Online Casino Software: PC Versus Mac
March 27, 2008

The development of online casino software is a very expensive process. A large number of functions are built into it. There are financial transactions involved and so security has to be foolproof. Plus extensive testing is required before release. It is economical only if there is sufficient demand for it so that the fixed costs are defrayed over a large volume. In the mid 1990s when this software was developed the majority of the home computer users worked on PCs. Mac and Linux users were relatively fewer in number. Hence all the major online gaming software providers like Microgaming, Real Time Gaming, Vegas Technology and Cryptologic developed their software for PCs. They would not have got the required volume from Mac users. At that time the software technology was not sufficiently developed for non-download gaming software therefore the software necessarily had to be downloaded on to the hard disc of the computer. There were some online gaming software providers that did develop download gaming software for Mac and Linux users. However the quality of the software was nowhere near comparable with the software offered for PCs.

Since then the number of Mac users has grown significantly and is still growing. Therefore the online gaming software providers were missing out on this emerging demographic and were aware of this. At that time there was also a need to develop a format of the software that could be run in the browser without having to download and store it in the hard disc of the computer. Java and Flash technology required for this had become available. Hence many online software developers began to offer a no-download version of their software along with the download one. Some of the online gaming software developers like Playtech and Vegas Technology took this opportunity to cater to Mac users as well. Therefore they developed the no-download version in such a way that it was also compatible with the Mac operating system. In this way Mac users could at least access the no-download version of the software.

The no-download version is a truncated version of the gaming software. Since it is stored temporarily in the browser and not in the hard disc there is a limitation to the size of the software. Hence all the games and features are not included in it. Therefore in theory at least Mac users playing with the no-download software are at a disadvantage as compared to PC users playing with the download software. But in practice this disadvantage is negligible. A wide spectrum of the commonly played games is available in the no-download version. Therefore Mac users can play the more popular games.