Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! HyperXTalk is inspired by Apple's HyperCard and brings the same plain-English scripting philosophy to modern desktop platforms — including Windows. Unlike HyperCard which was Mac-only, HyperXTalk runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, so you can build and run HyperCard-style applications on any desktop platform.

HyperXTalk is a free, open-source, cross-platform integrated development environment (IDE) that lets you build real desktop applications using plain English-style scripting. Inspired by Apple's legendary HyperCard, it brings that same approachable philosophy into the modern era — running on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Yes — completely free, forever. HyperXTalk is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3). There are no subscription fees, no feature limits, and no kill switches. Optional paid support plans are available if you want direct help from the founder, but the IDE itself will always be free.

No. There is only one version of HyperXTalk and it is completely free. There are no paid tiers, no premium features, and no plans to change that. Optional paid support plans are available if you need direct assistance, but the IDE itself will always be free.

Almost anything that runs on the desktop — database apps, tools, games (it has a built-in sprite and animation engine!), utilities, educational software, business applications, and more. If you can imagine it as a desktop app, HyperXTalk can build it. It's not a web framework — it produces real, native desktop applications.

Not at all. HyperXTalk's scripting language is designed to read like plain English. A line like go to the next card or set the text of field "Name" to "Hello" is exactly what it looks like. Complete beginners can get something working in minutes, while experienced developers will find the language expressive enough for serious application development.

HyperXTalk started as a fork of the LiveCode open-source engine when LiveCode moved to expensive subscription pricing and added a kill switch to distributed software. The key differences are: HyperXTalk is free forever under the GPLv3; it has no kill switch or licence enforcement; community feature requests are typically addressed within about seven days; and it ships modern built-in features like a sprite engine, speech recognition, and a package manager that LiveCode doesn't offer.

In most cases, yes. HyperXTalk uses the same plain English scripting syntax as LiveCode, so existing scripts will largely work without modification. Some platform-specific extensions or proprietary LiveCode features may need adjustments. The community forum is a great place to ask about specific migration questions.

Yes. LiveCode stacks can be imported directly into HyperXTalk. Since HyperXTalk shares the same scripting language and stack format as LiveCode, your existing stacks should open and run without any special conversion process.

Both HyperXTalk and OpenXTalk are independent GPL forks of the LiveCode engine, but they are separate projects developed independently. HyperXTalk is focused on cross-platform desktop development across macOS, Windows, and Linux, with an emphasis on modern features and rapid community responsiveness.

HyperXTalk runs on macOS (ARM64 Apple Silicon), Windows (64-bit), and Linux (x86_64) — including GTK3, AppImage, and HiDPI support. All three platforms are supported as of version 0.9.15.

The current macOS build targets ARM64 Apple Silicon. Intel Mac support is not available at this stage — if this is important to you, let us know on the forum.

hxtpm is HyperXTalk's built-in package manager, allowing you to browse, install, and update community extensions directly from within the IDE. Think of it as an app store for HyperXTalk libraries and tools — extending what you can build without leaving the environment.

Speech recognition is planned as a cross-platform feature in version 0.9.16. Cross-platform support across macOS, Windows, and Linux is on the roadmap for that release.

The community forum is the best place to start — post your question and the community (and often the founder directly) will help you out. For faster, guaranteed responses, check out the paid support plans starting at $39 CAD per incident.

Bugs can be reported via the GitHub issue tracker. Please include your platform (macOS/Windows/Linux), HyperXTalk version, and steps to reproduce the issue. Paid support customers get bug priority — their issues move to the front of the queue.

Contributions are very welcome! You can contribute code via GitHub pull requests, help with testing across platforms, write documentation, create example stacks, or simply spread the word. Even filing a detailed bug report is a meaningful contribution. The community forum is also a great place to help answer questions from other users.

Yes, and it's very much appreciated! You can support HyperXTalk via Ko-fi or PayPal. The project has a yearly expenses goal of $2,000 CAD to cover infrastructure and development costs. Every contribution helps keep HyperXTalk free for everyone.