Fireworks death was the cause of Sketch popularity in the first place. If they had kept Fireworks maybe it would still be a popular tool today But eventually a new more streamlined tool (Adobe or not) would have caused the UI software revolution we're seeing today

I love Sketch, but I fear my love for the product can blind me to other alternatives that can eventually be more popular in the near future.

Also as I said, Sketch is Mac only, and in my country a lot of students use Windows and cannot use Sketch but via virtualization, which is a hassle.

Hype is great, Lottie I have to use it, looks great and I have code experience as well so seems a natural to me!

I agree… AE is an animation/video monster, and is really killer at that —but also the power comes at a costs: UI lacks simplicity for the newbies, and is overkill for simple web animation/interactivity

Hype is wonderful, has a learning curve really affordable, and creates lots of animation and small interactivity in HTML5 format.

They're nonexclusive to each other, I would recommend learning both, but you can start with Hype first if you're new to the animation/video field.

When going to draw with the Pen, always press "A" key first (direct selection) then "P" for Pen… "AP"

So next, as you draw, pressing COMMAND, you activate the latest selection tool, and that, would be the direct selection tool. If you release COMMAND, you get back to the Pen tool…

That trick enables you to quickly move and change anchor points and continue drawing, without going back and forth between those tools

Hmmm.... Very productive tools are limiting?

I think Microsoft has a REAL problem because very good alternative developers love making creative software for the Apple ecosystem and not for Windows… It's hindering the real migration of these profesionals to their "good" (yes, they're making good hardware) platform.

Affinity hasn't released yet Affinity Photo. There is only a beta of Designer for Windows. Pixelmator is not there; Sketch neither. Or Tumult Hype for HTML5 animation. All of them EXCELLENT apps and not at all pricey.

If you ask these developers, they will give real reasons why they feel comfortable not making any of their software for any other platforms.

Microsoft should buy it's way out of this mess —¿maybe buy Affinity?—, only Adobe is committed to Windows. And that, my friend, is worrisome, whether you can admit it or not.

Way back in the day, when Macs were better, people didn't migrate because they had so much more soft for their Win machines. That's coming with a vengeance for the creative market, only this time against Microsoft.

And yes, I think Windows has gotten better, but it has still a lot of unnecessary complexity under the hood that makes you lose a LOT of time doing configuration and software maintenance for your machine.

Sorry, impressive hard like this is not going to make that much people to switch: but productivity and having much more software choices still matters a lot.

Hmmm.... Very productive tools are limiting?

I think Microsoft has a REAL problem because very good alternative developers love making creative software for the Apple ecosystem and not for Windows… It's hindering the real migration of these profesionals to their "good" (yes, they're making good hardware) platform.

Affinity hasn't released yet Affinity Photo. There is only a beta of Designer for Windows. Pixelmator is not there; Sketch neither. Or Tumult Hype for HTML5 animation. All of them EXCELLENT apps and not at all pricey.

If you ask these developers, they will give real reasons why they feel comfortable not making any of their software for any other platforms.

Microsoft should buy it's way out of this mess —¿maybe buy Affinity?—, only Adobe is committed to Windows. And that, my friend, is worrisome, whether you can admit it or not.

Way back in the day, when Macs were better, people didn't migrate because they had so much more soft for their Win machines. That's coming with a vengeance for the creative market, only this time against Microsoft.

And yes, I think Windows has gotten better, but it has still a lot of unnecessary complexity under the hood that makes you lose a LOT of time doing configuration and software maintenance for your machine.

Sorry impressive hard like this are not making that much people to switch, but productivity and having much more software choices still matters a lot.

Don't let go… not yet. Changing platforms and migrating all your workflow shouldn't be decided on hunches or small disappointments.

You need to perceive a really HUGE advantage to do so. Otherwise your time and productivity will fall for a time, only to find it wasn't that big of a deal.

Do this: use an alternative product for a time. Even if you can, borrow it from a friend for a day or two. Talk/watch people that uses it everyday. Be prepared if the time comes, and never look back once you've made up your mind. But don't hurry either.

YES: it is a bittersweet time to be a professional user of Apple products; but there are really good things too, and productivity is still a good reason to stay (what the heck, even IBM acknowledged this recently), for a while more at least. Not all of the alternative software to Adobe is on Windows right now. It may not be the right time to switch now. but it's important to keep an open mind, just in case.

I intend to test the Surface Pro myself a bit more, though the Apple Pro with a superior Pencil experience is more of a temptation right now…

Stickers? BIG MESSAGES? Phony animations? GIFs (OMG)? Those seem to be the "hot topic" these days… (note irony mode is on) But your article is right, people engage in these apps because are simple enough and don't add a lot of noise (hope they don't evolve badly in that regard).

Usability these days is a bit of a fight against those "flashy features" that get people crazy about sending "cute" messages. The middle ground is probably the best path, but almost no one is talking about trying to travel that road.