[quote=157952:@Robert Leedom][Incidentally, maybe I’m the new definition of old-fashioned, but I think the Snow Leopard version
of my application looks much prettier than the plain, flat Lion/…/Yosemite version. Just sayin’.][/quote]
I don’t like the new look either! Now do I like the colossal amount of bugs in Yosemite! The first time I’ve advised people to not update!
I do not like it either.
I love the 10.6.8 on my old Dell D420 
[quote=158216:@Axel Schneider]I do not like it either.
I love the 10.6.8 on my old Dell D420 :)[/quote]
I was quite content with Mavericks. I decided to do the update as I really want to provide my customers with the best experience on Yosemite that I can, I found some issues with our apps that we didn’t detect while testing, some of them a little shocking that we didn’t find them while testing.
I can’t tell my customers that they need to downgrade their OS to use our software, they’ll go elsewhere.
That is life in the enchanted world of one new version of the system a year. Never have time to get comfy. The flip side is that Apple users will purchase new software much more often
Still true, but am I the only one hearing
‘what? you want me to upgrade to a new version because I upgraded my mac and my 4 year old software doesn’t run on the new machine?’
Compare with a genuine email received last week about an old Windows app:
‘I bought your software in 2000 (receipt attached) but it wont run on my new Windows 8 machine. Please send me a new CD’
[quote=158274:@Jeff Tullin]Still true, but am I the only one hearing
‘what? you want me to upgrade to a new version because I upgraded my mac and my 4 year old software doesn’t run on the new machine?’
Compare with a genuine email received last week about an old Windows app:
‘I bought your software in 2000 (receipt attached) but it wont run on my new Windows 8 machine. Please send me a new CD’[/quote]
I have been in this business since Windows 3.2 and Mac System 7. Now and then, I have such requests. Most of the time, people do not mind paying a little extra for an update. And sometimes, the software simply do not exist anymore.
Now, just to put things in perspective, admitting you sell only 3 products a day on average (and I wish you much more), since 2000, that is 15,330 sales. How significant is one customer who kept his CD faithfully since the turn of the millenium, and dares asking for a free update 14 years later ?
Through my history with Windows, the apps I created back in the 90’s still run under Windows 10 Tech Preview for the most part. Apps created for Mac 68000 are lost in the past, so are the PPC ones. It is a fact of life that Apple only supports the current system version. The question is simple : is the software still running under Snow Leopard ? If yes, then it is conformant to the specifications at the time. I do not see how a user could fault you because systems have changed. By definition, it is impossible to predict which features a future system will hold. You may be able to guarantee a certain level of backward compatibility, but it would be silly to pretend guaranteeing forward compatibility.
Actually, again, I am grateful to Apple for changing system once a year. It creates a good market for paid updates. Far more than I can say for Windows and it’s never dying older versions.
As much as I like to nurse my ego thinking how important my indies software business is, and how proud I am to have a couple web sites in the top 3 search engine results, I have to keep in mind the relative importance. Apple is only a some $200 billions a year company, with a profit margin of what ? 25% or so ?
With the best of luck, how much any of us can hope to make a year ? For myself, I am not paid more than a teacher, on average. Not complaining, mind you. At my age, I have very little to prove, and enjoy doing business to keep myself occupied, while it brings green and butter on the table. But let us be reasonable, here. How much is my little business compared to Apple ? Not even nanoscopic. How would I dare judging the most successful tech company on earth, or even criticize their business decisions ? Who am I to give lessons to such an aircraft carrier, when I am nothing but plankton in the ocean of software ?
Small is beautiful. Now how does that tales goes, about the frog which wanted to look bigger than the ox ? I rather be a happy frog, as small as be.
Hi Robert.
I know that you made this post sometime ago, but if you could help me with this absurd problem, I would be very grateful. I have been using computers since the 1970’s as I have cerebral palsy and can’t write by hand. Until OS X 10.7 was allowed to break at least one UK law (Computer Misuse Act, section 3), I had always had full control over just one thing - a computer.
If you could help me by sharing your app with me, I would be extremely grateful.
I’ve spoken to Margaret Lordan (Executive Relations in Cork), but it was a pretty soul destroying experience. Basically, Apple see fit to damage our purchased software and expect us to pay for the privilege.
Many, many thanks.
Sarah
Sarah
Make sure you have turned on “Full Keyboard Access”
This lets you control pretty much EVERY OS X control with a keyboard (including sliders)