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Ask HN: Are people still writing commercial software for desktop PCs?

5 points by gecko6 ↗ HN
It seems that the vast majority of software I'm hearing about is targeting iOS, Android or embedded systems. Is anyone working on a software product that (a) targets a non-mobile, non-server device and (b) is for sale, as opposed to Open-source?

10 comments

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johncoltrane
> It seems that the vast majority of software I'm hearing about is targeting iOS, Android or embedded systems.

That's because you are mostly interested in those things.

> Is anyone working on a software product that (a) targets a non-mobile, non-server device and (b) is for sale, as opposed to Open-source?

None of that is "opposed to Open-source". Anyway, if you use Windows or macOS, then open your platform's "app store" and take a look at literally any category but "free (as in beer)".

Yes. There is a whole world outside of your bubble.

gecko6
> None of that is "opposed to Open-source".

You're quite right. Open-source vs. non-open-source is irrelevant to the question.

hiAndrewQuinn
In my experience yes, but you won't find these applications until you start digging below the surface a little bit and asking what business people in non-tech domains are actually using the tech to do. Ask around and you'll find old school GUI applications aplenty, the more specialized the domain the better.
wingerlang
Do you not use a desktop environment? Loads of software is being made (and I only know the macOS side of it). Window managers, compression tools, utilities, powerhouse tools like Photoshop, text editors, IDEs, etc.

I myself build software in this space and generally its productivity-ish-tools.

Here's a list of 70 macOS apps that received updates _today_ https://macupdater.com/app_updates/index-2025-01-27.html

skydhash
Currently on my Mac, I have: Affinity Designer and Photo, Pixelmator, Balsamiq, Things, Bear, Dash, Parallel, iA Writer, Cleanshot, Alfred, Transmit,… Most free apps are either opensource or SaaS powered. There’s a lot of paid software when you want to do stuff with your computer and not someone else’s.
gecko6
I do use a desktop environment. I don't use many additional productivity tools, though, and that is likely why I have a blind spot about that part of the software market.

My question was more geared towards the seeming lack of a robust software ecosystem (i.e., there appears to be at most one leading product in each category, with one or two alternatives), to whit: - there's Xcode/VSCode. - Photoshop/GIMP. - Sublime Text - not sure about DAW software - the field has changed since I was involved

I'll have to check macupdater out, thanks for the tip.

vunderba
Almost all major DAW software targets the desktop environment - A lot of them are cross platform (Ableton, FL Studio, Studio One, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, etc.)

Linux is sort of left out in the cold unfortunately, except for reaper and bigwig, both of which are very solid choices.

carlosjobim
MacOS has a rock solid software ecosystem, both for the most advanced suites and for minor apps.

> Photoshop/GIMP And Affinity, and Pixelmator. Gimp is not in the same league.

For high quality software, it would be strange to have more than a leading product and a couple of alternatives, wouldn't it? Like, what would be the kind of customer who would not be satisfied with neither PhotoShop or Affinity nor Pixelmator?

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