Do you miss desktop software?
Everything seems to be SaaS nowadays. Curious, do you miss desktop software? What particular software/software category do you miss?
Everything seems to be SaaS nowadays. Curious, do you miss desktop software? What particular software/software category do you miss?
Yes, I miss owning software
A bit hard nowadays, since even desktop software can be remotely disabled with an internet connection. 🤷♂️
Really? I have lots of desktop software. VLC, Brave, VS Code, IntelliJ, Twitch Studio, all the built-in Mac stuff, my timer app, my flash card app, Steam, games, karabiner, color picker, pixel edit, Docker, pg admin, etc, etc, etc…….
Came here to say the same. I use Slack, VLC, VS Code, my pomodoro tracker, window manager (BetterSnapTool), Notion, Descript, Audition, Photoshop, Telegram, and Zoom as desktop apps almost every day.
Desktop apps are far from dead, but to use an app in that way it really has to be something I dedicate a lot of time to.
Well said.
The time dedicated to it makes all the difference.
I've refrained from using Slack as a Mac app and using it in the browser instead because I consciously don't want to dedicate time to it.
Whatever is in my dock has to earn its place there.
I have a lot of devices (desktops, laptops, phone, ipad), and I switch devices several times a day, so for apps that require syncing data, I prefer web apps.
I do like desktop software, I use a lot of microsoft word/excel (saas), affinity designer (paid), and da vinci resolve (free). I used to use adobe for the latter two, but couldn't justify the monthly price for something that I use infrequently. I use onedrive to sync up files between devices.
Personally, I think much of desktop ui/design on windows software looks terrible, same with linux. mac apps are more consistently well designed. With web apps, I basically won't use it unless I like the way it looks/works, but there are a lot of great choices out there, more so than desktop apps in my opinion.
I miss the pricing of desktop software :)
Unpopular opinion but I think subscription-based models provide more flexibility, lower the barrier of entry, and incentivize better delivery of new features and improvements.
I miss having it on my HD, yes!
I like web apps with desktop clients. I don't like to switch tabs. It is easier to switch apps. And apps usually take up much less memory than the same web app on a tab. But there are not many of them though.
Hell yes.
I try to use most things full screen for focus. So I end up with a bunch of web apps as desktop apps and.. the experience just isn't there. I really miss local software that syncs.
Strangely some of the best apps that feel local today is stuff that's 100% online like Figma or SuperHuman.
I miss desktop software because I could use ALT-TAB to switch to it. Nowadays, everything runs in the browser, no ALT-TAB any more.
You can literally switch tabs with keyboard shortcuts...
Honestly no. I don't care if something is a SaaS if it's something I enjoy using. Maybe because i'm use to paying for PSN or Runescape monthly?
Also as for Desktop Native Applications, it wasn't a "better experience" as well for me. For the past 13 years, I can just remember having to re-download things over and over and over again for multiple pcs, work, school, etc. Some installations take overly long and it's just a headache.
Passing data from one pc to another is also stressful using USBS and what not.
Now with everything in the cloud, we can simply just login and continue where we left off without thinking. No installations, always online (99,8%) of the time.
I'm an expert in making desktop software. If you want to develop a desktop software for your business, please ping me :D
Yes, I tend to have too many tabs open. So I greatly prefer desktop software for frequently used apps. Plus you have better integration with notifications, etc.
Hmm, I think that on Linux it's more common to choose softs against SaaS, even if I love them :). For example, to compress images I prefer to use a local soft instead of sending them online. The same for some PDFs.