Comparing Windows and Macintosh Applications

Posted by Chris Thompson
Jan 8, 2008 at 05:03 AM

Stephen R. Diamond wrote:
>Deprived of sound data and good comparative appraisals, users
>must resort to rules of thumb.

You know, there’s one way to get generate solid comparative appraisals for yourself… the old empirical approach ;)

>Here are two generalizations I want to offer for
>criticism:
> >1) The most innovative applications will be more apt to *arise* on the
>Macintosh than Windows, both because of the characteristics of the users but also
>because the small base makes it easier to gain an initial impressive market
>share.

I would agree with your generalization, but for some different reasons as well. Certainly you’re right in saying that the users—and their willingness specifically to both try new things (this is implicit in their choice of a minority platform) as well as to pay for innovative software—are a big factor. The Linux community is willing to try new things, but they won’t pay for software, and hence there is less incentive for innovation. Interestingly though, there is an increasing amount of evidence that Mac users buy more software than Windows users. Adobe’s Aperture is a case in point. It’s an identical product on both Mac and Windows, yet their installed base of users is larger on the Mac. Another case in point is Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil, which again is available on both platforms, but despite a 20x larger WIndows marketshare, their sales numbers on both platforms are close to identical. Not all applications are like this, but clearly the user bases are different.

But there is another major aspect to the innovation too, and that’s technical. There’s no question Macs have become the geek platform of choice… you only have to go to a programming or technical conference these days to see that, and developer mindshare comes with that. Moreover, Mac users adopt newer technologies faster. Reinvented Software, a small developer of a new PIM called Together, recently blogged that based on trends, it looks like 90% of their user base will have moved to Leopard in the next six months. That brings a huge number of new technologies to the table which makes it easier to quickly develop technically innovative software. Certainly the unified PIM store is one important and relevant new OS-level feature for people in this group.

>2) Windows will have an overwhelming edge when comparing *mature*
>applications, because any application enormously successful on the Mac that is able
>to compete with Windows applications, will migrate to Windows. Those applications
>that refuse to migrate (except for niche products) are probably inferior to Windows
>applications, as their refusal to migrate is best explained by their inability to
>compete.

I don’t see any evidence to support this proposition. Just comparing outliners, there’s a major difference in maturity between something like OmniOutliner and something like MaxThink (which still feels trapped in the stone age), yet there has been no move to push OmniOutliner over to Windows, despite commercial opportunity created by Notemap being left adrift. Instead, OmniGroup has chosen to reinvest their profits in new Mac apps, like the new somewhat Ecco-like OmniFocus. That seems like a perfectly valid growth strategy. I can’t think of a single major mature app that has moved over to Windows. Some have promised to (Tinderbox and Aquaminds Notetaker come to mind), but nothing has come of either of those promises. (There is definitely movement the other way, e.g. MindManager’s recent move to Mac.) Why would a small shop move to Windows? The market for big apps on Windows is calcified. Individual Windows users buy less software than individual Mac users. The only real gem in the Windows market is selling to corporate customers, but it’s suicide to try to compete with a 10,000 pound gorilla like OneNote that gets bundled with a variety of corporate Office licenses, no matter how good your competing product is. Even relatively unique (for Windows) products like Notemap have trouble getting any traction and end up withering on the vine. And development is harder because you’re stuck targeting the lowest common denominator—installed bases of users who refuse to upgrade their operating systems. It’s a tar pit that’s best avoided. By staying Mac only, apps can mature faster. And the operating system is moving faster too. They’re pushing out major updates with big features for developers every two years, versus the wait until 2010 or 2011 for Windows 7.

The Mac software market right now reminds me of how the PC software market used to be, between 1990 and 1997, roughly. Lots of scrappy independent companies fighting it out with new products, and a customer base that’s excited, willing to try new stuff, and willing to pay for it. That era gave us gems that we all still talk about (and many of us still use!) like Lotus Agenda, Grandview, Ecco, MORE, Polaris Packrat, etc. Then Outlook bulldozed the market and killed all the competition, creating a scorched-Earth environment for developers, and then innovation died. We’re still using the same old Outlook data schema we used in 1997, they didn’t even bother putting the ribbon into Outlook 2007’s main window, outline mode in Word is still as weak as ever… it’s relative stagnation, and yet competitors like NoteMap can’t get off the ground. On the Mac, we’re seeing competitors getting off the ground. And it’s exciting. For instance, just a few days ago a company released a personal project manager called Things that turns a lot of the old Ecco assumptions on their head with an innovative, carefully crafted interface. Software like this is fresh and exciting. (Not to mention, compare its user interface to something like MaxThink and it’s almost painful… they’re not even in the same century in terms of usability.) It feels like the early 90’s again on the Mac, and that’s a great thing.

—Chris