wordcraft/docs/gaps.md

Where WordCraft falls short of Word

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-10 · Change: 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

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.

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; "DOCX fidelity corpus: not started" since 2026-10-06	Everyone: the files people receive are the files that break	30–50	file-format-parity.md
2	Charts, SmartArt, OLE objects, ink and group shapes are dropped on open and lost on save, silently	B	No c:chart, dgm, wpg, w:object handling in crates/docx	Business and academic documents lose content without warning	10–15 to preserve and show fallback pictures; 45–70 to render and edit charts and SmartArt	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), 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)	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; columns don't balance; custom footnote continuation separators and notices aren't read; 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	Formatting revisions, move tracking and content controls are lost (w:rPrChange/w:pPrChange absent; w:sdt unwrapped)	B	Issue #41; source grep	Legal and editorial review workflows; templates with form controls	12–18	file-format-parity.md
6	No native printing on desktop: File › Print opens the PDF in the system viewer, which prints (#286); no print dialog of our own (printer, copies, ranges); 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: 18 modal dialogs vs Word's ~100 (Tabs, Borders and Shading, Columns, Symbol, Field, Options panes…)	B	Dialog enum in crates/ui-egui/src/dialogs.rs	Power users reach for dialogs the ribbon alone doesn't cover	20–30	ui-parity.md
8	Proofing is English only; no language per run, no dictionaries for other languages		crates/proof has one dictionary; Word ships 120 proofing tools; issues #25, #40, #100	Every non-English writer	25–45	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), rotated text-box text (free rotation and flips landed, #332), contour (tight/through) wrap, shape effects, WordArt, connectors, Drawing Canvas, Icons		parity-checklist.md (Shape Format 2/6, Layout › Group)	Newsletters, flyers, reports with diagrams	20–30	target-app-parity.md
11	Interface languages: 8 of the 12 key languages missing (hi, ar, fr, id, de, ko, vi, pt-PT); no mirrored RTL interface; ~5% of strings still English in the six translated catalogs		localization-parity.md	Most of the world's writers	50–80	localization-parity.md
12	Draw tab / ink: all 11 commands missing		parity-checklist.md (Draw 0/11)	Pen and tablet users	15–25	hardware-parity.md
13	Charts and SmartArt editing (own renderer, chart data editing, SmartArt layouts)		insert.chart, insert.smartArt missing	Reports and business documents	45–70	target-app-parity.md
14	.doc can't be written; metafile pictures and 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: 4 of Word's 12 bibliography styles; sources not saved in DOCX (#169 open); no EndNote/Mendeley desktop integration		Word's Resources/Style lists 12 styles	Students and researchers	10–15	target-app-parity.md
16	Right-to-left completeness: RTL sections and tables, kashida, RTL in HTML/ODT/RTF; eight older RTL bug reports to re-verify after #207 (#215, #211, #199, #66, #63, #48, #19)		layout-parity.md	Arabic, Persian, Hebrew writers	10–15	layout-parity.md
17	East Asian typography: vertical text, ruby/Phonetic Guide, Enclose Characters, document grid, Asian Typography options		Catalog misses format.phonetic, format.enclose, para.asianTypography	Chinese, Japanese and Korean documents	20–30	layout-parity.md
18	Screen-reader access to the document canvas untested		AccessKit enabled; no tests	Blind and low-vision users; public-sector procurement	10–15	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	Thesis and book authors	10–20	layout-parity.md
21	Mail merge data sources: no Excel, Outlook/Contacts, email merge; CSV and typed lists only (#247)			Office administrators	6–10	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	Customize Ribbon / Keyboard, Quick Access Toolbar customization; ~100 of Word's ~250 shortcuts		ui-parity.md	Power users	10–16	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: Flat OPC XML, Word 2003 XML, MHT, Works/WordPerfect			Rare	20–35	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, Draw Table (open PRs exist for the first three — review and merge before re-implementing). Paste Special, Advanced Find, Column Selection, Style Inspector and custom table styles landed on 2026-10-10.
• UI/UX gaps: #7, #18, #24; crop handles on the canvas (rotation handle landed, #332); table column drag on the ruler (#49, #217); context menus for objects and tables; Linux title bar theming (#78).
• 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
2026-10-10	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
2026-10-10	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	#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	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)
2026-10-10	major	First version, from the full re-measure: 29 ranked gaps with evidence, impact and hours