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I have just discovered Omnifocus and I am so disappointing that the owner of this company is limiting his revenue to only mac users.

I need to know a logical and economically sound answer to why choose to ignore the biggest market share controlled by Microsoft. Anyone?

Apple produced OSX software because they want you to buy their Apple hardware, so it makes sense that they don't want to make software compatible with windows, but Omnigroup doesn't sell hardware, so why not make Omnifocus mac/win?

I am sure the Omnigroup's owner's wife would enjoy a new Porsche every year :)

Adobe makes CS5 for win/mac... I really just want to know the logic behind Omnigroups's mac only stance.

Thanks
 
Because they enjoy building Mac OS X and iOS software. If you spend any time interacting with them, you'll quickly find that they are more interested in doing a good job with the customers they have than chasing after every last possible customer and dollar. Might even notice some similarities to the company that makes the hardware on which their software runs...
 
At the Omni Group, our goal is not to make as much money as we can; our goal is to make the best software that we can make. To do that, we've chosen to focus our attention on the development platform which we feel makes us the most productive.

I started my career developing software for the broadest possible set of UNIX platforms in the '80s: I figured that would guarantee that I'd always be able to run the code I was writing. When I encountered the NeXT platform in 1989, I realized that it not had only a much more polished user experience than all the other UNIX platforms, it also had a much more productive development environment. I realized that I had a choice: I could spend five years writing an app with a so-so user experience for a broader audience, or I could spend those same five years writing several much more polished apps for the NeXT platform—with its much smaller audience and less certain future.

I decided I could guarantee that I would always be able to run those apps by buying my own NeXT (a significant investment at that time)—so I bought one, left my job, and started working (with Omni's co-founders) to try to help the tiny NeXT platform survive and flourish.

Fast forward a decade: in 2001, NeXT's development environment became the foundation for the new Mac OS X platform, and we considered its survival relatively assured. Fast forward a second decade: now, in 2011, that same NeXT development environment is not only the basis of the Mac platform, but also the wildly successful iPhone and iPad platforms. The development environment and user experience have continued to improve over time and are now better than ever.

Are there other successful platforms out there? Certainly! Could we make more money by bringing our software to those platforms? Maybe. But I don't think that software would be any better than what we've already made, and it would distract us from improving the software we've written. And again, our goal is not to make the most money—it's to make the best software.

So, just as I chose twenty years ago to focus my attention on the tiny NeXT platform (which sold fewer systems in its entire history than Apple's iPad sold in its first weekend), we've now chosen to focus our collective attention on what that platform has become—Apple's Mac OS X, iPhone, and iPad platforms—platforms where we feel we can make our software the best it can be.

Last edited by Ken Case; 2011-06-20 at 06:31 PM.. Reason: Clearer language about buying my own NeXT
 
Ken,
Thank you for you reply.

I see your point and I understand what you are saying.

You should not venture into windows OS if that will compromise your OSX development. However, I think you haven't lurked the forums enough to see that there is BIG demand for Omnifocus for Windows. You have created a FINE product.
I am sure that you could hire a team of coders to implement the same philosophy and functionality of Omnifocus for mac into a windows version. I am not aware of your net from this product or how big your company is, but as a smart business person you are, making the investment to hire a windows team to make this available for windows can only be a win win situation for you and the billions of windows users.

You are the omnifocus guy.. you should be able to GTD your way into windows and move both platforms forward at the same speed. :) I'm sure you can.. I'll be happy to beta test your efforts in anonymity and report to you only :)

I own a macbook and have Win7 desktop, many user deal with a setup from Work on windows and mac at home. Omnifocus sounded incredible, but I do most of my daily work on my PC, so it is not worth buying it just to have it on my laptop... hopefully you see the need for windows and are able to "adapt" your philosophy as your business grows and have excellent products for both platforms. Like adobe does. Take care
 
I think one other way the OmniGroup is spreading their wings is through the iOS market with their iPhone and iPad versions of their product line.

If carrying a MacBook to work isn't suitable then perhaps using the iPad version would be a decent substitute. The iPad and iPhone is certainly portable enough..... Pair the iPad with a bluetooth keyboard and things become so much easier.

I know that there are still a few things that are easier to do on the desktop version or there are a couple of missing features (creating perspectives, anyone?). But I think that OmniGroup will eventually address those issues so that OmniPad for iPad/iPhone will be on par with the desktop version's feature set.

With Steve Job's vision of the post-PC era, I can definitely see OmniFocus for iPad/iPhone as part of that vision. No more need to be tethered to OmniFocus anymore.....

Everybody thinks that crossplatforming an application is a simple task. Just recode and compile, right? If only that were true. It's not so easy to switch gears....
 
Perhaps there will be some kind of web platform in the future, which could be a solution for users who has to deal with windows as well.
 
I've seen really good Mac developers try to make a Windows port of their software. Usually, the Windows version looks terrible and the interface atrocious. Not because the mac developer is lazy, it's that the API's for Windows (whether using Winforms, Win32, or WPF) don't offer elegant animations and UI elements, so the interface ends up looking clunky and odd.

Take 1Password from Agile. It's a superb interface on Mac but when you look at the WIndows version, it's obvious the Windows elements don't translate well and it looks ugly in comparison.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pico View Post
I have just discovered Omnifocus and I am so disappointing that the owner of this company is limiting his revenue to only mac users.

I need to know a logical and economically sound answer to why choose to ignore the biggest market share controlled by Microsoft. Anyone?

Apple produced OSX software because they want you to buy their Apple hardware, so it makes sense that they don't want to make software compatible with windows, but Omnigroup doesn't sell hardware, so why not make Omnifocus mac/win?

I am sure the Omnigroup's owner's wife would enjoy a new Porsche every year :)

Adobe makes CS5 for win/mac... I really just want to know the logic behind Omnigroups's mac only stance.

Thanks
1. Those that know Omni know they've been working with Unix based platforms since the days when "Going Windows" was considered a no brainer. Today you can make a whole lot of money and never have to deliver one Windows product.

2. Apple produces OS X software because they want computing to be something everyone can do easily not because they wish to sell hardware. Those serious about their software should be designing their own hardware to maximize the impact.

3. What makes you think that Ken's wife can't already have a Porsche every year?

4. Some would say that Adobe's software has peaked long ago and the fact that it's cross platform has done little to leverage platform strengths on both sides.


A decade ago the "but but Windows has marketshare" mantra would work but today it's about multiple devices in a computing environment. Apple is strong here with the ability to leverage your OS X product with the most popular mobile environment in iOS.

As Apple's success has risen so have the prospects for Mac only developers that focused their efforts on being the big fish in a small pond.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post
3. What makes you think that Ken's wife can't already have a Porsche every year?
Let's hope Kens wife doesn't read the forums... (for Kens sake)
 
A good example of this is YNAB, aka you need a budget. It works on both windows and osx beautifully. Tho it has been coded with Adobe Air.
 
 


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