Microsoft doesn't create the desktop apps. They created a rich environment for businesses to create the apps. Can you say Intuit (their on-line version is not a big hit from what I've heard)? Nearly all accounting packages are built for Windows only. Nearly everything used in businesses is built for Windows only. I work currently in agriculture. Our packing houses (and Ag is a huge industry) are run by software only available on Windows desktops -- certainly not browsers.
Small businesses are not flocking to browser interfaces to get their real work done. If one looks only at Microsoft apps (and there are currently good alternatives to those) he misses the big picture. It's the rich development environment they have provided that allows businesses to create the apps we need to run our businesses -- unfortunately on Windows only. Java is the only viable alternative. I don't belong to the crowd who thinks Swing has been a failure. It's been wonderful in my experience (thanks in large part to NB). But I've become quite taken with FX as well (developed nicely with NB) -- for me it's been a great journey to become proficient with it. It's still got serious warts I hope get fixed soon but it's a great start. If FX falters I'll revert to Swing in a heartbeat. Desktop development, in my opinion, doesn't get any better than Java. Combine a Java desktop app with a good server, EJB, JDBC and a good datastore -- good business environment. What mobile has done is teach people that for a good user experience you need to download an app -- not a browser. On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 1:29 AM Emilian Bold <emilian.b...@protonmail.ch> wrote: > What new desktop apps did Microsoft release in the past years? > > They have a monopoly on office productivity apps (Word / Excel) but what > other desktop software products are these 'small businesses' buying? > > Small businesses may be the biggest employer but they are not the biggest > software (desktop) developer employers. > > The data just doesn't show this: where are the successful products, the > companies catering to small business, the jobs? > > --emi > >
