Cross platform: How they do it?

[Kurt Wall]

In a 0.5K blaze of typing glory, Joel Hammer wrote:
> I am no programmer. 
> 
> Could someone tell me why staroffice can make its products
> compatible with windows and linux and unix (mac, too?),
> but MS can't make its Office Suite cross platform?

MS has no reason to make Office cross-platform. StarOffice, on
the other hand, if it is to compete with Office, *must* be 
cross-platform. Simple market reality in both cases, it just
depends on which side of the market you reside.

> What do you give up in making cross platform software? Does
> the software run slower?

Interface consistency; a unified, simpler code base; some speed
and features; sloppy design; and I'm sure there's more. The software 
doesn't *have* to run slower, but a poorly designed application is 
much more likely to run slower on its non-native platform because
design decisions reflect a bias toward the native platform. As a
result, hacks and work-arounds must be implemented to make something
work on its non-native platform. After all, in the case at hand,
(MS Office vs. Star Office), Windows and *nix are dramatically
different OSes.

Kurt
-- 
Osborn's Law:
	Variables won't; constants aren't.