Slashdot Mirror
Windows Phone 8 SDK — By Appointment Only
mikejuk writes "Developers worried about the changes that might be waiting for them in the new Windows Phone 8 API are going to have to wait even longer to find out. Microsoft has just announced that the SDK will be available soon, but only to the developers it approves. If you already have a published app, then you can apply to be part of the program. The announcement says, 'But I do want to set your expectations that program access will be limited.' The public SDK will be made available 'later this year,' which is behind the timetable that developers were led to expect. As you can imagine, the developer community, judging by the comment stream, is less than happy. What makes this whole development even stranger is that the announcement was made on the day Nokia previewed a range of WP8 devices. The Nokia launch got most of the publicity, so perhaps the idea was that a little negative news wouldn't be noticed. The real question is: why the limited availability?"
Google also limits access to new services and even APIs. Google+ and Gmail were launched this way and the first still doesn't give all developers access to the Google+ apps API and services (you know, games and stuff on the platform).
I think this is right choice from Microsoft. They know what's best for us developers. Hell, they made the best IDE on planet - Visual Studio - too!
Nobody's buying WPhones, so by forcing developers to apply you get names of bona fide idiots and know whom never, ever to hire.
Show of hands !!
I said, Show of hands !!
*Setting: Microsoft executive officers meeting* ... ... we could cancel our "free" express version of Visual Studio? ... ... ... ... or do we have a problem?
Steve Ballmer: Alright you dumbshits, I've been up all night reading about this new "walled garden" thing that Apple has and I want one for Microsoft!
Executive #1: Are you serious? Why play their game? We've been gaining developers by opening up to the community and
Steve Ballmer: Shut up and get out, you're fired. Anyone else want to call me a copycat?
Executive #2: We could
Steve Ballmer: That's a good idea but we need something better, something that sends a message to developers developers developers developers that we don't even need them. It used to be about the developers developers developers developers but maybe -- just maybe -- they're like women and you gotta hit 'em a little bit so they appreciate when you're nice to them. I don't just want a measly walled garden, I want a fortressed garden with turrets that shoot anything that moves and has a Guantanamo Bay garden where no one has any rights and developers developers developers developers are tortured while we urinate on copies of the GPL and
Executive #3: Well, my division's about to release the Windows Phone 8 SDK, we could, say, charge $100 for people just to see the API?
Steve Ballmer: That's good but it's not quite there yet. That sounds like those Member's Only jackets that weren't really "members only" and anyone with a bennie could pick one up. I mean when I was an up and coming star in this company I bought one and thought that it was a mark of success and then there I was in McDonald's ordering my daily seven quarter pounders with cheese and this fucking teenager has a Members Only jacket on. And so I ask him what club he's a member of that he thinks he can wear this piece of clothing around and he laughs and says 'Dude, it's 2005, every thrift store in the world sells these for $5, it's like, ironic, you know, hipster' and so then I just reach over the counter to strangle the last breath out of his
Executive #3: *AHEM* Wellllll, we could actually make this "members only" and send out invitations to participate in the release of the Windows 8 SDK.
Steve Ballmer: YES! That's what I'm talkin' about. That's the kind of innovation and vision this company needs! You just won the income of this dumbass over here
Executive #1: What?! You can't do that!
Steve Ballmer: Oh I can. In fact, fuck it, it's retroactive for this fiscal year. You'll get a bill in the mail. Cheer up, your taxes just got a whole lot easier.
*huffing and puffing, Ballmer drags a stack of chairs up to the conference table next to the shocked first executive*
Steve Ballmer:
My work here is dung.
'Too many apps'.
And all 5 Windws Phone developers are devastated.
Probably too late, but be aware that the "developers are less than happy" link in the summary autoplays an ad for some marginally NSFW topics (not really NSFW but enough to make some uncomfortable- frank discussions of teen sex, etc.)
http://marsandmore.com - Posters of space, spacecraft, and astronomy.
It's obvious: WP8 isn't really ready yet. They gave a sneak preview a while back that only contained a few features, they've been coy about when the damn thing will be released, they only showed off a couple additional features at the Lumia event, and they still won't tell us when they'll be showing off the rest of the features (BUILD 2012? who knows?), when phones are being released, which carriers will be getting them etc. Look, I like WP, and I like developing for WP, and WP8 will be my next OS, but this is getting beyond stupid.
we're rushing as fast as we can to put out the OS even if it's not entirely finished, but we'll gladly sell the phone anyways cause that's what software updates are made for.
