307); Lasso Select, Add Pen, Ink to Shape and Ink Replay landed (#395); missing: Ink to Math, arrows in Ink to Shape, pressure, rendering/editing Word's own ink (drawing-level w14:contentPart/InkML now preserved on DOCX save)		parity-checklist.md (Draw 9/11)	Pen and tablet users	4–8	hardware-parity.md
13	Charts and SmartArt editing (editing charts and SmartArt from Word, more chart types and formatting)		insert.chart and Chart Design basics landed (#409): WordCraft's own charts are editable; charts from Word stay read-only (no embedded-workbook editing), no combo/3D/radar/stock charts, axis or series formatting; Insert › SmartArt landed (#497) for graphics WordCraft makes	Reports and business documents	35–55	target-app-parity.md
14	.doc can't be written; Word 6/95 files refused		crates/docbin is read-only	Users exchanging files with old Word or legacy systems	25–40	file-format-parity.md
15	References depth: sources not saved in DOCX (#169 open); no EndNote/Mendeley desktop integration		Sources live only in the session (#169 open)	Students and researchers	6–10	target-app-parity.md
16	Right-to-left completeness: kashida, RTL in HTML/ODT/RTF; eight older RTL bug reports to re-verify after #207 (#215, #211, #199, #66, #63, #48, #19). RTL tables and sections landed (#362)		layout-parity.md	Arabic, Persian, Hebrew writers	7–11	layout-parity.md
17	East Asian typography: Asian Typography options (Phonetic Guide landed, #288; Enclose Characters landed, #297; document grid landed, #391; vertical text landed, #491)		Catalog misses para.asianTypography	Chinese, Japanese and Korean documents	11–19	layout-parity.md
18	Screen-reader access to the document canvas: exposed, not yet tried with real screen readers		The canvas describes paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, links, pictures and the caret to AccessKit (#488), tested headlessly; no NVDA, VoiceOver or Orca run yet	Blind and low-vision users; public-sector procurement	3–6	ui-parity.md
19	RTF and ODT depth: notes, comments, revisions, sections, RTL		~1,500 lines each in crates/formats	Users exchanging with LibreOffice or older tools	18–27	file-format-parity.md
20	Performance on large real-world documents unmeasured (500+ pages, many pictures)		Only the 188-page sample benchmark; scrolling a 1,096-page one-table document went from ~600 ms to ~2–5 ms a frame (#811), but opening it still lays out for seconds	Thesis and book authors	10–20	layout-parity.md
21	Mail merge data sources: no Outlook/Contacts, Access or database sources, no email merge; CSV, typed lists (#247) and Excel/OpenDocument spreadsheets (#334) only		Select Recipients reads .csv/.tsv, .xlsx/.xlsm and .ods	Office administrators	4–8	target-app-parity.md
22	Ecosystem: no VBA execution (macros preserved only), no Office add-ins, no cloud storage, no real-time co-authoring		.docm keeps macros (#172)	Enterprise users with macro templates; teams	40–80 + owner decisions	target-app-parity.md
23	PDF Reflow (open a PDF as an editable document, Word for Windows)			Users who edit PDFs they receive	30–50	file-format-parity.md
24	Default shortcuts: ~135 of Word's ~250 (#330, #339, #343; Customize Keyboard #368, Customize Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar #379 landed)		ui-parity.md	Power users	4–7	ui-parity.md
25	In-app AI assistant (Copilot-style draft, rewrite, summarize)		Chat PR #178 open	Users expecting Copilot	15–30 + owner (provider)	target-app-parity.md
26	Minor formats: MHT, Works/WordPerfect, saving Word 2003 XML		Word XML Document (Flat OPC) opens and saves, Word 2003 XML opens (#548)	Rare	15–28	file-format-parity.md
27	View windows: Side by Side, Synchronous Scrolling, Arrange All, Switch Windows		parity-checklist.md (View 25/29)	Comparing documents	3–5	ui-parity.md
28	Dictate		tools.dictate missing	Dictation users	8–15 + owner (speech model)	hardware-parity.md
29	Equations: ink equations		#191 notes; long display equations wrap at operators (#326)	Maths-heavy documents	2–3	layout-parity.md

Beta needs #1–#7 (~150–230 h with the stability and layout work they imply): they are the blocking gaps, and closing them lifts file formats, layout, stability and UI enough to take the full number from ~60% to ~75%. Everything else is depth on the way to full parity.

By kind

The same gaps grouped the way the parity documents are, for agents working in one area.

