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Microsoft Taking Apple's Walled Garden Approach For Metro Apps
New submitter gauauu writes "Microsoft will be taking a walled-garden approach to Metro apps, only allowing enterprises and developers to side-load Metro apps in Windows 8, while everyone else will have to go through the Windows Store. Note that this only applies to Metro apps; the model for traditional desktop apps won't change."
The end of computing freedom as we know it.
The bitter lessons of a veteran coder: http://bitterprogrammer.blogspot.com
The Metro interface (as well as the WinRT APIs) are covered by this policy going forward. So this means that ARM devices from MS will be locked down, as well as the Metro half of any desktop/x86 platform. Eventually they will deprecate the older APIs and you will only have the WinRT/Metro APIs.
Microsoft is very much gunning to enforce a Walled Garden across all products that run their OS. I half expect them to make a hardwired TPM key a requirement for a Windows 8 (possibly later) logo, which they'll use against the user to keep them trapped in the Walled Garden. After that, it's just a matter of making it impossible to install other OSes (Motorola style) and they'll have the market domination and exclusion of FOSS they've always wanted.
It's only a "walled garden" if you keep the undesirables out. With Microsoft's market share, everyone will be in the garden along with you. Wonderful, it's no longer a garden but more a federal prison. Welcome to the ocean of piss.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Now, how crazy does he seem? He experienced the lock down that mainframes had and now we're experiencing the same things with smaller computers. Back then IBM (among others) also tracked your software and made sure things just ran.
It'll be interesting to see how Windows Power Users deal with this. They'll have to look to IT to be set up as a user who can "side-load" an application. Like that will happen.
So you mean they have Embraced HTML5 then Extended it?
I wonder what step would come next.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that Apple does not have a monopoly on phones - just what are Apple or Microsoft doing that is actually illegal? All stores take part of the retail - 30% is actually low for many categories.
With all sorts of strange experiments MS and Ubuntu are conducting on their user base, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Windows XP re-establishing itself as market share leader, using low-end hardware, ThePirateBay and developing world as its prime vehicles.
839*929
To all who said about Apple's lock-down "but the iPhone is not a computer", this was always the end game. The argument was that the iPhone is not a computer (a general-purpose platform), therefore it's OK to restrict what users can do with it. (And besides, they said, we'll still have our PCs.) They confused cause and effect. The iPhone is not a computer because it is locked-down.
With Apple making money hand over fist, it should be no surprise that Microsoft wants in. Will they succeed in their attempt at control? I don't know. But I'm certainly not going to make excuses for them.
Don't give me the any flak about hating Apple. My desktop is a Mac. But my new laptop runs Linux.
One day you will learn what a monopoly is in the eyes of the Law, and your poor little mind will simply melt.
Hint: Apple is not a monopoly, in precisely the same way Ford isn't a monopoly for being the only manufacturer of Ford vehicles.
So don't buy Windows 8. Stick with 7 or switch to Linux.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
"A primer for Windows developers on Microsoft’s website states that distribution of traditional desktop applications will proceed as usual. “Open distribution: retail stores, web, private networks, individual sharing, and so on” will be allowed".... This tidbit is NOT like how apple does things. The one thing i hate about Apples walled garden is that I have to pay $99 a year to test an app on an actual device that I OWN. I know Apple will say that they want their users to have a "good experience" or whatever but if i want to write an app that will heat up *my* phone so much that it makes the phone literally explode i should have every right to do so and if someone comes to me and wants to try an app that I wrote on his/her phone without getting a certificate key and wants to take the risk of his/her phone exploding in their hand then that is the risk that they should accept, understanding that kind of behavior isn't covered under his/her phones warranty.
However, before we all go after them for that, remember that Apple is also doing this.
If you're talking about Apple's desktop app store, there's no requirement for developers to distribute through the app store. As far as I know, selling your app through the app store doesn't give you greater access to OSX APIs.
Not that I don't fear the "walled garden" concept, but just to point out that what Microsoft is doing seems to be even worse than what Apple is doing.
Apple has a monopoly on iOS software sales. On MacOS software sales, they have a very convenient, likely successful on-line store, but it's hardly a monopoly.
Microsoft is planning to have a monopoly on sales of Metro apps, but there's nothing to say that they'll do the same for Windows8 desktop apps. Very likely, they'll continue as they have since the dawn of time, possibly imitating Apple's App Store in the Windows context as well in order to compete.
But neither Microsoft nor Apple have a monopoly on the mobile market. Even combined, their numbers are dwarfed by Android phones + tablets. There's plenty of choice out there. If you don't like it, vote with your dollars. Not that Android is a panacea; there are issues on that side. But to claim that these are illegal monopolies that need to be broken up is just silly.
The CB App. What's your 20?
How much longer until Macs run iOS?
This is possible only in x86 version, not in ARM version. Unlike the other-architecture versions of Windows NT 3 and 4, the ARM version of Windows 8 will not include an ARM port of the classic desktop.
Everybody keeps talking about this as if it's some kind of massive blow. Are you really surprised? This is typical Microsoft marketing:
1.) Announce that there will be an ARM version of Windows. Everyone rejoices!
2.) Remind everyone that the ARM version will not run x86 software. Everyone admits this is true and mumbles.
3.) Announce that the ARM version won't even include a Windows desktop. Everyone starts wondering what makes it Windows.
4.) Ship "the ARM version of Windows" only on tablets and phones and on nothing that resembles a PC, without a desktop, using a special UI and a walled-garden store to distribute apps. Surprise! Didn't we mention that the ARM version of Windows was going to be called Windows Phone? Only we're dropping the Phone part because we're all about tablets now. But it's still Windows! 100 percent Windows, people, getcher Windows right here...
