Adobe Systems announced on Tuesday that it plans to drop the Mac version of FrameMaker, the latest sign of eroding support for the Apple operating system.
The company said it will stop selling the Mac edition of FrameMaker, a set of print and electronic publishing tools commonly used to create complex documents such as technical manuals, as of 21 April. It will continue to support the Mac version for one year after that.
Sales of the Mac version of FrameMaker were too low to justify continued development, Adobe said in a statement. The application will continue to be available for Windows and for Sun Microsystems' Solaris version of Unix.
"The decision to discontinue the Mac version was primarily based on market conditions," said Tony Yun, Adobe product manager. "The majority has been on Windows and Solaris for a while -- that's kind of been the trend."
Yun noted that the current version of FrameMaker is for Mac OS 9, and it would have been particularly expensive to develop an OS X-native version of the application.
The decision is the latest in a series of snubs against the Apple operating system, long favoured by the "creative professionals" who comprise one of Adobe's core audiences. Adobe skipped Mac users in several recent releases, including its Atmosphere 3D graphics application, for which the company declared the Mac market would be too small.
It has also shunned Mac users in its Photoshop Album digital photo package and Encore DVD-authoring application, where Apple produces competing applications.
Adobe raised the hackles of Mac fans last year, when it republished test results that indicate that computers with Microsoft's Windows operating system may run some of its applications faster than Macs do.
Executives have insisted that Adobe's rapport with Apple remains solid. "Our relationship with Apple is like a relationship in any marriage, good or bad," Adobe chief executive Bruce Chisen said in a recent interview with CNET News.com. "It's an important relationship for both of us to maintain and make stronger, knowing that there are differences...Where we compete, we've agreed to compete. Where we partner, we partner aggressively."