• Feature gaps: #2 (preserve), #5, #10, #12, #13, #15, #17, #21, #25, #27, #28, #29; Clipboard pane, Manage Styles, Group (open PRs exist for the first three — review and merge before re-implementing). Paste Special, Advanced Find, Column Selection, Style Inspector, custom table styles, and Draw Table and Eraser (#303) landed on 2026-10-10. Paste from other programs keeps their formatting (system clipboard HTML/RTF), Merge Formatting keeps emphasis, Paste Special lists what the system clipboard holds, and Linux/Wayland clipboard pictures paste (#687, #833); still missing: the Paste Options button after a paste, and RTF on macOS and X11.
• UI/UX gaps: #7, #18, #24; crop handles on the canvas (rotation handle landed, #332); context menus for objects (the table's landed; it still lacks Border Styles); Linux title bar theming (#78); File › Options › Animation effects › Use system setting reads macOS (Reduce motion) and the Linux/BSD desktops (apps/wordcraft/src/animations.rs) but hasn't been tried on a Mac or in a real GNOME or KDE session yet.
• File-format gaps: #1, #2, #5, #9, #14, #19, #23, #26; embedded fonts; glossary/building blocks.
• Hardware gaps: #6, #12, #28; scanner/Continuity Camera insert; KDE soft text (#140).
• Localization gaps: #8, #11, #16, #17; native-speaker review of every catalog (human).
• Stability and performance gaps: #3, #20.

