Adobe FrameMaker for Mac OS X

FAQ

Q. Why the petition?

A. After 15 years on the Mac, Adobe discontinued Mac FrameMaker on 21 April 2004. My company is 99% Mac, 99% FrameMaker so this is a real blow for us and our associates around the world. Although it's possible to run FrameMaker in Mac OS X's Classic environment, it's less than ideal, especially when running multiple language kits. There is no alternative and we don't want to switch to Windows so we continue to use Mac OS 9 to this day. Even Apple is still using FrameMaker in Classic to produce its own user guides. Another concern is that the new Intel-based Macs don't support the Classic environment, which means they won't run FrameMaker. The purpose of this petition is to persuade Adobe to produce FrameMaker for Mac OS X.

Q. Why did Adobe discontinue Mac FrameMaker?

A. Adobe said its decision was based on the market conditions for FrameMaker and that most FrameMaker users these days use Windows. That may well be true, but there is still a large number of loyal Mac FrameMaker users around the world and they're all waiting and ready to purchase FrameMaker for Mac OS X. Apparently, Mac users account for about 15% of the total FrameMaker market. Even if we take just the 3,000 who've signed the petition (3,000 x $800) we get a Mac FrameMaker market that's worth $2.4 million. A sizeable revenue for any company. (Some users have said they're prepared to pay more than $800 for FrameMaker for Mac OS X.)

Q. Isn't Adobe's reasoning justified?

A. Adobe says it discontinued Mac FrameMaker because of falling sales, but the truth is that they never had a version for sale that would run on Mac OS X, which was announced in 1998, and introduced in 2001. This completely dispels that argument. Some Mac FrameMaker users still use version 5.5.6. Arguably this is due to Adobe's failure to both develop and market the product effectively since purchasing it from its original creators, Frame Technology, Inc., in 1995. My own company (10 licenses), for example, didn't upgrade to 6.0 (introduced in 2000) until 2002, the same year version 7.0 was introduced, because we thought the new features weren't compelling enough and, like everyone else, we were waiting for a Mac OS X version. When we did eventually upgrade, we were surprised by the number of new and useful features that hadn't been mentioned in the promotional materials. Adobe's arguments simply don't hold up.

It appears unlikely that there are more Solaris FrameMaker users out there than Mac FrameMaker users, but for some reason Adobe chose to keep investing in the Solaris version, a market which is unlikely to see much growth. By contrast, Apple is experiencing record growth in Mac sales.

Q. Would it be difficult to port FrameMaker to Mac OS X?

A. Not being a programmer I can't answer that, but several software engineers who've worked on FrameMaker at both Frame Technologies and Adobe tell me that it wouldn't be that big a job. In fact, Apple provides a set of programming interfaces called Carbon for Mac OS X especially for porting Classic applications, which means developers don't have to start from scratch. Apple's developer documentation says:

"Carbon includes about 70 percent of the existing Mac OS APIs, covering about 95 percent of the functions used by applications. Because it includes most of the functions you rely on today, converting to Carbon is a straightforward process."

Adobe used Carbon to produce a version of Acrobat for Mac OS X so they already have the necessary experience. An Aqua version of FrameMaker for Mac OS X would be best, but Mac FrameMaker users would be satisfied with even a Carbon version. At least it would allow us to stop using the Classic environment altogether.

Q. Did Adobe offer an alternative solution?

A. No. Some Adobe reps suggested that we switch to Windows or InDesign, which is not particularly helpful, as neither is an acceptable alternative.

Q. What can I do?

A. If you feel strongly about Adobe's decision to discontinue Mac FrameMaker, write to Adobe executives explaining how it affects you and your business, sign the petition, and join the FrameMaker for Mac OS X Mailing List for news and updates. Write to Apple executives as well and ask them to put pressure on Adobe.

Q. What are other companies doing about Adobe's decision?

A. Most continue to run FrameMaker either in Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X's Classic environment. They say they will continue doing so until Apple drops Classic altogether and have no intention whatsoever of switching over to Windows. Even Apple is still using FrameMaker in Classic to produce its own user guides, and they want Adobe to produce FrameMaker for Mac OS X just as much as we do. Even some Adobe employees are frustrated by Adobe's decision.

Q. Do you think Adobe will develop FrameMaker for Mac OS X?

A. Yes. Adobe is a smart company. It understands the value of FrameMaker and the importance of the Mac market. Other factors include:

1. Adobe has the resources necessary to produce a Mac OS X version.
2. Adobe has Mac OS X-savvy software engineers.
3. Adobe has plenty of experience porting its flagship apps, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat, to Mac OS X.
4. Adobe recently recommitted to FrameMaker and is investing in it again.
5. Adobe is currently developing the next version of FrameMaker.
6. Adobe has said that it will respond to changes in the Mac FrameMaker market if it sees an opportunity. In other words, it will develop FrameMaker for Mac OS X if enough people want it.
7. Adobe employees also recognize the value of Mac FrameMaker and are still using it.
8. Adobe is a highly profitable business.

Q. Who uses FrameMaker?

A. Virtually all professional technical document producers, including Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Macromedia, Microsoft Press, Dell, Epson, IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Semiconductor, Marconi, Motorola Semiconductor, Netopia, Novell, Nortel, Nvidia, Palm, SAP Labs, Sony, Sun, Xerox, Yamaha, American Airlines, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Carnegie Mellon University, CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), Abbey National, Fidelity Investments, Moody's Investors Service, Simon & Schuster, FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, U.S. Postal Service, to name just a few.