It's probably not a huge deal since Apple didn't release a iPhone OS SDK until a year and a half after the iPhone was introduced.... except MS will needs every advantage they can get to make WP8 have a dent in the phone market...
It isn't news for anyone, except people that don't know any better and accidentally buy it. Everyone knows Microsoft has the best marketing engine in the world, but I'm surprised windos phone is being seen on slashdot every day, maybe I need a better news site.
not really NSFW but enough to make some uncomfortable- frank discussions of teen sex, etc.
I code for a teen sex site, you insensitive clod!
Q: Who are you going to shit on next?
Microsoft learned this from Apple i.e by treating their developers like crap.
People are bailing out of Microsoft's development ecosystem quite rapidly at the moment. If you beat 'em with a stick like this, they ain't crawling back this time for the next VS release as they'll have Eclipse down and writing Android apps before you can burp the alphabet.
They want there store filled with there own apps and selected others first? The power of the default optipn is strong.
Silence is a state of mime.
Crazy. I thought Microsoft, although very late to the game, had a legitimate chance to break into the tablet and phone market.
But isn't having apps the key to their potential success?
There must be big problems at Microsoft
If developers would stop developing on the asshat platforms, they wouldn't have to put up with it. The only reason this kind of crap goes on is because people allow it.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Windows SDK makes appointment with you!
"I don't think it's selfish, to eat defenseless shellfish." -NOFX
Too many apps
Maybe there's an app for that?
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
They forgot to include the start button. It will be available for $4.95, or its free if you buy a new XBOX 360.
They don't have multi-core support, NFC support, encryption, et al?
Why would anyone want an API without these features in today's competitive landscape?
Seriously, that's basically what sells a smartphone platform now.
You can have the greatest HW ever but if there are no apps to take advantage of it...
The summary is misleading. There's no "by appointment only" system. If you RTFA it says microsoft is releasing the API to all developers who have previously released apps. I don't think this is such a big "FU" to developers as you're making it out to be. If anything, they probably did it to reward early adopters which should be applauded. It's like saying "Hey, we're sorry we've gone and modified the entire API after you built an app so we're giving you a little extra time to upgrade your apps so that some other hot shot company can't come in and steal your product before you get a chance to upgrade". I see nothing wrong with this.
WM9 is on schedule.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Maybe they are (probably in vain) trying to keep the API out of the hands of malefactors so that there aren't a raft of zero day exploits waiting when Dub-8 hits the streets.
If developers would stop developing on the asshat platforms, they wouldn't have to put up with it.
Among video game playing devices that come with a gamepad, all well-known platforms are asshat: PS3, PSVita, Wii, 3DS, and Xbox 360 all require code signing. And among smartphone platforms, Apple has been waging patent warfare against the only major non-asshat platform. One Slashdot regular has repeatedly told me to just accept the situation, pay my dues, and work with the asshats rather than around them; I can provide details on request.
If you RTFA it says microsoft is releasing the API to all developers who have previously released apps.
How does one make and release an app without having the SDK?
they're copying RIM
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Eight....minute....apps....
But but but the first post shills Microsoft hired to troll Slashdot keep saying VS is the bestest IDE ever in the whole wide world EVER!
Other shills claim that YoYo's GameMaker is better than Pygame. Still other shills claim that MyCleanPC is better than backing up the documents, wiping the computer, and putting on Xubuntu.
Are... are you trying to say... that a first post shill is... is... wrong somehow?
Umm... yeah.
'Too many apps'.
Have you honestly never felt that way? How many apps have you seen and thought "Umm, this is just a website. Why does this exist?"
I've seen this so many times before, from both sides. When the SDK is usable but not 'done' (locked down, polished up, fully documented) you restrict it to eager early devs with caveats like 'API calls subject to change!' The early devs also act as free beta/QA testers, which is the single biggest reason to do the pre-release at all. Then when it's Finished finished you release it to the wilds.
This doesn't tell you whether just the SDK isn't done or whether the OS APIs aren't locked down yet either. The latter would be bad if they're intending to get the SDK out this year.
Sorry, Microsoft. I know you want to be the next Apple and therefore seek to become as evil as them, but there's a flaw in
your plan: Apple is the new Microsoft and therefore seeks to become as evil as you. And they're faster than you,
except for the important cases where whoever is first, loses.
Apple didn't really invent the idea of telling developers to go fuck themselves. (Which is also a way of telling
users to fuck themselves too, since an enlightened user will want a free market in their available
application software to exist. But fortunately, Apple courts the kind of users where, when you say "fuck you" to
them, they hear "You're so beautiful, I want to fuck you.")
