Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Zed is now available on Windows

zed.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 386 posts

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#201

Post by no-stegosaur »

vietvu wrote: post #99

I didn't know bundling app for the most popular OS is that hard.

In January 2024 zed was open sourced, with only mac support. One week later Dzmitry Malyshau showed up with a prototype renderer for Linux. In July 2024 official Linux builds were available mostly thanks to community contributors. The swift Linux support is a tale of community steppung up to open source development, not one of manufacturer provides something. So Windows is certainly not popular with the kind of crowd that gets excited about an editor

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#202

Post by johnisgood »

neobrain wrote: post #187
miffy900 wrote: post #72

Just wanted to mention that some basic Windows-OS keyboard shortcuts don't work, like ALT+F to open the File menu. Also things like ALT+SPACEBAR to bring up the system context menu for the focussed window (the menu with maximise, minimise, close options etc.) do not seem to work. I'm guessing with the DirectX rendering backend, the 'app' is rendered more akin to a video game than a native win32 process. Also after in…

> I was always under the impresion that Rust apps are pretty lightweight, but that install size is nearing Java levels of binary/dependency bloat. For what it's worth, the zed executable on Linux weighs 3.2 MB. EDIT: Sorry, the nix store is too good at hiding things from me. It's actually around 337 MB plus webrtc-sys.

I just compiled "zed" with "cargo build --release" and not only did it pull >2000 dependencies, its size (executable file) is literally 1.4G. Debug is 1.2G.

  $ pwd
  /tmp/zed/target/release
  $ ls -lh ./zed
  -rwx------ 2 john john 1.4G Aug 28 17:10 zed
---

  $ dut zed/ | sort -h
   598M    0B   | | /- webrtc-sys-0a11149cbc74bc90
   598M    0B   | | | /- out
   598M    0B   | | |- webrtc-sys-090125d01b76a5e8
   635M  160M   | |   /- s-hal7osjfce-1h7vhjb-4bdtrsk93m145adnqs17i9dxe
   635M  160M   | | |- project-06kh4lhaqfutk
   641M  161M   | | /- project-1ulvakop54j8y
   641M  161M   | | | /- s-hal5rdrth3-0j8nxqq-d0wsc7qnin39797z4e8ibhj4w
   1.1G  1.1G   | | /- zed-ed67419e7a858570
   1.1G  1.1G   | |- zed
   1.3G  1.3G     | /- zed-64b9faeefdf3b7df
   1.3G  1.3G     |- zed
   1.4G    0B     |- build
   2.2G    0B   | |- build
   7.9G  1.4G     /- deps
   9.4G    0B   |- release
    14G  2.9G   | |- incremental
    19G  4.2G   | /- deps
    33G    0B   /- debug
    42G    0B /- target
    42G    0B zed
Summary:

  $ du -h ./target/debug/deps/
  20G     ./target/debug/deps/
  $ du -h ./target/release/deps/
  8.0G    ./target/release/deps/

  $ du -h ./target/debug/zed
  1.2G    ./target/debug/zed
  $ du -h ./target/release/zed
  1.4G    ./target/release/zed
This is on a whole new level of bloat; both with regarding to dependencies AND the resulting executable file(s) (EDIT: executable files are unstripped).

Any explanations as to why "cargo" does not seem to re-use libraries (dependencies) in a shared directory, or why it needs >2000 dependencies (that I see being downloaded and compiled), or why the executable file of the release mode is 1.4G unstripped while of the debug one it is less?

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#203

Post by vga42 »

1718627440 wrote: post #176
miffy900 wrote: post #72

Just wanted to mention that some basic Windows-OS keyboard shortcuts don't work, like ALT+F to open the File menu. Also things like ALT+SPACEBAR to bring up the system context menu for the focussed window (the menu with maximise, minimise, close options etc.) do not seem to work. I'm guessing with the DirectX rendering backend, the 'app' is rendered more akin to a video game than a native win32 process. Also after in…

Rust Hello World is larger than Git. Still smaller than Java and Electron, but not exactly small.

[dead]

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#204

Post by neobrain »

johnisgood wrote: post #202
neobrain wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was always under the impresion that Rust apps are pretty lightweight, but that install size is nearing Java levels of binary/dependency bloat. For what it's worth, the zed executable on Linux weighs 3.2 MB. EDIT: Sorry, the nix store is too good at hiding things from me. It's actually around 337 MB plus webrtc-sys.

I just compiled "zed" with "cargo build --release" and not only did it pull >2000 dependencies, its size (executable file) is literally 1.4G. Debug is 1.2G. $ pwd /tmp/zed/target/release $ ls -lh ./zed -rwx------ 2 john john 1.4G Aug 28 17:10 zed --- $ dut zed/ | sort -h 598M 0B | | /- webrtc-sys-0a11149cbc74bc90 598M 0B | | | /- out 598M 0B | | |- webrtc-sys-090125d01b76a5e8 635M 160M | | /- s-hal7osjfce-1h7vhjb-4bd…

Unstripped, perhaps?

    ls -lh /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor
    -r-xr-xr-x. 2 root root 3.2M Jan  1  1970 /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor
EDIT: Ah, it was too good to be true. The true binary is hidden in libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped :(

    ls -lh /nix/store/52smrb1z8r4n71zx50xagkcdrhlga4y5-zed-editor-0.207.4/libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped
    -r-xr-xr-x. 2 root root 337M Jan  1  1970 /nix/store/52smrb1z8r4n71zx50xagkcdrhlga4y5-zed-editor-0.207.4/libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped
Extra weight also comes from webrtc, which nixpkgs dynamically links. So yeah, it's quite a large binary indeed.

