In the old days, computing was very application-centric. Each application was the focus of data created in and only consumed by that program. Things have evolved to a more data-centric approach where the application is subordinate to data. You can create a spreadsheet in one application and easily incorporate it into a word processing document etc. I think that ‘figure-centric’ is analogous to data-centric. To the extent that figures are limited to or optimized for a specific application, they are application-centric. The latter works well for users who wish to do everything in one application. It also is in the interest of application vendors who naturally want to promote their own products. Whether it is in the best interests of the ecosystem, as a whole, is another question. I would argue that being largely application-centric is a liability for 3D, especially at the hobbyist level. It discourages users from exploring other options and at best, makes them more reliant on others creating complex conversions. It’s great if you want to keep parishioners in the one true church – not so great if you’re an EpiscoQuakerWiccan or an agnostic.

Until/unless there is a vendor consensus, and until everyone has abandoned their pre DS4/P9/2012 applications, V4 will remain viable. In a world of Blu-ray and video downloads, she will soldier on for a good while like DVD. It will take a long time for anyone to match her popularity and infrastructure. Having multiple usurper candidates only dilutes the competition. It’s difficult to predict because this is really the first time since Posette’s semi-retirement (they never get executed!), that a clear successor hasn’t been pretty much a given. Still, if on the one side you have V4 and Antonia (who can play anywhere), and on the other you have V4WM, V5, AntoniaWM and Anastasia (application-centric), it doesn’t seem unrealistic to suggest that V4 (& her WM variant) is a good bet.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken