While it is common knowledge that Microsoft Vista has had its share of problems, a new report by Evans Data shows that less than 10% of major software developers are creating applications for Microsoft’s Vista operating system this year. To make matters even worse, the report demonstrates that nearly 50% of the same developers are currently working on software applications designed specifically for Windows XP.

Microsoft is trying its best to “phase out” XP. It must be a great shock to the company, however, that there are currently more than five times as many software developers creating applications for XP than for windows Vista. While you might think that Microsoft would be proud of the acknowledgment of XP as such a stable and worthy operating system, in reality the company is not likely to be happy about the recent Evans Data report; especially when they realize that more software developers are actually coding programs this year for Linux (the least popular of the big three operating systems) than for Vista. Ouch!

The numbers for Vista aren’t expected to improve significantly in 2009 either. Surveys show that 24% of developers are planning code applications for Vista next year, compared to 29% for Windows XP.

The study also reveals that 13% of developers are writing applications this year for Linux, and that number is expected to increase to nearly 16% in 2009.

Developers are also targeting the Mac: according to Computerworld magazine, development of software for the Apple Mac operating system has increased by a whopping 380% over the last two years, largely because of Apple’s aggressive marketing campaigns to promote the new iMac as a real alternative to Windows.

Why so little love for Vista among software developers? One reason could be Vista’s increased security features. A recent article published on ITJungle.com exposed the difficulty of coding new applications for Windows Vista, pointing out that the increased security of the operating system made third-party software developers’ jobs much harder. There is also the question of compatibility and hardware conflicts, which has been a thorny issue with Vista since its initial release.

Some industry experts believe that Microsoft has dropped the ball when it comes to developing profitable symbiotic relationships with third-party development companies. As a result, more and more developers are turning to Linux and Mac, instead of going to the trouble of developing programs specifically for Vista. Other developers go so far as to suggest that Vista is merely a “stepping stone” operating system, designed to bridge the gap between XP and Windows 7, which is currently said to be in development.

With developers favoring XP over Vista, Microsoft may have to extend its development and support of the popular operating system. While it is true that Vista’s sales figures are slowly increasing, with so few software developers targeting the operating system, it is not likely to overtake XP any time soon.

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