Posted By Paul Kafasis on May 15th, 2006

Since releasing the Airfoil For Windows Public Beta last Friday, we’ve received plenty of questions and requests for more information on the process behind it, and the future ahead. We’d like to clear up any confusion, so allow me to present the Airfoil For Windows question and answer session, as moderated by A Hysterical Mac Fan.

A Hysterical Mac Fan: Let’s jump right in. Why did you make Airfoil for Windows?

Paul Kafasis: To be frank, the simple answer is “money”. We’re a business, and the number one goal of any business has to be earning money.

AHMF: So it’s “All About The Benjamins” with you, is it?

PK: First of all, what year are you from, Hysterical Mac Fan? That phrase is as dead as Diddy’s career. Come to think of it, Mac zealotry’s pretty well on the decline too.

Anyhow, no, not at all. There was a sizeable market void and we had the means and ability to fill it. That’s simply not a chance to be ignored by a small business. Airfoil For Windows isn’t a cynical grab for money, it’s a useful tool and one that many Windows users requested from us. With Airfoil for Windows, we want to expand our user base, and also provide Windows users with a tool they’ve been missing, a tool that should prove useful.

AHMF: So, you’re helping Windows users now?

PK: We aim to help any and all users we can, within the confines of our areas of expertise. We never set out to help Mac users and only Mac users, just users in general. Because we use Macs every day, we naturally gravitated to developing for the Mac. Now, we have an oppurtunity to help Windows users as well, and hopefully make a little bit of profit doing it.

AHMF: Yes or no – are you abandoning Mac OS X?

PK: No, no, a thousand times no. Well, maybe. I mean, NO! For four years, Rogue Amoeba has been committed to the Mac during a period of great change. We’ve moved from one major OS update to the next, and now from one hardware platform to another. Now, as things are looking brighter than ever with quality hardware and an always-impressive OS, we are as committed as ever to the Mac and Mac OS X.

Before May 12th, we were a Mac-only company. Now, we’re a Mac-first company, that’s all. All of our full-time employees are still using Macs, practically exclusively. Not one of us have switched to Windows, nor do we plan to. I purchased a low-end Dell to test Airfoil For Windows. Quentin got a Shuttle, which gets used mainly playing video games. Mostly, our PCs sit on the bench, jealously watching as our Macs get all the playing time.

AHMF: Oh, so Airfoil for Windows will be neglected?

PK: Do I detect a note of glee in your voice, Hysterical Mac Fan? For shame…The answer here is also a definite “No”. We have every intention of making Airfoil for Windows meet the same high level of quality that all of our Mac software does.

We wanted to get it out there, to enable us to gauge reactions and get an expanded testing pool, so we released a Public Beta. But we plan to follow this up with a final 1.0 as soon as possible, and then see where the application goes from there. Ultimately, I hope we’ll have feature parity across platforms, as Apple does with iTunes, but we’ll have to see how Airfoil For Windows sells.

AHMF: What’s next then – Audio Hijack Pro For Windows? Nicecast For Windows? In the name of all that is holy, where does it end?

PK: Settle down, settle down. At this time, we have no plans at all for Windows versions of any other applications. Airfoil wasn’t a port so much as an near-entire rewrite. Creating Airfoil required us to write, from scratch, a decent chunk of the backend used by our applications. However, there’s still plenty that’s missing.

As well, there’s plenty of Windows corollaries for our other products. Perhaps demand will increase, but right now, we have no plans for other Windows products.

AHMF: So then, what’s on the horizon for Rogue Amoeba?

PK: Well, we’ve got minor updates to Audio Hijack Pro, Airfoil (Mac), and Nicecast due out soon, mostly to improve performance on ICBMs. Also, we want to get Airfoil For Windows to a true 1.0. Looking ahead, we have three new applications at various stages of development to hopefully release over the next eighteen months. Each and every one of those applications is being created for the Mac.

AHMF: One last question: Isn’t this just a self-serving piece full of planted questions?

PK: The comparison to Jeff Gannon doesn’t flatter you, Hysterical Mac Fan.

AHMF: Ouch, you’re right. Withdrawn.