If you hadn't included that restriction, I'd tell you about Numbers. Not all spreadsheet type problems fit into its limitations, but for those that do, it makes you ask "Why don't all spreadsheets work this way?"
But you did make that a restriction on your criteria, so forget I said anything. :)
The first non-Apple software I thought of when you asked the question was PDFpen, which operates vaguely like what is now called "Acrobat DC" used to. Acrobat drives me up a wall; it's like they asked, "How can we make the Microsoft ribbon interface even worse? Let's do that!"
I have about three Markdown editors that are Mac-only that I like better than any cross-platform alternative I've tried. (Byword, Markdown Pro and MultiMarkdown Composer.) I have three because none of them does everything right, so I occasionally have to switch for some task or other. I'd happily switch to something cross-platform if it matched the union of those three apps' features, those I care about, anyway.
I suspect I have three solid Markdown editors to choose from because they're all based on solid OS-level rich text editing features that exceed what you get on Windows, so the non-Mac competition has to waste a lot of resources reinventing wheels. Just as one example, you get grammar checking for free in most Mac native text-editing software. Where it doesn't occur, it's usually because the app is cross-platform and is thus avoiding Mac-specific features.
A related example is the built-in dictionary. You can get dictionary/thesaurus apps on other platforms, but they generally aren't as deeply integrated as the one on macOS.
Then there are the times where you have a cross-platform app that simply works better on macOS. VLC and MacVim (as compared to gVim) come to mind.
If you hadn't included that restriction, I'd tell you about Numbers. Not all spreadsheet type problems fit into its limitations, but for those that do, it makes you ask "Why don't all spreadsheets work this way?"
But you did make that a restriction on your criteria, so forget I said anything. :)
The first non-Apple software I thought of when you asked the question was PDFpen, which operates vaguely like what is now called "Acrobat DC" used to. Acrobat drives me up a wall; it's like they asked, "How can we make the Microsoft ribbon interface even worse? Let's do that!"
I have about three Markdown editors that are Mac-only that I like better than any cross-platform alternative I've tried. (Byword, Markdown Pro and MultiMarkdown Composer.) I have three because none of them does everything right, so I occasionally have to switch for some task or other. I'd happily switch to something cross-platform if it matched the union of those three apps' features, those I care about, anyway.
I suspect I have three solid Markdown editors to choose from because they're all based on solid OS-level rich text editing features that exceed what you get on Windows, so the non-Mac competition has to waste a lot of resources reinventing wheels. Just as one example, you get grammar checking for free in most Mac native text-editing software. Where it doesn't occur, it's usually because the app is cross-platform and is thus avoiding Mac-specific features.
A related example is the built-in dictionary. You can get dictionary/thesaurus apps on other platforms, but they generally aren't as deeply integrated as the one on macOS.
Then there are the times where you have a cross-platform app that simply works better on macOS. VLC and MacVim (as compared to gVim) come to mind.