Survey Results

Dear Mac Reader,

Earlier this week, we concluded our second Mac DevCenter survey. Once again, the participation was terrific, with more than 1,200 respondents, many of whom posted comments to augment their multiple choice answers.

One of the ingredients that makes this recipe turn out so well is that we summarize the findings and share them with our audience. In the article, "Results from the Second Mac DevCenter Survey," I show you who is visiting the site, what some of their interests are, and the topics that interest them the most. I also touch on our editorial philosophy for 2004, so you have an idea what to expect in the coming months.

Here are a few findings to whet your appetite

• The PowerBook is this audience's computer of choice -- 45 percent of you are toting metal. The desktop G4 was a strong second at 25 percent, with the iBook being used by 11 percent of you. An interesting note is that the G5 desktop is the primary computer of choice for only 10 percent of this population -- far below the desktop G4. This is a number to keep an eye on for the next survey. I would have guessed beforehand that more users in this audience would have migrated to the G5 by now. That doesn't seem to be the case.
• The percentage of readers deploying for the Mac platform was overwhelming, as expected. But those in this audience also developing for Linux have grown, closing the gap with programmers who also write for Windows. In 2003, Windows development was the second most popular ranking. This year, deployment for Linux and Windows are in a virtual dead heat.
• Over 90 percent of this audience has upgraded to Panther -- not so surprising. But 56 percent of you have purchased iLife 04 and 48 percent maintain .Mac accounts. Over 30 percent of Mac DevCenter readers have moved up to the Pro version of QuickTime. And Keynote is now definitely on the radar -- 23 percent of you are using it.

Fun stuff, huh? That's because we have an active, interesting community working on the most exciting platform in personal computing. I hope you have time to stop by and learn more about your peers.

Until next time,

--
Derrick Story
Mac DevCenter Editor

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