Thesis

Between 1984 and 2000, for major software publishing companies, success in the Macintosh market is an indicator of success in the Windows market. A company that understood the basic concept of the Macintosh market was better equipped to develop and sell successful consumer and professional software in the Windows market than a company that didn't. Companies that ignored or failed in the Macintosh market ultimately failed in the Windows market as well. Put another way, a company that attempts and succeeds in selling a product in the Macintosh market is somehow empowered to become successful in the Windows market.

Failures

The story is similar for all of these applications. The Macintosh product either didn't exist or was a halfhearted attempt that failed because the designers just didn't "get" the Macintosh. The Macintosh versions of these products were inelegant and violated the User Interface Guidelines. As a result, hey failed in the Mac market against products whose makers did understand the Mac's market demands.

Failed Company	Product	Product Type
Ashton-Tate (Borland)	dBase	database
Borland	Turbo Pascal, Turbo C Quattro Sprint	development tools spreadsheet word processor
CompuServe		isp
Lotus	123	spreadsheet
MicroPro	WordStar	word processor
Novell		network operating system
Prodigy		isp
WordPerfect		word processor

Successes

These products are in two groups: those which had competitors in the "Failures" section and those which, because of their basic nature, were originally developed on the Macintosh and were later ported to Windows.

Several successful products had direct competitors which did not succeed:

Successful Company	Product	Failed Company	Product	Product Type
AOL		CompuServe Prodigy		isp
Apple; Fox Software (Microsoft)	FileMaker; foxBase	Ashton-Tate (Borland)	dBase	database
Metrowerks	CodeWarrior	Borland	Turbo Pascal, Turbo C	development tools
Microsoft	Excel Word	Borland	Quattro Sprint	spreadsheet word processor
Microsoft	Excel	Lotus	123	spreadsheet
Microsoft	Word	MicroPro; WordPerfect	WordStar: WordPerfect	word processor
Microsoft		Novell		network operating system
Qualcomm		[1]		Eudora e-mail client
Norton Utilities; Symantec		[2]		disk defragmentation utilities

[1] Qualcomm shares the e-mail client market with Netscape and Microsoft, which also understand the Macintosh and thus produce quality e-mail clients for Windows.

[2] Norton Utilities began on Windows but quickly learned how to create quality products for the Macintosh. When it was acquired by Symantec, which already had a competing product, the two were merged under the Norton name. When Windows began to include this sort of utility in the operating system, Norton Utilities for Windows disappeared. Norton maintained a presence on Windows for a while with Norton Commander, an application that makes the Windows File Manager look more like the Macintosh Finder.

The remaining successful products, by their nature, required development on an inherently multimedia platform such as the Macintosh.

Successful Company	Product	Product Type
Aldus (Macromedia)	FreeHand Fontographer	vector graphics editor font foundry
Adobe	Photoshop Illustrator	raster graphics editor vector graphics editor
Apple	TrueType QuickTime	font technology video playback format and applications
Macromedia	Director	multimedia authoring tool
Microsoft	Internet Explorer	www browser
Netscape	Navigator	www browser
Macromedia	Dreamweaver	www authoring tool

Adobe was founded to create technologies and products that are central to the Macintosh. It remains highly profitable as a publisher of software for Macintosh and Windows.

Aldus was an early presence in the Macintosh market. When it merged with Adobe (and two products were sold to Macromedia), its products were soon were released for Windows as well as Macintosh.

Macromedia wrote the original Macintosh mouse demonstration; this became the foundation of Director. After the merger of Adobe and Aldus, Macromedia acquired Aldus products that competed with existing Adobe products.

Exceptions

This observation is not an absolute rule, for there are some exceptions. However, they do not detract from the basic thesis.

Microsoft C, C++ development tools for Windows

These tools were never created for the Macintosh. However, Microsoft as a company learned enough about GUIs through its experience writing software for the Macintosh to create Windows and become the most successful software company.

Corel Draw

CorelDraw was well loved on Windows, but, according to some, mostly because of its free bundled clip art collection.

Fractal Design

Fractal Painter and related tools were created for the Macintosh but not for Windows. Under the weight of competition from Macromedia and Adobe products, this company eventually disappeared as a publisher of Mac software.

Conclusion and Analysis

Success in the Windows market requires the ability to create good quality product. A software engineering organization that has the technical competence, the understanding of customer needs, and the marketing skills needed to survive in the Macintosh market is well equipped to transfer those skills to success in the Windows market. Companies that thrived in the DOS environment but didn't have the skills needed to succeed on the Macintosh also did not have the skills for Windows, and thus ultimately failed. Even Microsoft had to cut its teeth on the Macintosh before it could develop a GUI that customers would accept.