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Filemaker, others incompatible with Leopard - why?
After seeing a post on DaringFireball and reading the linked article from Filemaker, I was a little perturbed to see that not only is the current version incompatible, but evidently they are copping out and saying they haven’t performed compatibility testing with older versions.
A few points on this, which is a particular pet peeve of mine - note that this applies to many companies, not just Filemaker.
- Leopard has been available for development testing for over a year. An Apple Developer Connection subscription which grants access to each beta build is ridiculously inexpensive and there is no reason for any company worth it’s salt to not have an ADC account and begin working on software versions that are compatible from day one.
- Too many development companies use a new OS a spring board to gouge their customers for a new version. It’s no secret that when a new OS or platform is available, some vendors will intentionally delay their products for months so as to up-sell ‘compatible’ versions to existing customers. It’s a terribly self-serving practice and it needs to stop.
- The impetus to provide, on launch day, a compatible version of a 3rd party application is far more likely to generate good will and sales than the promise of a newer, forthcoming version ever would.
Yes, i am fully aware that it costs money to pay people to spec, develop and test new software, but if you’re paying them anyway, why not pay them to perform those functions on both current and future derivations of that project? Building backward compatibility is as important as making sure that your application is future proof.
By not bothering to take advantage of services such as developer releases and resources, companies such as Filemaker and Adobe are simply perpetuating the stereotype that software makers are reactive and lazy. When an application is delayed for months simply to force customers into upgrade fees, it shows the utter lack of regard that these companies have for their users.
That being said, if you know of any software makers that have not announced Leopard compatibility (or have already said ‘no’) let us know by posting in the comments.
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