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.
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 |
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 Competitors | 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 | Windows NT | Novell | network file server | |
| 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.
This observation is not an absolute rule, for there are some exceptions. However, they do not detract from the basic thesis.
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. Microsoft's visual tools were preceded by those of Borland (Turbo Pascal and C) and Symantec (Think Pascal and Lightspeed C).
CorelDraw was well loved on Windows, but, according to some, mostly because of its free bundled clip art collection.
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.
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.