I know this request has been made in the past. And, although the coding I've done was very BASIC (literally!) and LONG ago, I have some idea about the scope of the task, there is a definite need and demand for Directory Opus running on Macs, iPhones and iPads.
I am switching to MacOS from Windows 10 after 3 decades of MS operating systems. I've been looking for a DirOpus alternative to run over there; nothing close.
I can't believe that GPSoftware wouldn't make profits by moving into the MacOS world. Apple users are much more used to paying for their software. I saw here in Forums where a few years ago a poster stated he'd pay $100.00 for a MacOS DirOpus ...I'll second that. And, I'd pay $29.95 to be able to link to DirOpus running on my iPad.
Maybe if more DirOpus users would raise their hands letting GPSoftware know that there is a large hopefull market out here.
I have created an account just to back this up. I would love to see a Mac version of DOpus. I've been using DOpus since I think DOpus 3 or 4 on the amiga waaay back when. I have both a PC and a Mac at home and I use DOpus on my PC but would really love it on my Mac as well. No idea how hard it is to port, but I'd suggest that there is a market and Apple users tend to be more apt to pay too.
I'd also say that iPadOS would be a good potential home for DOpus too, if the OS would allow such a tool to work. Modern ipads are amazingly powerful devices but the native files app is.. ahh.. in need to improvement. DOpus for iPad would be amazing!
I believe there are several issues that are applicable. First, the number of Windows systems is about 5 times larger than Mac's (75% share versus 16%) so the potential market is much smaller. Second, Apple locks down the OS MUCH more tightly than Windows, preventing a lot of "access" to OS services. And, maybe more significant, many people choose Apple products because they do not WANT to deal with the minutia and technical aspects of computers. They just want to use them to make their tasks easier and less complicated (and less technical) than Windows. So, taking all that into account, the potential market for the Mac market is VERY small compared to Windows. And development is very expensive.
And because of the vast difference in access to the OS, many of the Dopus features and services would be difficult or not feasible on a Mac. That may explain why you find "nothing close" there now. Also the methods to do things on a Mac are very different than they are on Windows meaning one could not just convert a feature, they would have to figure out how (and whether) that feature could be implemented on a Mac.
So I don't think I agree with you there. I think if you're talking about the iPad or iPhone then yes. the system is very locked down but MacOS devices aren't anywhere near as locked down, in fact it's barely locked down at all, especially if you're not using the Mac app store which GPSoft wouldn't need to do if they don't want to. The Mac has a number of similar tools to DOpus, I am a paid up user of pathfinder for example and it does most of the same things, I just don't like it as much and they've moved to a subscription model which I am against. What features do you think DOpus offers that a mac couldn't do?
I'd also argue about the tech aspects. I know many apple users who are also techies (it is Unix after all) or who know at least enough to know about file structures and directories and need to manage files and know that finder isn't great. They want something better and DOpus is a lot better. I'd also suggest that MacOS is far closer in spirit to the Amiga than windows is.
If they don't want to deveop it for the Mac then that's up to them, I just want to make it visible that there are a number of Mac users who would love a version of the tool.
You make some good points as they apply to you and Mac users like yourself. The point you did not address, and probably the most important one, is the potential customer base for a DOPUS Mac product. The reason there is (fill in the blank - I will guess 10) ___ times more 3rd party technically oriented products for the PC than the Mac is because there is a much larger customer base of people wanting such products.
I am not a Mac user (though I did use the very 1st model - the all in one with the 9 inch screen) so I cannot comment on what features a Mac user needs. I can only react to what I know and that is based on comments/discussions with friends and colleagues who have a Mac (about 3 people). And while the OS is Unix-like now, that was not how it started.
Sasa makes a good point about support. GP would need a separate Mac group of developers and support people to maintain the high level of support we have for the PC product. Even assuming that the current people know (or could learn) the Mac software, they cannot do two things at once (maybe they can, but we don't want them burnt out).
I think your best bet would be to contact Cocoatech (the maker of Pathfinder) and see if you can get then to add the features you want. They are MUCH closer to being able to do that than GP is to making a MAC version of DOPUS. You would be much more likely to get what you want going down that path. Anyway, that is my 4 cents.
Okay, so I’ve said my bit about support for MacOS and I’ll stand by that, I was just adding my voice, it’s now for GPSoft to decide whether to listen to it or not. That said you’ve responded to me so it’s only polite that I come back
The first thing I’d say is that MacOS is not unix-like. It’s formally certified UNIX (tm).
Although the Mac didn’t start as unix, it moved to a Unix-like model with OSX10.0 Cheetah in 2001 with bits taken from Mach, FreeBSD and others. It has been unix certified since I think OSX Leopard in 2007, so that’s 15 years now which I think is fairly decent. In the late 90s I think it would be hard to imagine that the one of the largest vendors of home computers in the world would be shipping fully certified unix workstations… esp as back then that made you think of Solaris or IRIX.. The point of that being however to indicate that the Mac is a modern and well featured operating system with tons of flexibility.
Users can and do install many unix command line tools and servers and there is a whole community around porting, compiling and using software from Linux etc
In addition with the recent changes to the underlying platform, i.e. the move to apple silicon, they’ve now got class leading performance especially for creators and video editors, which means these guys have many and huge files to manage and move around, which is exactly the kind of thing that DOpus could help them with.
In terms of potential customer base, you’re certainly right that the MacOS market share is significantly smaller than the windows market share, but Mac users are more likely to actually buy software. This is why Apple makes far more money from gaming than Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo combined despite not being a gaming company. Apple make their money on App Store income from all the games sold on iPhones, iPads etc.
There certainly are tools on MacOS which do a similar job than DOpus and I use them now, but they’re not as slick and nice, hence the ask. I think there is the potential for a market there, but hey, it ain’t my decision