But even if they are less than those numbers, Designers usually also
have good taste, so therefore they don't base their decisions of what
tools to use solely on 'the largest market'.
Is your complaint that it doesn't run on OSX or that it doesn't
mock up OSX apps?
No, my main complaint is that it's ugly, poorly designed software. The
fact that it doesn't run on OSX is another knock against it, and for
me, the final nail in the coffin. Mocking up OSX apps wouldn't hurt,
since they supposedly support different 'themes' within Windows
(although admittedly, there is a bit more to it than that).
If it is the former, the idea of a designer unwilling to deign to
*use* Windows while designing *for* Windows strikes me as elitist.
Besides -- wouldn't this run on Windows on a Mac?
Again with the elitist name-calling. (Remember, I'm _proud_ to be an
elitist, just like people who know good wine or cars consider
themselves to be elitists, but somehow when it comes to software and
US politics, it seems that elitism is thought of as a 'bad' thing).
At any rate, I would hope that one uses the best tools for the job.
Remember that some of the examples they show are for web software,
which (should) run on either- and for that reason it would be more
important to able to switch between Mac and Windows, as well as IE and
Firefox widget sets in order to check out some details of designs
before an app goes live. As for 'blessed tools', I use Fireworks,
Omnigraffle (which is Mac only), or whatever tools are required to
produce a particular file format (which is in some cases, Visio,
which I despise, not because it's on Windows, but because it is just
really hard to use and often required only because a company doesn't
know of any alternatives, which was the case when I did some work for
a local branch of IBM). I also run Parallels, or use a PC, which for
me is a last resort, since it is unpleasant and cuts my productivity
(which I tell the client, and if they insist, they are then paying for
it in the extra hours).
If it is the latter, then the simple economic argument (90/10) makes
perfect sense. They are in the business of selling software, and it
makes sense for them to target the largest potential market.
*Particularly* since Macophiles seem to poo-poo it so badly. If they
did have a Mac version, you still wouldn't buy it, so why even point
it out?
As for targeting 90/10, its also worth mentioning that leaving money
on the table (if you can manage it) is always a bad idea, especially
if the cost is incremental. Not to mention that they get bad press
every time a Mac user comes across it; There's nothing more annoying
than a 'you're not worth the effort' sign. Mac users are not only
elitist (good thing), but tend to be early adopters and pass the word
on. Plus they typically don't need as much support resources. Ask any
software developer that has decided to support multiple platforms.
It's true that there are a few Mac-only software houses (Omni Group
comes to mind), but they are very small companies with few resources,
and they've purposely decided to address a small part of the software
market to specialize in it, not simply ignore it.
Again, Mac vs. PC arguments aside, it's just plain ugly software, and
the proof of that seems to be that the examples they provide (and one
would think that you'd want to show off the very best examples of what
the software can produce) are ugly and clumsy as well. As for Mac
users poo-pooing it more than Windows users, I'm not sure about that,
but I guess keeping it away from the 'elitists' is an option. I just
doubt that they will be very successful in the long run with
designers, and in the end, that's what matters (unless, as I said,
it's really a tool to let programmers do ugly design work).
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