Originally Posted by Alvi View Post
That's sad.
Means they're probably going to kill it by stopping the development (or reducing it intentionally) on iOS, Android or Mac in order to get people to Windows 7 / Windows Phone 7
I'm not aware of a product where Microsoft has done that.
What you describe is a tactic Apple has used.
You've got a point. Logic used to be available for both Mac and Windows. When Apple bought it, they immediately dumped the Windows version. I don't see Final Cut Pro available for Windows either. Apple fanatics pointing out how Microsoft doesn't make all their software available for the Mac is a little disingenuous, IMO. Until recently, Apple didn't make ANY of their software available for Windows save Quicktime and iTunes (and neither is very Windows friendly to this day, IMO). Apple took the world by surprise when they released Safari for Windows (due to their reputation for ignoring the outside world). It wasn't very Windows friendly either for some time (at least they finally adopted the Windows windowing standard, which iTunes still doesn't really use). What else does Apple make for Windows? I'm pretty hard-pressed to think of anything else, really.
Microsoft, however, has made a lot of software for Apple and the Mac over the years. Some of it they quit making and for good reason (e.g. who the heck was even going to use Internet Explorer for the Mac with Apple rolling their own and fanboys hating everything M$?) Microsoft Office for Mac 2004 even was pretty good, IMO. I like the word processor 'look' better than any Windows version. Yes, if you needed Outlook then it was bad news, but they have been working in that direction. You have to admit that in Capitalism, sales drive development and the Mac is a drop in the bucket next to Windows customers (probably by a ratio of at least 50:1 or more today and a lot worse than that in 2004). Microsoft's Expression Media 2 for Mac (which is also PPC compatible) is a lot better IMO than iPhoto (which is slow as molasses and doesn't like you organizing by directory and won't auto-update additions to photos in directories if you do force it to use them). I don't see iPhoto or iWork available for Windows, though....
My point is not that I like all Microsoft software (some of it's decent; some of it sucks; some of it is a lot better than it used to be) or that I like Microsoft as a company (I've tended to despise them from my Amiga days, but I've since grown to despise Apple as well for the same exact reasons; they don't usually play nice with others and they're greedy as hell). I see very little difference between the two companies in terms of their nature other than in innovation and direction. Apple innovates more for concepts (e.g. iPhone, iPad, visual integration, etc.), but Microsoft does their job when it comes to concentrating on other areas Apple couldn't care less about traditionally (e.g. gaming standards; at least until the iPhone showed gaming prowess where Steve Jobs and Apple never really expected it; now they're catering towards profits, not because they like gaming) whereas Microsoft has shown an ability to do gaming well (e.g. Xbox/Xbox360) and they offer all the new standards sooner or later (e.g. Blu-Ray is YOUR choice on Windows whereas Steve Jobs has decided Mac users don't need Blu-Ray whether they like it or not).
Thus, personally, I think Apple would be far more likely to discontinue Windows versions of Skype if they had purchased them than Microsoft will be to discontinue Mac versions of Skype (no idea about things like Linux versions; I don't think Apple or Microsoft like Linux one bit since in the very long term it threatens their very existence with its "information should be free/open" philosophy).
