This is why there is no point in making Windows software | Hacker News Reader

This is why there is no point in making Windows software

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12 pointsadib7 comments

Ha-ha-ha... slowclap

I know at least two guys who retired in their 30s after selling WinRAR-ish utilities for Windows. I also met someone selling a network scanning tool and making 900k a year. Another person I know wrote remote access tool and had, at his own admission, more money than he knew what to do with. All this was several years ago, when online sales were far less streamlined than they are now, social media and viral promoting were non-existent and they were selling shareware which was very actively cracked and pirated. Compare it to now, when you can buy software with one or two clicks, when users got conditioned into paying attention to digital signatures on .exe and real-time over-the-net licensing. It is obviously pointless to make any Windows software whatsoever.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it may be your overall half-sarcastic, half-arrogant tone that makes me think of that old adage "Pride comes before the fall".

I think the gist of your comment is "We who write software for microsoft windows can never be disrupted".

I also like to think that Silicon Valley based startups are well on their way to disrupting you. You're just not realizing it yet.

That's a fair point. For some reason, (especially in poorer countries), Microsoft hasn't developed a "culture" of buying software. It's probably because Windows software has always been more expensive in comparasion to applications for Mac.

Lack of central app store might be another reason - I remember when it was a bit of a challenge, here in Poland, to get a credit/debit card that could have been used online. So it was a hit or miss whether you could pay for your stuff or not.

Stores like Steam, with sometimes heavily discounted games, make it affordable to buy software and from my observation, develop some sort of "respect" for developers/publishers in people.

"It's probably because Windows software has always been more expensive in comparasion to applications for Mac. Lack of central app store might be another reason"

The Mac app store is not particularly old, so this is a bizarre suggestion.

What does this have anything to do with Windows?

A lot of the revenue for these software companies (especially archiving software companies) comes from the enterprise, not the general consumer.

A Fortune 500 will go to WinRAR and say "we're rolling out our new workstation infrastructure and need 2,000 WinRAR licenses for all our employees"

The tweet linked is more indicative of the state of software developers in general, not just Windows software.

Older people using windows are buying few unwanted softwares too.

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