Apple copied the Fuck You model from the videogame console guys, whose evil you already ripped off
when you created the XBox. That's right, MS, you were already here first. (And even the videogame console
guys merely stole their evil from 1960s IBM. This shit can probably be traced back to medieval guilds, if you're
careful enough.)
You can't impress us with your "But we're as Evil as Apple now" statement, because you were hated before it was
cool to be hated. That makes you: Not Cool.
Hopefully MS was never trained how to correctly secure a real straightjacket, the true excape artists just hate when that happens. Note to self, never volunteer to help in a magic act again.
Gah, where are my mod points...
:-P
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
'Too many apps'.
I think that's actually the driving force behind a lot of Microsoft's behaviour lately: to limit the number of programs that are available.
I assume MS would rather have only a single, paid app for any given use. Without competition from smaller app developers, they can make more money than with the current Windows software ecosystem; especially if they can establish a seller-monopoly like Apple's iTunes for iDevices. One way to do this is to raise the barrier of entry, so that only a few big players get in.
The last time around, they just bought off the developers and closed the hole off.
This time around, they're making sure nobody exists that has to be bought off.
The "It's not ready" calls sound like they're apologizing for such actions.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
in this period you may have to wait up to 20 days before having your application certified while other apps are approved in 3 days.
I think there are a lot of applications stuck in the queue and they probably need to clear the backlog first.
"We're way behind in the app game. How do we encourage developers?" "Whatever you do, DON'T LET THEM WRITE ANY APPS!"
You meant to write "Too many crapps".
When I pointed out in another article that the death of Windows Phone 8 would be because it had no apps, I was told that there would be plenty of apps, because all the Windows 8 apps would *be* Windows Phone 8 apps. But if that's true, why is there even a Windows Phone 8 SDK? Won't they all just be using the Windows 8 SDK? Or could it be that developing for a smartphone *is* different from developing for the desktop, after all?
As popular trends emerge, MS is always trying to convince you that the next big thing is just on the cusp of release and it's coming from them, in order to stave off your desire to abandon their ship. Cloud computing, tablets, phones, browsers, UI, whatever.
It is not done. End of story. The only reason for the press conference is the iPhone 5 release next week. Hard to get consumers to wait on an OS that anyone that has used it, is not allowed to talk publicly about.
The SDK not being ready doesn't really rationalize charging money for access. If I'm beta-testing their SDK, they should pay me.
But of course, the answer to "why charge money?" is, invariably, "because they can". Everyone wants to start coding ASAP so they can get their app into the marketplace before their competitors do. So they'll pony up the dough.
Koans and fables for the software engineer
'Too many apps'.
Have you honestly never felt that way? How many apps have you seen and thought "Umm, this is just a website. Why does this exist?"
No, the cause of there being crappy apps isn't that there's "too many apps" it's that "90% of everything is crap". You aren't going to fix that by making fewer apps.
The confusing thing about pcs...you go to the store and there is just so many games. I mean, everywhere you look. But on the Mac, there's just six
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
The problem for (would be) developers is that both explanations have a precedent in Microsoft's history.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
Yeah, people used to ask 'Who the heck would pay for a game beta?' Now we know.
The real question is: why the limited availability?
Greed?
OK, so to qualify for the WP8 SDK, I'd need to first get a WP7 app published. Say I've written an application for another platform that consists of a logic layer and presentation layer, or model layer and view layer, or however you prefer to name them. If I'm porting this app, I'm aware that I'll have to write a new presentation layer. I accept this; it's also part of porting an application between iOS and Android. But how should I translate the logic layer to C# so that it'll run on WP7, which lacks both P/Invoke and Emit?
I am super excited for creating Windows 8 applications, but I am okay with taking a back seat for a while. I think that this is the right choice to avoid the flood of utter junk that plagues most app stores. On most platforms it is increasingly difficult to find a task specific app let alone find a new fun game to play because everyone and their neighbor wants to make the new Angry Birds. The only way the Windows 8 App Store will be successful (at least on mobile devices) is if it looks better than the Apple flavor on day 1. The majority of consumers have no patience or understanding of what it means for software to be new. Sure, I bet they're missing out on a few killer apps because some of the "right" people didn't get early enough SDK access, but I imagine that is a risk they're willing to take.
Coughnokian900cough
Microsoft just wants to make sure there are more users of the phone than developers. Would be mighty embarrassing to distribute 10,000 SDKs only to sell 1,000 phones...