Installing FEWD Studio
Getting the app onto a Mac or a Windows machine, what it needs to find there, and what happens on first launch.
FEWD Studio is a desktop application for Mac and Windows. There is nothing to host and no browser tab involved.
What it runs on
macOS 12 Monterey or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel. The floor moved to Monterey when the app moved to a current Electron; there is no build for Catalina or Big Sur.
Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit.
Node.js is not required to open a project and edit files. It is required to scaffold an Astro project or run a dev server from the built-in terminal, which is most of what Astro work involves. Install the LTS build from nodejs.org.
Mac
Download the disk image, open it, and drag the app to Applications. The first launch asks the usual macOS question about an application downloaded from the internet.
The Mac builds are signed and notarised by Apple, so that question is the ordinary one — if you are seeing a refusal rather than a question, the download did not finish.
Windows
Run the installer. SmartScreen may show a blue warning on a new release before the build has been seen enough times; More info → Run anyway gets past it.
Windows needs a little more setting up than a Mac does, particularly if you are used to a Linux-based workflow, and it has its own page: Windows setup.
What it expects to find
FEWD Studio edits a project that already exists. It does not create a project format of its own, it does not add a config file or a hidden directory to your folder, and there is nothing to import.
Point it at a folder containing HTML, CSS and JavaScript and it will open it. If that folder is a git repository, the git panel picks it up. If it is an Astro project, FEWD recognises that too and works differently in ways Creative Mode and Framework Mode explains.
First launch
A licence key is asked for on first launch. Continue for free is beside it, and a free copy is a real copy — it opens projects, edits files and previews them. What it does not do is listed in Your licence and your devices.