I am sure. I am aware that among designers it is somewhat of a sacrilege
to say that, but I like to leave out fanboyism.
I like to use the tech most useful to me and do not care about brands.
I'm thinking a Linux version of Hype would be interesting, but I'm not sure if that community buys software.
Windows does have some advantages over Mac. There's a lot of chatter about the future of Apple, as Microsoft released some sexy hardware aimed at graphic designers. Are the best days of Apple are over?
I'm still wondering if my next computer is going to be a Mac. What would I miss?
- I like iWork, but basic versions of that software are online
- iBooks Author is great software, but I'm not sure if Apple is going to seriously support it or if I'll be making anymore books.
- GameSalad was the main reason I was using a Mac, but I don't use that software anymore. (There is a Windows version.)
- iTunes, but I mainly use it because I have an iPhone.
- Photos is a nice way to organize pictures.
- Xcode, but that's only to publish to the App Store.
- Safari is my preferred browser, but Firefox is good enough.
- Pixelmator is great, but there are Open Source alternatives.
When I really start to look at it, I probably could switch to Linux and be happy. Thunderbird and FileZilla are cross platform. I'd probably start using Inkscape. There's a lot of other open source applications too.
Hype is the missing piece. I don't know of any software that even comes close.
It's amazing how many discontinued apps are on that list.
I'm not making any major changes right now, as my Mac Mini is still running. If Hype 4 is Mac only, then that increases the chances I'll get a new Mac.
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Generally i don’t care which computer system i use as long as it serves my
purpose.
Allmost all the software i use runs on Windows (most of the time better
than on MAC).
One software i would really miss is Apple Motion. I use it almost every day
when making animated infographics for broadcast, because it’s easy to use
and works realtime (Hello After Effects, you slow bastard. 
)
Funny you mention iTunes.
That was the reason to sell all my Apple gadgets (iPhone/iPads/iPods),
because why use a software to transfer pics/music to/from your device when
you can drag and drop?
I think Microsoft has changed as a company quite dramatically over the last
few years. Windows has changed.
And they started making great devices (using a Surface Pro 3 every day on
the go). I would love to try Surface Studio!
However, maybe Tumult does believe it’s customers use mainly MAC (surely
the made a market survey), so probably no reason to program a WIN
version…
I’m totally aware that programming for a whole different platform is a lot
of work, but Affinity did it too and as soon as Affinity Designer and Photo
were available on Windows,
i bought them both as i would do with Hype. Plus, Windows market share
would allow them to sell significantly more copies.
@tumult: What are your thoughts on that matter now? I’d really like to
know. Thanks for elaborating.
2 Likes
Hi all,
I didn’t want Tumult to be entirely missing from this thread; we’ve been reading every post here and for much longer paying attention to numerous requests for a Windows version of Hype.
Hype started as Mac-only for several reasons:
- Many of the team were ex-Apple employees and had expertise in building Mac desktop software
- We can build Mac apps quickly also because Apple provides great frameworks to develop with
- As such, we love the Mac as a platform and it is what we want to live on!
- Apple’s Mac App Store was a seemingly great distribution platform
- The proportion of graphic designers on the Mac is much higher (~50%) than the general Mac market share (~10%)
We haven’t been specifically against Windows. (okay, maybe in my youth I did call Microsoft the Evil Empire, but that’s in the past). There’s plenty of folks by choice or force that use Windows. I’ve found many agencies/companies will not purchase Hype without a Windows version, even if they are presently using a Mac. I believe their mentality is that it signals a more robust company and gives them platform options.
Hype has stayed on macOS because the following questions remained “no”:
- Would we be able to maintain two versions without dropping quality or lowering the pace at which we can improve Hype?
- Would we gain more revenue by porting the product to Windows rather than making new/innovative features?
- Does Windows offer technological or market advantages?
To port Hype to Windows, we would need to figure out how those can become answered with a “yes.”
- The goal of another platform would be to ultimately grow Tumult - and this must lead to ideas being realized faster for both platforms. If not, I count that as a failure to our users.
- As Hype has matured, the features we can add to increase revenues has diminished. We try to do the top ones first, after all! This does mean the upside to revenue from a Windows version relatively grows.
- Microsoft is clearly trying to cater more to the creative and graphic professional market. The Surface Studio is sexy hardware. They’ve always loved developers.
So perhaps the balance has shifted a bit lately. If I could snap my fingers and have a Windows version, we’d have one.
8 Likes
I feel like I could build a Windows version of Hype with the Mac version of Hype.
The entire interface could be recreated in HTML5. Off the top of my head, here are the tricky parts...
