Bentley Publishers — which distributes interactive Shop manuals on CD-ROM for companies such as Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen — has decided to drop all Mac support in future products.
Their eBahn Reader 1 worked on both Mac and Windows, but version 2 ditches Mac support. According to an online note from Bentley Publishers when developing eBahn Reader 2, the company’s emphasis was on extending the basic functionality of version 1, adding new features, and improving performances.
“We found that the wide variety of Macintosh operating systems and the number of Macintosh compatible Internet browsers in active use creates an extremely complex array of Internet setup requirements for the Macintosh,” the note reads. “This complexity was forcing us to make functionality and performance compromises that significantly reduced the usefulness of the eBahn Reader application. Ultimately, we made the difficult decision to abandon support for Macintosh operating systems.”
Of course, that explanation makes little sense when you consider the plethora of Windows operating systems running around out there. Feel free to drop by Bentley’s technology support site for contact info if you’re interested in trying to convince them to change their minds.
For what it’s worth, Mac users of the eBahn Reader Version 1 products will continue to get technical support through Dec. 15. The software works under Mac OS 8.5 or later, though it’s not been Carbonized for Mac OS X. (Thanks to MacCentral reader Jeffrey D Sessler for the heads-up on this item.)