Breakfast served all day!
Yeah, but it works for Apple because people are willing to overlook vendor lock-in for a variety of reasons (which I won't go into here). It's not going to work for Microsoft - at least not as well as they hope it is going to work.
This, it seems a little like "cargo-cult" thinking by Microsoft to me. Still, they might pull it off. I'm suspending judgement until they Actually ship Windows 8, god knows they've backpedaled on all kinds of features in their OS releases before.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
I imagine that the only way to interact with some peripherals, such as the camera and microphone, will involve additional DOM APIs that are exposed to Microsoft-approved Metro style applications and not to traditional HTAs.
Yes. You get the same WinRT APIs that are exposed to .NET and C++, barring language-specific differences (e.g. mapping of collections or dates).
Whether to rely on that functionality (and hence have to use those APIs) is up to the developer, of course. It's quite possible to write a portable app since you can call different platform-specific APIs conditionally, and have some safe fallback or reduced functionality mode for when they are not available.
Damn new kids with their 7 digit ids. The old joke you missed is Embrace, Extend, Extinguish. Woosh on you kiddo. Now, get off my lawn.
I'm well aware of it, ever since MS announced adoption of HTML5 people have been throwing out the old adage of EEE without any understanding of why it doesn't even make sense in this situation. Nice try with your grandpa status though.
I got my first android phone a couple months ago. For my daughter. I wanted an app that automatically turns the ringer off during class, then back on afterwards. All automagic so she couldn't forget. I found at least 5-10 apps in the android marketplace that do this.
App #1 installed with complaints. The first time the phone rang, the app crashed.
App #2 installed okay, but wouldn't start automatically.
App #3 acted like it worked. But you could still hear the phone ring even though the app claimed that it was silenced.
App #4 almost works as advertised. It's supposed to "mute w/vibrate" but doesn't vibrate. Just mute. Good enough!
It was a shitty, frustrating experience that made me appreciate what a "curated" app store offers. On the flipside, There's no app like this at all for iPhone or WP7. So maybe android's motto should be "we let you do more...badly" ;)
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
Tech companies are just giving consumers what we want - less complexity. Perhaps our government is, as well. Scary.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
Microsoft has ALWAYS charged for developers
Then how did I manage to install Visual Studio Express Editions and Windows SDK on a Windows 7 PC without paying more than bandwidth?
Oh don't worry Vincent, thanks to bonehead Ballmer's one two punch of putting Win 8 on ARM, thus confusing the fuck out of consumers and screwing retailers when folks take all these windows ARM devices home, find it doesn't run their software, and bringing them back in droves, and the stupid ass metro UI, I have a feeling you won't have to worry about it! Neither will anyone else for that matter as this is gonna be a Vista sized bomb!
I have been showing the developer preview screencaps to customers and so far out of over 100 people I have YET to have a SINGLE ONE say "That looks nice, I'd like to use that." the closest I got was "That is a pretty cell phone picture, what kind of cell phone is that? Is that Android? I've heard about that, its supposed to be nice... What do you mean that's the new Windows desktop? why would I want a cell phone desktop? that's stupid!"
But Ballmer didn't listen when me and every other beta tester practically screamed Windows Vista wasn't ready for prime time, and I seriously doubt he'll listen now. The only nice thing about is we may actually see Ballmer forced to "pursue other interests" and then they can bring back Ozzie or get one of the office guys to right the ship, as this looks to be a clusterfuck of biblical proportions.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
On the Mac, Apple makes no such restrictions. The developer tools are free, and you can load any app you want on your machine. The $99 Mac membership is only for some special perks like having Apple engineers review your code, and WWDC session videos. This makes Windows 8 far more locked down than OS X.
Windows Mobile 7, Metro on ARM, and iOS are even. They all require MS/Apple to sign off on the app.
Windows 8 is being released because Microsoft wants and needs a response to the iPad. That is all.
No, Windows 8 is being released because it is the scheduled time to release a new version of Windows. Microsoft's tablet computing dates back to 1991, but the current push started in with a special version of XP which was later incorporated into the main version of Vista.
This work with Metro is just an evolution of their Tablet PC idea rather than a recent knee jerk reaction to iOS. Some of the user interface ideas hark back to Windows Media Center. The idea of using HTML for metro apps was done with Active Desktop and Windows Sidebar. The walled garden approach is the same as what they do for the Xbox Live (and probably would have already had if the original Windows Marketplace had been a success).
Sure, Microsoft will be keeping an eye on what the competition is doing, but Windows 8 is merely another step in the direction that the OS has been heading for quite some time.
For f***'s sake people, please read TFA and understand before posting. They are talking about Metro apps only. Desktop apps are not locked down any more than in any previous Windows versions (or OS X or Linux). If you don't like it, don't use Metro. Use the standard Windows desktop.
In a way, this sort of reminds me of the Ubuntu/Unity debate. Either you like Unity or you don't. I happen to be in the latter category, and I can choose not to use it. Just like Metro. I did not go into panic mode when Unity became the default, I simply learned how to select the standard desktop and went on with my life.
I can understand the direction they are going with this, trying to compete with iDevices, and it doesn't bother me at all. Now, if they start to lock down the desktop itself, get out the pitchforks and torches or switch to something else. But please stop this over-reacting.
By the way, I regularly use Windows, Linux and iOS devices and occasionally *BSD. I use the right tool for the job; there is no one-size-fits-all multi-tool, although Linux is the closest in this regard. All are useful for specific tasks.
Wtf? Stop coming up with random names for pre-existing concepts. What the hell does side-loading even mean?
how is babby formed?