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#205

Post by Athari »

linhns wrote: post #102
vietvu wrote: post #99

I didn't know bundling app for the most popular OS is that hard.

Not the most popular for programmers

It is, based on Stack Overflow survey: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/technology#most-popular... Couldn't find a way to access Statista report.

It obviously varies a lot by the preferred languages, but Windows is still at the top, on average.

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#206

Post by vga42 »

neobrain wrote: post #204
johnisgood wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just compiled "zed" with "cargo build --release" and not only did it pull >2000 dependencies, its size (executable file) is literally 1.4G. Debug is 1.2G. $ pwd /tmp/zed/target/release $ ls -lh ./zed -rwx------ 2 john john 1.4G Aug 28 17:10 zed --- $ dut zed/ | sort -h 598M 0B | | /- webrtc-sys-0a11149cbc74bc90 598M 0B | | | /- out 598M 0B | | |- webrtc-sys-090125d01b76a5e8 635M 160M | | /- s-hal7osjfce-1h7vhjb-4bd…

Unstripped, perhaps? ls -lh /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor -r-xr-xr-x. 2 root root 3.2M Jan 1 1970 /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor EDIT: Ah, it was too good to be true. The true binary is hidden in libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped :( ls -lh /nix/store/52smrb1z8r4n71zx50xagkcdrhlga4y5-zed-editor-0.207.4/libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped -r-x…

[dead]

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#207

Post by maccard »

kettlecorn wrote: post #113

I've been using Zed primarily for months but I just switched back to VSCode for 2 reasons, one of which is kinda my fault and the other it's unclear where the fault is. 1. I deleted a few hours of work because I was late night coding and I decided to rename a file before check-in and delete the old version. Well I renamed it and Right-Click -> Deleted the new version by accident. It turns out Zed has both "Delete" an…

> Delete skips the trash and Zed does not implement Ctrl+Z yet,

I'm not going to claim Zed has a good UI in this space, but saying it doesn't implement Ctrl + Z for a feature which is literally "skip the undo-ability of this option" is a bit misleading.

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#208

Post by hannesfur »

It's great that they finally target all three mayor platforms! Let's see how developers using Windows treat them. I used to be a Neovim purist, spending days on my config and I have barely touched it since I moved to Zed. It's so much nicer to use then VScode (and it's forks) because it's so snappy. I hope they ship leap.nvim (https://github.com/ggandor/leap.nvim) support soon, then I am completely happy!

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#209

Post by [deleted] »

neobrain wrote: post #204
johnisgood wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just compiled "zed" with "cargo build --release" and not only did it pull >2000 dependencies, its size (executable file) is literally 1.4G. Debug is 1.2G. $ pwd /tmp/zed/target/release $ ls -lh ./zed -rwx------ 2 john john 1.4G Aug 28 17:10 zed --- $ dut zed/ | sort -h 598M 0B | | /- webrtc-sys-0a11149cbc74bc90 598M 0B | | | /- out 598M 0B | | |- webrtc-sys-090125d01b76a5e8 635M 160M | | /- s-hal7osjfce-1h7vhjb-4bd…

Unstripped, perhaps? ls -lh /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor -r-xr-xr-x. 2 root root 3.2M Jan 1 1970 /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor EDIT: Ah, it was too good to be true. The true binary is hidden in libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped :( ls -lh /nix/store/52smrb1z8r4n71zx50xagkcdrhlga4y5-zed-editor-0.207.4/libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped -r-x…

[deleted]

Re: Zed is now available on Windows

#210

Post by johnisgood »

neobrain wrote: post #204
johnisgood wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just compiled "zed" with "cargo build --release" and not only did it pull >2000 dependencies, its size (executable file) is literally 1.4G. Debug is 1.2G. $ pwd /tmp/zed/target/release $ ls -lh ./zed -rwx------ 2 john john 1.4G Aug 28 17:10 zed --- $ dut zed/ | sort -h 598M 0B | | /- webrtc-sys-0a11149cbc74bc90 598M 0B | | | /- out 598M 0B | | |- webrtc-sys-090125d01b76a5e8 635M 160M | | /- s-hal7osjfce-1h7vhjb-4bd…

Unstripped, perhaps? ls -lh /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor -r-xr-xr-x. 2 root root 3.2M Jan 1 1970 /nix/store/63rdpgbzn7f1smh7688crcrpfsh833bb-zed-editor-0.199.10/bin/zeditor EDIT: Ah, it was too good to be true. The true binary is hidden in libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped :( ls -lh /nix/store/52smrb1z8r4n71zx50xagkcdrhlga4y5-zed-editor-0.207.4/libexec/.zed-editor-wrapped -r-x…

  $ strip --strip-all ./target/release/zed
  $ du -h ./target/release/zed
  261M    ./target/release/zed

  $ strip --strip-all ./target/debug/zed
  $ du -h ./target/debug/zed
  482M    ./target/debug/zed
Correct. It is still embarrassing, in my opinion.

To make matters worse, it takes several minutes for Zed's window to appear on a cold start, whereas VSCode launches almost instantly.

[1] I am trying to measure it as we speak but it is taking quite a long time.

Post reply on HN