This is an exciting time for software developers. There are new challenges and opportunities with shifts in devices and in operating systems with the growth of Mac OS. Today, one of the key things developers should be thinking about how to enable their solutions to address both Windows and Mac users.
Increasing Mac Adoption
It's been a largely Windows market up until the last few years with Windows everywhere on the desktop. Macs have been used in certain places. But now we're seeing in many research reports, whether it's IDC, Gartner, or Forrester Research that the Mac rapidly gaining in popularity.
We've always seen Windows and Mac and kind of the 90/10 kind of split. And even though the Mac has been growing rapidly the last few years it's not going to displace the Windows desktop anytime soon. However, market share alone isn’t the real reason why developers should be looking to develop on Mac.
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Trend
There are several trends that are happening in business and in enterprise today that are driving that but one of the key drivers behind that is the Bring Your Own Device or BYOD. In Europe, BYOT is the often-used term. In the US, we say BYOD but basically the same idea is that workers are bringing their own devices in.
We're starting to see that organizations now have to support both Windows and Mac users. When you have to support both you start to choose software solutions and software products that offer both.
What is the Win/Mac opportunity for Software Developers?
If you're an ISV and you're offering a Windows solution, adding Mac to your solution to your offering, give you a competitive edge against other vendors who don't. As Mac grows in its footprint, that also provides a wider audience to sell your solution to as well. So it's kind of double win for developers.
If you’re part of an IT team within an organization, providing both Windows and Mac versions of your internal software applications will mean the ability to serve more users within your company who may be using Macs as well as serving more of your customer base who are also using Macs.
The Embarcadero Solution – Write Once and Compile to both Windows and Mac
With FireMonkey in Delphi, C++Builder and Embarcadero RAD Studio, you can create native applications for both Windows and Mac OS X using a single codebase. You develop on Windows and then compile to Windows and compile to Mac.
You don’t need a separate development team and to re-create your entire application with a separate set of development tools to build a Mac version. You do it in one IDE and with one team. It’s like getting an additional Mac developer or development team free! With the FireMonkey application platform and Embarcadero developer tools, you can:
- Create native applications for both Windows and Mac OS X with a single codebase in either Delphi or C++
- Take advantage of your existing Windows programming skills and knowledge to tap into the growing market for native Mac OS X applications
- Build visually rich, database connected business applications that leverage the full power of the CPU and GPU for blazing native performance
Take the Next Step
- Learn more about FireMonkey, RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder
- Download a free RAD Studio trial edition
- Watch a free webinar on demand for more in-depth information
- Watch a video – more than 40 videos about developing Windows and Mac applications with FireMonkey on our Embarcadero YouTube page