Steinberg’s Windows versions in the 90s always came months, sometimes years later, and were feature-wise crippled compared to the Mac versions. Like I wrote, things changed with the Nuendo/SX platform for the very first time.
In the last 20 years: Apple cancels LPT1 port, Steinberg introduces USB dongles. Apple drops 32 bit support, Steinberg does it too. Apple introduces Firewire as the ‘perfect’ solution for audio interfaces - Steinberg offers one (long before the first PC with FW was available). A few years later, Apple drops Firewire as an old and useless technology, Steinberg immediately stops driver development for their FW interface - for PC too. Apple introduces core audio in OSX, making really low latencies via ASIO impossible. Steinberg reacts with interfaces with direct monitoring and inbuilt effects to compensate. (Today’s Steinberg products perform much worse regarding really low latencies than the ones 10 years ago - simply because Steinberg doesn’t care anymore, and that’s because Apple doesn’t care about low latency. Ever used products based on the HALion 4/5/6 platform with buffer sices < 64 samples? Poor performance, because SB don’t mind - it won’t work on their Macs anyways, so why test it out or spend any effort.) Apple thinks that one USB port per Mac is enough - Steinberg drops the USB dongle. Now Apple goes to own silicon, months later the older VST SDK, that worked fine for the last 20 years, is discontinued by Steinberg.
Developments in the Windows world get ignored most of the time, one exception being Direct Music with LTB / Midex in the late 90s. They simply know that Windows will most of the time adapt, and Apple never adapts to anyone. And they love their Mac from the heart. Or they are passionate masochists.
Don’t get me wrong: I can live with that, and I prefer companies adapting their stuff to new ideas in general. It would just be better if they did that to new ideas from either side, especially because Apple’s market share outside of the US is a joke compared to Windows.
The roots of Steinberg: C64, Atari ST, Macintosh, Windows. They do Windows, because they need to make money. They do Mac because they love that platform. Apple can do the silliest stuff, and Steinberg will accept and love everything about it, adapt all their products and wonder why Windows is so old fashioned. Apple says people don’t need Firewire, VST2, latencies <= 32 samples, USB ports - Steinberg acts as people don’t need Firewire, VST2, USB ports… Boring, isn’t it?
