Linux Solutions

There was a time when developers were clamouring all over Microsoft, but latest figures from Evans Data shows that fewer than one in ten software developers are writing applications for Windows Vista this year – just eight percent. To rub salt in the wound, the data shows that 49 percent of developers are writing applications for Windows XP.

Linux is also thriving it would seem. 13 percent are writing applications, with 15.5 percent in 2009.

The figures look pretty bad for Windows Vista in 2009 too, with 24 percent compared to 29 percent for XP. A big step up form eight percent, yes, but it feels like atemporary stop-gap while developers wait till Window 7 is available.

Microsoft has hardly made it easy on publishers developing Vista applications, according to an article on ITJungle.com: Unfortunately, that improved security posture makes it more difficult for developers to write applications for Vista (read: no more kernel-level access and UAC to worry about), and it also causes compatibility problems with older applications.

Ironically, now-a-days hackers have moved on to target applications, rather than operating systems. At the same time, Microsoft has provided iterative improvement on Windows XP’s security.

Microsoft doesn’t need to handicap itself on the desktop given its difficulties competing everywhere else. With Linux and the Mac taking ever-increasing shares of the developer pie, Microsoft would do well to shore up developer support for Windows.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, that probably means re-investing in XP and dumping Vista like an unwanted prom date.