Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Mac OS X and Frontier

Author:Jeremy Reichman
Posted:8/31/2000; 10:40:04 AM
Topic:Mac OS X and Frontier
Msg #:20584
Prev/Next:20583 / 20585

I, for one, am very glad to get Frontier carbonized so that it runs natively on Mac OS X.

This is a central reason I continued my subscription to Frontier for another year. I was worried about it for quite some time, especially after that "discussion" involving HTML controls on the Mac earlier this year.

Having a product's future up in the air is one way to scare away consumers. I think too many developers don't understand that, and thus fail in the Mac market. While I think Apple outwardly appears to be more open with developers now than ever before (I'm not one, but I use some of their developer tools, and have gotten them for free from the ADC Web site), I still think developers as a whole don't take much time or exert effort to understand the Mac market before they plunge in.

The Mac market goes in booms and busts lately. For a while, we get a lot of products, usually all in the same categories. Then all those developers say "hey, we're not making any money here" and leave, so a vacuum develops. Truth is, there were just too many of them jumping in at once to support that segment. It gets really annoying. We've been on a boom since the iMac came on the scene, and I hope that lasts.

I don't think that any company should just assume that because they magically make a Mac product, all Mac users should run to get it. You still need to make it work right, price it right, and do all of the other things that make a great product. Understanding that Mac users typically don't want rehashed Windows software is a key part of that.

A recent developer that I think has done a fair job is 3dfx with its slow process of creating drivers for its last generation cards before coming out with the new Voodoo 5 for the Mac. While they're under fire for lackluster performance and a few other issues, I still admire that they took the time to do it right and look like they want to be in the market for the long haul. I bought one of their cards. Mac users have had too many disappointments, too many false starts, to extend their trust much anymore.

So "thank you" to UserLand to creating a great product that serves my needs well and continuing to support it on my chosen OS. I show my thanks by my renewed subscription. I pay for what I want, and if you hadn't showed signs of supporting Mac OS X, I might have taken some other path.

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