See also the selection of companies, individuals, organizations, and universities that use Mac FrameMaker, want a version for Mac OS X , and have signed the petition.

Q. Why don't you use InDesign instead?

A. InDesign is a page-layout application, the idea being that you create text and graphics in other applications and lay them out in InDesign. FrameMaker, on the other hand, is an all-in-one authoring and publishing solution. A separate word processor is unnecessary. Documents start life in FrameMaker and stay in FrameMaker right though to the prepress or PDF stage. InDesign, PageMaker, and Quark do have so-called "story editors," but these are only intended for minor editing. In addition, InDesign does not support basic FrameMaker features such as cross-references and auto-numbering. See the detailed Comparison for full details.

Q. Why don't you use Word instead?

A. Word is a highly capable word processor but that's all. It lacks the page-layout functionality of FrameMaker. For example, no master pages make layout consistency difficult. Basic prepress functions such as printer's marks, bleeds, and color separations are missing. And the page size is based on the size of paper that you specify is in your printer. Change that and your entire document changes. Also, Word can't handle EPS graphics properly. See the detailed Comparison for full details.

Q. Why don't you switch to Windows FrameMaker?

A. Cost-wise, replacing hardware and software and retraining people makes switching to another platform prohibitive. We're a Mac company through and through. All of our hardware is for Macs. All of our apps are for Mac. All of our data is in Mac formats. We're not talking about one user, one Mac, and one copy of FrameMaker here. This is an enterprise issue affecting many users, many computers, and a myriad of applications, fonts, languages, printers, and more.

I've followed Windows since version 2.0 and it's very Mac-like these days (Mac OS 9 that is), but it's not for us. Mac OS X is stable, powerful, and a joy to use. Then there's the increasing worry of viruses, security holes, and spyware that plagues Windows computers. According to AOL, 80% of Windows PCs are infected with spyware. Dell says 20% of support calls are spyware related.

Then there's Windows FrameMaker's own issues. For example, because the Windows GDI doesn't support CMYK color, any CMYK colors in a FrameMaker document get converted to RGB at the PDF stage, making it unusable for color work. In addition, text unexpectedly disappears when FrameMaker documents are saved as PDF. And large text is converted to outlines when printing FrameMaker documents to PS or PDF at high resolutions. These are just some of the issues.

With Mac OS X and AppleScript, even novices can automate common workflow tasks. By contrast, Windows has no scripting capability. And Windows ClearType technology is inferior to Mac OS X's Quartz text smoothing, which makes onscreen text clear and easy to read, especially important for writers and anyone working with text.

Being built on a solid UNIX foundation, Mac OS X offers power, stability, security, and elegance. Multitasking and memory protection make system crashes a thing of the past. And Mac OS X is already 64-bit and supports multiple processors. Two areas where Windows is still playing catch up.

With Mac OS X, you can create PDF files from any app, since PDF technology is built-in. You can preview PostScript and EPS files onscreen and print them directly to non-PostScript printers. Full Unicode supports makes working in multiple languages a breeze. OpenType font support is built-in, and a powerful font management app is included. Font formats such as OpenType, TrueType, Type 1, and PostScript Multiple Master instances are all supported. Six high-quality Japanese PostScript OpenType fonts are included, as are fonts for Chinese and Korean. The Quartz 2D display model is based on PostScript and PDF so what you see really is what you get, and ColorSync color management ensures a reliable color workflow. The new Spotlight search engine makes finding files a breeze, including searching for words in PDF files.

Mac is still the platform of choice for creative professionals in publishing, graphic design, photography, and music. If you work in or with any of these fields, you'll fully appreciate why Mac is still the best choice.

Q. Why not use Virtual PC to run Windows FrameMaker?

A. For all the same reasons given above plus the fact that emulation is generally slower and not as robust as a single OS system. Then there's the additional maintenance of running what is essentially two computers, configuring printers for two platforms, and managing fonts in Windows and Mac OS X, which can be quite complex when working with hundreds of fonts, plus Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. Some fonts have different names on Mac and Windows, further complicating matters.

Q. Who's signed the petition?

A. Academics, administrators, Adobe certified training providers, advertisers, analysts, Apple support specialists, architects, artists, astronomers, attorneys, authors, CEOs, chemists, computer consultants, computer programmers, creative directors, editors, educators, engineers, graphic designers, journalists, lawyers, lecturers, linguists, managers, marine biologists, marketing, mathematicians, physicians, physicists, prepress, presidents, professors, programmers, publishers, researchers, scientists, software developers, students, system administrators, teachers, technical writers, translators, Web designers, writers.

Living proof that FrameMaker is used by document professionals around the world, users from over 42 countries have signed, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Monaco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Singapore, Slovak republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, U.K., U.S.A.

Q. Why is the signature count shown here lower than that on the petition?

A. The count shown here is the official count, which is the petition count minus erroneous and duplicate entries. Some people have signed the petition several times. While I can fully understand their frustration with Adobe, I would ask people not to sign more than once, as it diminishes the petition and causes additional work for me.

Q. Can I still buy FrameMaker for Mac?

A. Not from Adobe. Some dealers may have old stock. I have seen it new and used on Amazon.com. Failing that, try the auction sites, such as eBay and Yahoo.