GOG.com is an online digital game distributor. They started by offering old PC games originally released for DOS and Windows 95/98. They were able to do this because fans of these games still wanted to play them. Before GOG.com you had to still own an old copy, buy a used copy on eBay, or resort to getting a copy from an Abandonware site. GOG.com negotiated with publishers so that fans could legally buy DRM free copies of their "Good Old Games." This week GOG.com announced that it would be offering some of those same PC games on Mac computers. With this newest step GOG.com has effectively changed the way we use software, or at least how software companies want us to use software.
When you buy software you will notice how you have to agree to a EULA. What this effectively means is that you are not buying the software but you are leasing the right to use that software. Software companies whether they are a small game company or a huge corporation like Microsoft don't want to sell you software. They want you to "rent" it. My brain is still stuck in the early twentieth century in some ways. I love books and I like owning my private copy of a book. My local library doesn't always have what I want and when I am done reading it I like to keep it for a reference or for a reread in the future. When I bought a computer I viewed software (especially game software) like a book. I wanted to buy it once and keep it "forever." Well, the reality of software is that it was only good as long as the computer you ran it on was compatible with it. All those DOS and Windows 95 games probably will not work on Windows 7. Those DOS and Windows 95 games would never have worked on ANY Mac computer to begin with! So how can GOG.com help you run these old games on newer Windows operating systems and on the Mac?
One of the first game packages I bought from GOG.com was Master of Orion 1 & 2. I loaded it on my Windows XP machine and was greeted by DOSBox. By using the DOSBox emulator they were able let me play my old game without having to worry about having a machine that had an operating system compatible with that old software. Not every game on GOG.com uses the DOSBox emulator. Some of the software on the site isn't as old as others and could still be played on Windows XP machines or even Windows 7 machines. The direction that GOG.com is going is to make at least some of their catalog available not only cross-platform from within the Windows/Microsoft world but between the Mac world as well. Some of this will be probably be by offering games that are written for both the Mac and Windows world and probably some that are using DOSBox or maybe another emulator in the future. I will be keeping an eye out to see how they really accomplish this. Mac OS X at its core is really Unix. There is a Linux (similar to Unix) version of DOSBox so it is conceivable that GOG.com could start offering Linux versions of these games as well! Steam offers both PC and Mac games but has announced that they will be offering Linux games in the near future. Steam looks like that it will just be offering current games.
So how is GOG.com changing the software industry? They are making it easier for you to enjoy software without being tied to any one platform! We could see a future were where you can use your software whether you run an old operating system, a new operating system or an operating system completely different from what that software was designed to run on. Software is one step closer to being that book you buy and take home and keep on your bookshelf forever. People will be able to buy a Mac one year and a PC the next but still use the library of software that they have invested in over the years. No longer will people be trapped in an "ecosystem" where their software becomes "outdated" every three years or so. This little step by this little company is the beginning what will become a stampede by consumers and developers away from the old software model of "renting a service for three years" and then be forced to upgrade or go completely without that same service.
I think the reasons GOG.com went this route are probably a little simpler and less grand than what I have laid out. They are a little company and every sale is important. The Mac computer community is a growing but still small part of the computer software market. But for a small company adding this small market may be the difference between being profitable or fading away. But there is another reason why companies like GOG.com and Steam are diversifying their catalog of available "platform" offerings. Windows 8 is coming and there are no guarantees what will happen next. How compatible will Windows 8 be with even Windows 7 software? Will Microsoft create a closed marketplace with their new app store kind of like the Apple model? There has been a long standing movement for open-source software but I think people need to start thinking about cross-platform software or cross-platform solutions for all software. GOG.com is taking a step that is probably just a good business step that may turn out to be the beginning of the cross-platform solution we all need. This will be a change for the software industry and one it will profit from in the long run.
Many of the companies that GOG.com negotiated with had not seen a dollar in sales for at least ten years on the products they worked so hard on. With internet download distribution there was a solution to the problem of the distribution of old games and software not being able to compete on retail store shelf space. With a cross-platform solution old software can now avoid the problem of being obsolete because it can't even run. Unfortunately a cross-platform solution is the only practical solution for users who want or need old software. Gamers are not the only group that needs this solution. Businesses are hit every year with software costs due to upgrades they don't need or want. Microsoft used to sell Windows as an alternative to the costly upgrade costs Mac users would endure. Windows touted their backward compatibility with older software and that appealed to home users as well as business. Microsoft gave up that "feature" after introducing Windows XP. There was a compatibility mode in XP but Windows 7 hasn't been that great in my opinion when it comes to compatibility with old flaky software like games. I don't anticipate that Windows 8 will be any more forgiving and I fear that it might be worse. The new business model it seems is to create an ecosystem and trap your users in it. Apple has made a fortune with this through their iPhone and iPad. Hopefully companies like GOG.com can help users and lead the way for other services to start offering a cross-platform solution that will benefit all. In the long run it will help companies who sell software including the large ones like Apple and Microsoft. These "walled gardens" are profitable right now for Apple and Microsoft but cross-platform solutions will be better for them in the long run. They will be able to sell from a catalog instead of trying to make their newest release a greatest hit every time. I think that it will be a little hard to convince Apple of this but maybe not Microsoft. If Windows 8 isn't an overnight hit they may have to reconsider the compatibility "feature" for sales. If Android or Windows 8 catch up to the iPad Apple might see the wisdom in a cross-platform solution in the end. If either Apple or Microsoft gets on board now they won't have to scramble latter to add cross-platform compatibility to save a product line or their company from a miss step in future product launches. I think GOG.com changed the software industry for the good this week and everyone should go in this direction instead of fighting what people really want and need from their software.