- How to handle projects with long timelines?
- How to export the custom JavaScript?
- Keeping the workspace updated properly (Drag/Drop elements and mirroring timeline)
- Performance... HTML5 has high compatibility, but not so great performance.
A large part of the problem is that I don't know how you do what you do with Hype in order to recreate it with HTML5. Yet, this seems possible. Then, once Hype is converted, it can basically run anywhere... iPhone, iPad, Linux, Cloud. It probably wouldn't be a pixel-perfect copy, but it doesn't have to be. An example is Pixelmator. It's way different on iOS than macOS.
So, this leaves me three choices...
- Team up with you
- Create my own software (probably game development focused)
- Do nothing
It seems you were up late and I'm up too early for a Saturday, so right now I'm going with "Option Three".
The business case or feasibility of a cross-platform tool in this space has already been tested by a company with seemingly infinite resources. That product was Adobe Edge Animate and it failed in spectacular fashion. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Hype sales benefitted from the demise of EA. However, this might also mean that the potential customer pool of cross-platform designers might not be as big as some here have suggested.
I do not think Edge Animate collapsed because of demand issues - though I don't really know - I'm not privy to the internal Adobe numbers and business strategy discussions.
However, there were several circumstantial events that occurred which would guarantee a "fail" rather than just weak demand. Until these events occurred Edge Animate had a growing number of people joining the Edge Animate Forum (I was on the Forum for over a year and a half at this time) and an ecosystem of satellite web sites devoted to Edge Animate instruction, tools & demos - much like HypeDocks is for Hype.
1) Adobe pulled the plug on the entire Edge ecosystem, Edge Animate was the last to survive as a stand alone. Unlike some of the other Edge software, the feature set & technology never found a home. Animate CC as we all know has no Edge Animate DNA in it, except to co-opt the name.
2) Summer of 2014 - Most of the US dev team was pulled from the project and replaced with a team from India. Sarah Hunt the project manager left a short while later. Losing Sarah was a blow. Like @jonathan & @Daniel on this Forum she was an active participant and offered guidance and insight that only someone on the development team can have.
3) October 2014 - Absolute Disaster of a release. This was the "jQuery-free" update. It was hard to believe Adobe would allow such a bug ridden, poorly tested product to be offered. Then Adobe really didn't do anything to correct it in a timely manner (months passed with anemic fixes). Users jumped ship. Most Forum "regulars" evaporated.
4) January 2015 - Adobe effectively announces the end of Edge Animate (stopping active development). This was way sooner than the official announcement in December 2015. But the trend in January 2015 was obvious. The Edge Animate Forum reacted like a member of the family died - first shock, then genuine grieving. People were consoling each other. Adobe management was silent: no definitive prognosis about Edge Animate, no apologies or explanations... nothing.
If Adobe wanted to deliberately torpedo a software product they couldn't have done a better job than the steps outlined above. There was no excuse for their unprofessional, irresponsible behavior. It wasn't that they terminated the program it was the manner in which they did it - leaving their user base hanging with a defective product. It was a complete disgrace.
3 Likes
+1
already said and it is probably right
in my personal opinion, no
read my posts above, 200usd for each license ( about 300/400usd for both mac + win licenses) to support the development for WIN
for professionals ( real digital workers with vat id) maybe no. in my case I use more than one pc in my mac through Boot Camp or Parallels.
for the rest of users yes, because is cool 
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Thanks a lot for the clarification Jonathan.
Personally I think there is a shift from MAC to Windows among many
designers. In the company I am working for (Swiss Television), we have our
MAC Pros for almost 7 years now.
We’re waiting for a new MAC Pro that is considerably faster than the old
one (the “bucket” from 3 years ago is not), but there will most probably be
no more MAC Pros in the future.
So we are testing Windows machines (3-4 times as fast).
As i am working on a MAC 8h every day, i can say that my laptop at home
(Alienware 17) is considerably faster and more stable than any MAC i ever
worked on.
I even have a Surface Pro 3 to do PS/LR work on the go. Plus now there is
Affinity Photo/Designer for Windows too.
I do think you can cancel the Point “Does Windows offer technological or
market advantages?” The answer is clearly YES.
It’s faster (i.e. DX12) and the general market share is around 91%.
Older Numbers (2009) suggest that market share of Adobes CS (MAC/PC) was
around 50/50 already by that time.
The following survey among digital photographers shows a similar picture:
However. In the end it comes down to personal preference i guess.
But i would greatly appreciate a Win version of Hype.
