Why do Windows Vista apps still lag behind OSX?
Is it a difference in audience or a difference in OS?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 by cavalierex | Discussion: Windows Vista
Over the past year that I’ve been reading Lifehacker and other productivity sites (like 43 Folders), I’ve noticed a number productivity apps for the Mac OSX that are just friggin awesome. They really seem to be well thought-out and really "fit into the workflow."
For example:
- Things (http://culturedcode.com/things/)
- iGTD (http://www.igtd.pl/iGTD/iGTD2/index.html)
- Omnifocus (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/)
- Scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html)
Surely, there exist the same needs for really good
productivity apps among Windows users. Heck, if David
Allen gave a 45-minute lecture to Google (and I’m sure a lot of them
are PC users), then the need is out there. And yet, as much as Outlook and
OneNote are useful applications, they just don’t "fit into the workflow" as
well as the aforementioned Mac OSX applications. And they definitely aren’t as
polished (with regard to either eye-candiness or usability).
So what gives? Is there just less interest after all? (Hard to believe.) Is Windows just harder to program for? Do Windows apps just try to do too much, and therefore not see the forest for the trees? Are marketing and competition different when dealing with Windows? Are GTD and productivity needs (such as Scrivener) still an under-the-radar thing that only appeals to the same crowd who end up preferring Macs anyway, and thus the creative people who write this software only write it for that platform?
With the huge userbase in Windows; with powerful Microsoft Office applications, including Word/Outlook/OneNote 2007 (all pretty good, actually); with the new potential opened up by Vista’s WPF – I’d expect to see a lot of leveraging of the Windows environment… apps that utilize the power of all these key applications, but create new user interfaces (and better user experiences) for it.
Just really curious. Look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts!
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Reply #1 Friday, January 25, 2008 5:53 PM