FWH and xHarbour for Apple Mac

[driessen]

Hello,

If I remember well, there has been plans to develop a version of FWH and xHarbour for Apple Mac.

If so, when will these versions be available ?

I regularly get question of customers if my application runs on an Apple Mac.

Thanks.

[Antonio Linares]

Michel,

We have a prerelease version of FiveMac that works quite well. But we have found very little interest on it. Just a few users are using it.

[TimStone]

It must be remembered that the Apple Mac will have some definite differences, so programming for it can require a significant amount of code modification.

Apple Mac does not have the depth of business applications available that you will find on the PC. The market is simply not there. It is wonderful for graphics applications, but people who have built database applications don't see much utility in the Mac.

My wife has two Macs ( desktop and laptop ) and I'm not very impressed. She needs them because the school she teaches at uses the Mac exclusively, but it always seems that what she needs to do is so simple on my PC and so difficult on her Mac ... especially when it exercises its "own mind".

[VeRCE]

mmmmm that's a matter of point of view...

i am a Mac user from almost two years
and there's nothing that i've done in PC that i can't do in MAC...
Maybe because i am a web developer... all my software run on
a web browser and over Asterisk...

i have nothing to say about PC... but in my humild point of view
a MAC is alwas better....

Regards..

[TimStone]

As you said, you are a web developer. I was referring to database systems developed in FW which I don't believe normally reside on the web.

Apple has a niche market, but they only get about 4% of the personal computer sales. Obviously, thats a small marketplace for a software developer to invest a lot of time and money. There probably won't be a large return on their investment.

If I were using products to do graphics, especially for film, then the Mac is an obvious choice. There is quality software and it is used in those industries. However, when it comes to business applications, which I believe most FW developers create, I'm not sure you will find enough interest in the MAC.

[Antonio Linares]

Tim,

No matter how many people use them, Mac is a great computer and its operating system is outstanding. Once you start learning it, in deep, you get really impressed about it.

But it seems as people prefeer to suffer all the Windows problems (viruses, trojans, hangs, hardware problems, etc.)

[José Luis Sánchez]

I bought an iMac four months ago, and I have to say that I don't miss anything of Windows in OS X. OS X is a great operating system, and every day there are more switchers from PC to Mac.

Regards,

[Antonio Linares]

José Luis,

Please contact me if you want to give FiveMac a try

[TimStone]

Antonio,

I'm not criticizing Mac, but it still only gets about 4% of the marketplace. If I plan to write software, and invest all that time, I think I have a better chance of selling my product ( business applications ) if they work on 96% of the computers out there rather then 4%.

Don't think PC's are the only one subject to viruses. They have detected viruses aimed at Macs, and they do cause damage. Remember, behind every virus is someone who believes its ok to inflict harm on other people.

I've had Macs here since the very first one was introduced. I do know what they can do, and the problems that befall them. In network settings, sharing printers, etc. I have witnessed far more problems then I have with Windows networks. These are not my installations, but rather ones done by Mac experts who do this work full time, and have for years.

Again, the issue here is where programmers can make money. You obviously found out that you couldn't make enough money on FW-Mac to make it worthwhile. As business people, we constantly have to make decisions based on what sustains the income we need to stay in business.

BTW, what database products do you know in popular use with the Mac in a business environment. I'm not talking about products that exist on another server ( ie. Linux ), but I'm talking about a database designed strictly for a Mac server and platform.

[VeRCE]

there are only 4 mac viruses... and if you get infected by them is only because you want to kill your self..

is something like the "harakiri" jejejeje...

i agree with you... if i'm gonna develop software i will make sure to
develop to the moss computers... so.. that's why my software is web..
they can run on Linux, Mac, Windows (even Vista guaaajj), FreeBSD...
etc etc etc etc....And there will be no need to install additional libraries
dlls en all that stuffs.

Regards..

[TimStone]

Web development works for some, but many businesses don't want someone else being the custodian of their data, so a database at their location is crucial.