Best regards
Tom
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To use Adobe ditching Edge as vehicle/proof that people/creatives won’t use Windows as a platform is questionable at best. I think Adobe has become a terrible company and even their most basic products keep getting worse (PS i.e.)
This is not a matter of platform but a matter of an abandoned product.
Thats why i bought Affinity Designer/Photo to get rid of PS/LR/IL etc. And thats why i would very much like to use HYPE on Windows. I’m just not willing to buy a MAC for one single software unless i needed avery day to make a living.
Dear Jonathan, dear Team Tumult
Have you ever thought about a Kickstarter campaign regarding a Hype Windows version?
It would enable you to:
(1) See how many users would really want a Hype Windows version
(2) If successful give you the resources to hire some decent and motivated Win programmers to make a Win version
(3) All the above making sure you would not have to compromise on the quality/further development of your product.
I know you are an established company with a great product. So maybe you think that a Kickstarter campaign would shed a negative light on you or your success…
I believe it would be a chance to make your product available to a much greater audience thus enhancing your reputation/success.
Personally i would like to see a time where no more platform restrictions would exist, where any software would run on any platform.
Best regards
Tom
To use Adobe ditching Edge as vehicle/proof that people/creatives won't use Windows as a platform is questionable at best.
@TomKorn
That's not what I said Tom. My post had nothing to do with Windows - please re-read it - You will not find Windows discussed. It was not about cross platform - no where was "cross platform" mentioned except in my quote of @drewbullen from a previous post (which I was disagreeing with).
My post outlined the situation which I believe demonstrated Adobe's intentional degrading of the Animate Edge software. Windows and/or cross platform considerations were irrelevant.
Which is exactly what I said in my concluding paragraph in my post above:
If Adobe wanted to deliberately torpedo a software product they couldn't have done a better job than the steps outlined above. There was no excuse for their unprofessional, irresponsible behavior. It wasn't that they terminated the program it was the manner in which they did it - leaving their user base hanging with a defective product. It was a complete disgrace.
Remeber, Kickstarter is risky. Some customers become impatient after a few months. if the development exceeds the budget is in danger of bankruptcy. In 2016 I've spend 800usd on KS for two projects. The first company is failed and the second item is still under development since august 2016.
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Hi Jim
I did get that one wrong. I do apologize. So we both meant the same thing.
best regards
That is true, of course. It would still be a possibility to make it happen…
Yes, we'd likely go this route for the reasons you outlined. We would first want to do some technology tests and make sure we're in a position ready to put the pedal to the metal on the project immediately, for the reasons @michelangelo mentioned.
3 Likes
I’d be in on it, albeit with my limited resources. Watching availability on 2012 cheesegrater Mac Pros with big HD with SSD’s added, could go Parallels but most likely would just devote one or complete SSD to Windows if it goes that way.
Can’t believe I am saying this but that’s the way of the world these days, but the stakes are too high, Hype matters that much.
Hey there Jonathan,
I also have to say a windows version would be incredibly awesome.
This year we started using Hype in my university and sadly I now can’t do any project at home or even on my notebook.
And not just me but a lot of my commilitones have the same problem.
I am so amazed by Hype, and so I would love to be able to use it a lot more.
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Today, I will be downloading the trial version of Hype on my 2011 iMac. I’m not too crazy about the idea of purchasing it yet since my plan is to actually ditch Apple when this thing dies.
I, too, am a graphic designer / production artist and have been using Adobe products on both platforms for almost two decades. Having done Flash for years during that time, jumping over to Edge Animate was a piece of cake. I like cake. I like cake so much that when Adobe changed the name from Flash Pro to Animate, I couldn’t find it within me to go back to it.
I still use EA on a continuous basis on both Mac and PC. However, looking to the future, I understand that it’s days are numbered. I’ve been looking at other possibilities but Hype really seems to fit the bill. But again, I’m not staying with Apple for the reasons listed here and many of my own.
As for the idea that there needs to be more submissions to this thread to justify developing a PC version, I have to say, most people aren’t going to sign up to a site specifically to use a forum to submit a request…like I just did. You either offer it, or you don’t. And then we move on to find something else.
If you really want to know what people think, then add a box on your main page above the fold with a questionaire; “Would you purchase Hype Pro 3.5 for PC? Yes or no.” This current way requesting a PC version is convoluted and time-consuming. If it weren’t a Sunday and had nothing else to do, I wouldn’t have bothered at all.
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@papaD have you read the discussion? you should add:
how much you pay for another license of Hype? ( we must support the development on win, a license for each system)
How long can you wait? one year or more?
Agree that the development time doubles? with double work for bugfix in the same time.