Windows Vs Mac software crossover bias to Mac?

Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Dec 3, 2014 at 05:13 PM

My personal impression is that nowadays most ‘software’ development by far takes place on the web and/or for mobile devices. Where once try-before-you-buy allowed many independent developers to reach a broad market, this is now happening online / via app stores. But there is a crucial difference: nowadays a large number of ‘customers’ is not willing to pay at all. So it is more a use-with-no-obligation-to-buy model, based on generating income from the small percentage of users who are willing to pay for premium services—either via subscription (in webware) or via ‘in-app purchases’ (in mobile applications), as well as via pro versions of ‘classic’ desktop software.

As a result, it is a numbers’ game; the more users one can have, the higher the number that may end up paying. In this context, multi-platform can increase the odds, provided the additional effort is not too great. Thus, multi-platform programming languages/frameworks may provide a significant advantage. The number of cross-platform desktop applications (mainly Windows/Mac but also Windows/Mac/Linux) is, I believe, quite significant, if we don’t limit ourselves to information management. A search for “cross platform office suite” should bring several interesting options; in fact it seems to me that there are many more cross-platform office suites than there are for single platforms.

In brief, I think that the question of Windows to Mac or Mac to Windows is becoming more and more irrelevant in comparison with the broader trends out there.