The first screenwriting program I used while I was in college was actually a script template for MS Word 98. I remember saving all of my scripts to 3.5 floppy disks and using the college printer to print them out for editing. It was such an awful pain and I dreaded "repagination" when going from one PC to another, as the ever changing printer settings always screwed with my formatting.
After I finished school, I purchased Movie Magic 2000 (and later Movie Magic 2006). By this time I owned my own PC and had my own notebook. My floppies changed to USB Thumb Drives (2GB and then later 16GB). Movie Magic proved to be a reliable screenwriting product for many years. Its still one of the easiest screenwriting programs to learn, however as time progressed, Screenplay Inc. sadly chose to not upgrade it.
Nowadays I rock Final Draft 11. While it has its own share of quirks, I absolutely love the fact that FD has embraced mobility and the cloud. For those who don't know, FD has mobile versions that run on your tablet (like the iPad) and your smart phone (currently using an iPhone 7 Plus). Combine this with your OneDrive, iCloud Drive, or DropBox account, you can literally write anywhere.
A week ago, I was at my day job. While on break, I got an idea for a scene in my current screenplay. I pulled out my iPhone and loaded up FD Mobile and added what I needed and even did a smidgen of editing. When I came home from work and pulled up my project my changes were all there.
This is why I'm glad FD embraced mobile technology as it just makes my life easier.
Gone are the days of floppy disks, USB drives, bulky laptops and hunting for wifi. Less hassle, more time to be creative.
My current goto set up is Asus PC (standard computer nothing fancy), Apple iPad Pro (3rd Gen), and Apple Iphone 7 (gonna have to upgrade this year... phone is starting to see the beyond) all running FD 11 and FD Mobile respectively.
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A nice endorsement of Final Draft. I use Celtx for free and still enjoy those same things.
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I use word and pages on my iPad. I keep everything left justified with character names above dialogue in CAPS. Once I have finished a draft this way, I cut and paste it into WriterDuet. WD then knocks it into the correct format.
I start this way so I can concentrate on the story and not get distracted by format.
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Nathan Smith FD is certainly not the only option screenwriters have and thankfully so. When I was just starting to learn the craft, I had a film maker colleague once state that studios won't even consider a script if it isn't written in Final Draft. Of course that is silly. Unless you're submitting the source file (never happens) nobody's going to know what you used to write the script. I'm sure there are writers out there still using type writers. A tool is a tool. Whatever it takes.
I've heard of Celtx, but never used it. Adobe tried to create their own version of screenwriting software and included options to add storyboards and such to the script. It was a cool idea. Tried it and found it to be unwieldy. It didn't last.
Craig D Griffiths Pages is a great program. I used it more for novel writing, before MS starting offering Office 365 of which allowed me to use MS Word + One Drive on my PC and iPad. I honestly like the formatting service Pages offers and it actually does have a templet for screenplays, although Movie Magic and FD sort of do all that script formatting for me.
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FD11 has it now. Nice.Finally.
Another day, another FD argument. There is no such thing as 'industry standard' screenwriting software. There's no ISO or IEEE standard, all there is the a time-honored screenplay form, which software places words you type in. If you understand screenplay format and structure, navigating a screenwriting program, is Very straight forward. In 20 minutes, you would easily be familiar with the unique features of each package. It might be true to say, FD is the most widely used. FD would love everyone to believe they are the standard, it's great marketing. Plenty of working Pros use FD and some do not. Most software programs will open FDX without any issue. To say that someone isn't a real car person, because you drive a Ford and they a Chevy, seems a redundant argument. You don't hear bricklayers arguing over which trowel is the standard. Maybe we should concentrate on the writing habits and screenplay elements, that make a writer?
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I use FD, but the choice was easy - I received FD9 as a Christmas gift (i.e. free). I'm retiring my current old laptop and moving to a new one. I checked out FD and they've got a deal where you can upgrade to FD11 for $70. I spent the $$$. Would I spend $250 for FD from scratch? Mmmm, I don't know. For $70, yep. Not that Celtx or WD or others aren't good. I got my first "screenwriting software" via FD, so it works for me. Your mileage may vary.
Right off - there isn't a working professional Producer/Director who gives a rat's arse about what software you use. But having said that; it's true that FD has evolved into the de-facto standard that a lot of screenwriters migrate toward. But that's sure not carved in stone,
All these bits of software are one great cloud solution away from extinction.