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Microsoft's Developer Problem
We have all heard the stories about how badly Windows Vista has been received by users and how slow they are to adopt it, but I was surprised, and I suspect many people will be, when I read that only 8% of developers are “coding with Vista in mind,” according to Electronista.
The truth is, I am not just surprised, I am wondering if the number could even be real. 92% of developers are just ignoring the latest version of the largest OS more than a year after its release? It just does not sound plausible, and it makes me wonder if there is some sort of misunderstanding.
Assuming, however, that the numbers are correct and there is no misunderstanding, Microsoft seems to have a huge problem. If the vast majority of developers are ignoring Vista, as more and more people start to use it, there are going to be tons of application compatibility issues. This means that, rather than everything calming down and people moving to Vista, as Microsoft would like, the issues with Vista are going to continue for an unknown amount of time. If Microsoft can’t even get the developers to move to Vista, they are going to have an incredibly hard time trying to get users to calmly accept Vista.
Live, Interactive Review of OpenSuse 11: Friday June 20 At 3:30PM EDT!
The Desktop Expierience Is Only Part of the Story
A lot of focus is put on the Linux desktop. “Is Linux ready for the desktop?” “Will this be the year of the Linux desktop?” “Is the Linux desktop usable by regular people?” All of this is, generally, asking the same thing. When is Linux finally going to be commonplace on the desktop? The average user’s experience is not all that matters, though. Developers must also be attracted to Linux before it will become commonplace on the desktop.
As shown by a recent Fortune article, Linux already is appealing to the developers, but it is important that Linux becomes not just appealing but irresistible for developers. Why is this so important? Because with developers come applications that have previously been Windows only. As developers switch to Linux, applications that used to be a reason why some could not use Linux as their only OS will become cross-platform or even Linux only.
Look at the Mac. Do you think it would have come as far as it has if Microsoft had not brought Office to the Mac? I don’t. Even though OpenOffice/NeoOffice would probably have worked for many of the people that bought Office for Mac, people are just more comfortable using the exact same application they are used to.
So how can Linux appeal to developers? There are a number of ways that come to mind. Of course, the best thing to do would be to ask a developer, but seeing as I am not a developer here are some ideas:
The most obvious, of course, is to make it easy to develop for Linux. There are other things too, though. Easy application distribution of free and commercial applications through systems like CNR is a definite plus. Also, providing a good introduction to programming on Linux would be helpful for those just switching to Linux.
Because of these sorts of advantages, hopefully more and developers will switch to Linux and bring users along with them.
Good News from Redmond
EWeek is reporting on some unusual good news from Redmond, which is a rather nice change from the usual flow of negative Microsoft stories. Microsoft has released some ASP.net development tools for Linux. Although I can’t claim to understand all the technical details of exactly what they released, it appears that it is a development tool for Linux developers.
Although I suspect that not a whole lot of people will care about this particular piece of software, the precedent this potentially sets is great.
In the past, when Microsoft has said “cross-platform” what they meant was always “it runs on Windows and it at least sort of runs on the Mac.” Now that Microsoft has started releasing software for Linux, if only a small development tool, perhaps that definition will change to “it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.”
It is also possible that this is just an isolated incident of releasing something for Linux and it will not become regular, but I am glad to see some good news from Microsoft and I hope we see more in the future.