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-10-11	trivial	Table column and row markers on the rulers landed (#700): the ruler's column markers are off the UI/UX gaps
2026-10-11	trivial	UI/UX gaps: the table context menu landed, its items following the selection as in Word (Delete Cells, Rows, Columns or Table, Merge and Split Cells, Distribute, AutoFit, Text Direction, Insert Caption…, Table Properties…); objects' menus and Border Styles remain
2026-10-11	trivial	Tables: ordinary drags, Shift+arrows and Shift+click over cells select a rectangle of whole cells (into or out of a table, whole rows); removed from the UI/UX gaps
2026-10-11	trivial	Tables: selection areas, insert buttons, move handle and double-click AutoFit on the page landed; ordinary drags over cells of several rows (a run of text, not a rectangle) added to the UI/UX gaps
2026-10-12	trivial	#1: Word 365 cover page (#743): freeforms in groups keep their outline; text boxes keep their own margins and Resize shape to fit text, so no line is cut
2026-10-12	trivial	#3: 32-bit Windows no longer exits at launch; DirectX 12 graphics pipelines fail to create, so that build starts on OpenGL
2026-10-12	trivial	Gap #3: browsing the Font list no longer keeps every previewed family in memory (#848); each applied family still loads once
2026-10-12	trivial	Custom dictionary persists across sessions (custom-dictionary.txt in the settings folder; #40)
2026-10-11	trivial	#8 narrowed: runs in a proofing language without a dictionary are skipped instead of flagged against the English dictionary (#100); dictionaries still English-only
2026-10-11	trivial	#16: DOCX open/save preserves independent complex-script formatting inheritance; RTL sections, tables and typography remain open
2026-10-11	trivial	.doc pictures, shapes and text boxes read (#551); gap #14 narrowed to the writer and Word 6/95 files
2026-10-11	trivial	Table column and row borders and the resize handle drag on the page (#217); UI/UX gap narrowed to the ruler's column markers
2026-10-11	trivial	UI/UX gaps list: the system's animation setting is now read on macOS and the Linux/BSD desktops; trying it on real machines remains
2026-10-11	trivial	Animation effects setting landed (File › Options › Accessibility); UI/UX gaps list: the system's animation setting isn't read on macOS or Linux/BSD yet
2026-10-11	trivial	Word XML Document (Flat OPC) and Word 2003 XML opening landed (#548); gap #26 narrowed to 15–28 h
2026-10-12	minor	Desktop File > Print now discovers printers and submits PDF jobs through pinned craft-print with printer choice, copies, collation, duplex and grayscale; the upstream preview, ranges, parity and Print Markup remain available, along with browser printing and PDF export. Remaining print parity includes driver-specific tray/options and pages-per-sheet UI; physical printer fidelity needs hardware validation.
2026-10-11	trivial	#13 narrowed: Insert › SmartArt with eight layouts, Text Pane and SmartArt Design landed (#497); 25–40 h left for charts
2026-10-11	trivial	File › Options panes landed (#485); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-11	trivial	#18: the document canvas describes its text, structure and caret to screen readers through AccessKit (#488); real screen-reader testing remains
2026-10-11	trivial	Compare / Combine Documents and AutoCorrect Options dialogs and the Restrict Editing pane landed (#412); removed from the dialog-depth list; duplicate #7 rows merged
2026-10-11	trivial	#10: WordArt text effects and Transform warps, connectors glued to shapes (#416)
2026-10-11	trivial	#5 narrowed: content controls kept, shown and edited (#381); move tracking remains
2026-10-11	trivial	Insert › Chart landed (#409); gap #13 narrowed to editing Word's charts, more types and SmartArt, 35–55 h
2026-10-11	trivial	Line Numbers, Hyphenation, Language, Envelopes and Labels dialogs landed (#407); gap #7 at 30 dialogs, 16–24 h; duplicated #7 rows merged
2026-10-11	trivial	Caption, Index, Mark Index Entry, Custom Table of Contents, Source Manager and Create/Edit Source dialogs landed (#402); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-12	minor	#8: Portuguese proofing (spelling, suggestions, grammar, hyphenation) landed; the gap is now the other languages (20–40 h)
2026-10-11	trivial	Document grid landed (#391); removed from the East Asian gap
2026-10-11	trivial	Move tracking landed (#400); gap #5 narrowed to content controls, 5–8 h
2026-10-11	trivial	#4: note options per section (below text, end of section, restart each section/page) and the Footnote and Endnote dialog (#385)
2026-10-11	trivial	#10: Shape Format › Text: text direction, align text and linked text boxes (#369)
2026-10-11	trivial	#16: right-to-left tables (w:bidiVisual) and sections (w:bidi) laid out mirrored, with table.rtl and layout.sectionRtl (#362)
2026-10-11	trivial	#4: columns balance before a continuous section break (#350)
2026-10-11	trivial	#21: Excel (.xlsx/.xlsm) and OpenDocument (.ods) spreadsheets as recipient lists (#334); hours 6–10 → 4–8
2026-10-11	trivial	Insert › Icons landed (#309); removed from the objects gap
2026-10-12	minor	Preserve opaque custom XML data/properties through saves; gap #5 and readiness remain unchanged
2026-10-11	minor	Imported TOC boundaries preserved in synthetic checks; real-world corpus gap and readiness unchanged
2026-10-11	trivial	#24 narrowed: Customize Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar customization landed (#379); the default shortcuts remain
2026-10-11	trivial	#24 narrowed: Customize Keyboard landed (#368); Customize Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar remain
2026-10-11	trivial	Native saves protect existing temporary-name entries and originals on pre-replacement failure; synthetic macOS evidence, explicit durability/platform limits; readiness unchanged
2026-10-11	trivial	#24: Word's field keys (Alt+F9, Shift+F9, Ctrl+Shift+F9, Ctrl+F11, Ctrl+Shift+F11, F11, Shift+F11) (#339)
2026-10-10	trivial	#24: 125 of ~250 keyboard shortcuts after #330
2026-10-11	trivial	Collapsed duplicate rows left by parallel merges
2026-10-11	minor	Native drawing-level ink and its picture fallback survive DOCX edits and repeated saves; rendering and editing InkML remain missing
2026-10-11	trivial	All 12 bibliography styles landed (#383); removed from References depth
2026-10-11	trivial	Formatting revisions landed (#41); gap #5 narrowed to move tracking and content controls, 8–12 h
2026-10-11	trivial	Omitted w:pPrDefault stays omitted across saves; explicit empty/default properties and later spacing edits remain writable. Synthetic preservation checks only; readiness estimates unchanged
2026-10-11	trivial	#12 narrowed: Lasso Select, Add Pen, Ink to Shape and Ink Replay landed (#395)
2026-10-10	trivial	Draw Table and Eraser landed (#303); removed from the feature-gap list
2026-10-10	trivial	Tabs and Borders and Shading dialogs landed (#320); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-10	trivial	Columns, Symbol and Field dialogs landed (#321); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-10	trivial	#2 narrowed: charts and SmartArt drawn (#292), and with OLE objects kept on save (#319); group shapes landed (#267); ink and drawing canvases remain
2026-10-10	trivial	#4: a document's own footnote separators and continuation notice are drawn and kept on save (#352)
2026-10-10	trivial	#4: long footnotes continue onto the next page (#352)
2026-10-10	trivial	Define New Multilevel List and Track Changes Options dialogs landed (#328); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-11	trivial	Enclose Characters landed (#297); removed from the East Asian typography gap
2026-10-11	trivial	Phonetic Guide (ruby) landed (#288): gap 17 narrowed
2026-10-10	trivial	#10: wrap side (both sides, left, right, largest) for Square, Tight and Through objects (#354)
2026-10-10	trivial	#10: Tight and Through wrapping follow the object's outline (#354)
2026-10-10	trivial	#10: free rotation and flips for pictures, shapes and text boxes, with a rotation handle (#332); text boxes rotate their frame; their text stays upright
2026-10-10	trivial	#10: Drawing Canvas landed (#344); in-canvas dragging of members remains
2026-10-10	trivial	#29: long display equations wrap across lines (#326)
2026-10-10	trivial	#3: Windows lag on GPUs without a DirectX 12 driver fixed with an OpenGL fallback (#316)
2026-10-10	minor	#8: Polish proofing (spelling, grammar, hyphenation) and a proofing language per run landed; the gap is now the other languages (20–40 h)
2026-10-10	trivial	#6: desktop File › Print opens the system PDF viewer (#286)
2026-10-10	trivial	Table Properties dialog landed (#44); removed from the dialog-depth list
2026-10-10	trivial	Merged main: landed features removed from the feature-gap list
2026-10-10	minor	Beta note restated: full number back to the additive ~60% (method aligned with the standard, no new evidence)
2026-10-11	trivial	#491: vertical sections landed; vertical text removed from the East Asian gap
2026-10-10	major	First version, from the full re-measure: 29 ranked gaps with evidence, impact and hours
2026-10-10	trivial	#307: Draw tab pens, eraser and Hide Ink landed; ink gap narrowed
2026-10-12	trivial	#811: large-table scrolling fixed; performance gap (#20) narrowed