Adam Fields (weblog)

This blog is largely deprecated, but is being preserved here for historical interest. Check out my index page at adamfields.com for more up to date info. My main trade is technology strategy, process/project management, and performance optimization consulting, with a focus on enterprise and open source CMS and related technologies. More information. I write periodic long pieces here, shorter stuff goes on twitter or app.net.

2/21/2007

It is time for the distinction between Mac software and PC software to go away

Filed under: — adam @ 6:21 pm

I’ve been thinking about the issue of Mac software vs. PC software a lot lately, particularly with the cross-platform beta and coming production release of Adobe CS3.

I’ve only been a recent convert to the Mac, and the thing that was holding me back was that certain software that I absolutely needed was not yet available on the Mac. Until recently, things I needed to do my job wouldn’t run on OS X, or wouldn’t run well, or would run perfectly well under Windows and OS X but would require me to buy another license (and a full price non-upgrade license at that) to run what was essentially the same software as I was running under Windows.

But with the conversion of the Macs to Intel chips and the consequent advent of Parallels (and eventually VMWare Fusion, which is not yet ready for prime time in my limited tryout), this distinction essentially evaporated. I could run all of the great software I wanted natively for Mac, and anything else that wasn’t available or would cost extra for the Mac version I could run under XP on Parallels. Since then, I haven’t bought any new Windows machines. Virtualization technologies existed before, of course, but the difference this time around is that Parallels works.

And now, Adobe, I’m looking squarely at you. Your license permits me to run a copy of CS2 on my desktop (which is still Windows), and one on my laptop (which is OS X). I’m not going to buy another full $1000 copy of CS2 for the Mac, so the question now is this – the license permits me to run it on my laptop, so why are you making me run it under Parallels? You’re letting me preview the beta version of CS3 on the Mac, but now you’re just teasing me, since you’ve said that there won’t be a cross-platform license available for the full version. When CS3 comes out, I’ll have no option but to buy the Windows version. Notwithstanding the fact that I already own the Windows version, that’s the only option that will let me run it on both my desktop and my laptop, there being no way to run OS X in a virtual machine. But that’s a degraded user experience for me, for no gain for you.

So why are we still dealing with this inconvenient fiction?

Here’s my call to arms to all software developers: where you’re making a Mac and Windows version of the same software available and currently require two separate licenses, collapse and simplify. Don’t make me run the Windows version under Parallels. It just makes me love you less, and the extra love goes to Parallels instead. I want to love you more.

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3 Responses to “It is time for the distinction between Mac software and PC software to go away”

  1. Scott Wickham Says:

    The reason they do it is because, companies buy $1,000 software.

  2. adam Says:

    I don’t see what difference that makes. Companies aren’t constantly switching back and forth – and they’d still need a valid license for each machine.

    This is a simpler problem – why am I forced to run the Windows version of CS3 on my Mac using virtualization software, taking up far more RAM and CPU resources than needed for the native version, when it wouldn’t hurt Adobe any to let me run the native version instead?

    This is my point – I already have the license. My assertion is that the fact that it’s for a different OS should be moot. I’m not asking Adobe to do any extra work, the Mac version already exists. Just let me run it with my existing license!

  3. John Beardsworth Says:

    Couldn’t agree more – like you a Mac laptop and Windows desktop here. If I can run software on 2 machines, it’s no-one’s business what brand they happen to be. The example of Lightroom, with a cross platform licence, at least gives one hope for CS3.

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