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While some developers of software for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) computers are excited about the opportunity to move their wares to the Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) platform, Windows developers might be less enthusiastic about the prospect.
According to Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst with Insight 64 in Saratoga, Calif., the Macintosh market doesn't present much of an attraction to Windows developers, even if they didn't have to compete against one of the market's major software players, Apple.
"If Apple went out of business, it still wouldn't be much of an opportunity for the Windows suppliers," he told MacNewsWorld.
Armies of the Gates
Large Windows developers used to monster sales won't be the only ones finding the new Intel-Apple world less than tantalizing.
"The army of small developers for the Windows environment have never seen the Macintosh environment as an opportunity because the numbers have always been far smaller than they have been for PCs," Brookwood observed. "The fact that Apple is now going to be building Macintoshes with Intel inside instead of PowerPC inside really isn't going to change that."
"Macintosh OS on Apple hardware is still going to be a very small market, and unless Apple decides to pursue some kind of clone strategy -- where they sell the operating system independent of the hardware -- then that army of independent small developers will continue to focus on the Windows world as opposed to the Mac world," Brookwood said. "The fact that it's x86 versus PowerPC isn't going to change their perception of it one bit."
Do What Linux Can't
If Apple chose to cut its software loose from its hardware -- a strategy the company says it will never adopt -- or get out of the hardware business altogether, it would place the firm at odds with a leading producer of software for the Macintosh: Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
If Apple became a software-only play, Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif., told MacNewsWorld via e-mail, it would make Apple "a vastly stronger competitor to Microsoft, who has had difficulty getting their own next generation OS out the door."
"Hardware OEMs have been rumored to have approached Apple to do this, and Intel has been actively courting Linux as well in this regard," Enderle added. "For Microsoft, this could result in a threat that Linux has yet to realize, a true alternative for Windows on the desktop."
Nasal Surgery
Would such a threat induce Microsoft to pull the plug on its Macintosh offerings and leave Apple users in the lurch? Mike Cherry, lead analyst for the Windows operating system at Directions on Microsoft in Kirkland, Wash., doesn't think so.
"Microsoft Office is one of the largest selling products for the Apple and it commands a pretty good price on the Apple platform," he told MacNewsWorld. "So any retaliation by Microsoft would be like cutting your nose to spite your face."
Meanwhile, although Apple's decision to embrace Intel will be disruptive to their business, some developers are approaching the prospect with eagerness.
"We're excited," Dan Noonan, head of technical support for Mariner Software in Minneapolis, Minn., told MacNewsWorld. "Once people separate the myth from fact, they'll realize this is a good thing for consumers."
Gain with Marginal Pain
"What makes the Macintosh platform strong is the software and the Mac OS," he added, "and that is going to continue forever."
While conceding there might be transition pains for developers, he observed, "It won't be as painful as transitioning to Carbon or Cocoa. It's not even in the same class. It's just a recompile."
According to Adam Fingerman, director of product management for Macintosh products at Roxio in Santa Clara, Calif., it still isn't clear how involved the transition process will be. "There's a reason why it's a multi-year transition for the company," he told MacNewsWorld.
"But if it helps grow the Mac platform because hardware is more affordable now for more people, it will be great for everybody," he added.
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