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Microsoft's Windows 8 App Store Is Full of Scamware

Posted by samzenpus on from the needs-a-cleaning dept.

Deathspawner writes Windows 8 brought a lot to the table, with one of its most major features being its app store. However, it's not a feature that Microsoft seems too intent on keeping clean. As it is today, the store is completely littered with misleading apps and outright scamware. The unfortunate thing is that to find any of it, all you have to do is simply open the store and peruse the main sections. Not so surprisingly, no Microsoft software seems to be affected by this, but many open-source apps can be found at the store from unofficial sources that have a cost, or will lead the user to download a third-party installer. It's only a matter of time before malware sneaks its way in, if it's not there already.

10 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Windows 8 app store? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Who actually uses this shit? I'm not surprised it's filled with malware.

    1. Re:Windows 8 app store? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They wanted so badly to be Apple, taking a cut of every software sale by being the only vendor for their own system.

      What they neglected is that people don't want brainless "apps" for true multipurpose computers. So their brainless store got filled with brainless garbage to take advantage of the brainless users who'd use it.

    2. Re:Windows 8 app store? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That's easy.

      Can you code on it?
      Multipurpose.

    3. Re:Windows 8 app store? by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm going to throw an assumption out there: very, very few people are doing this. Yes, you could - in theory - "dock" your phone/tablet and do productive things with it. But a really top-notch phone is going to cost you $600+ and a really low-end computer that can kick the shit out of it will cost $200. I think that anyone who can afford the monitor, keyboard, and high-end phone will probably not sweat the cheap cpu too much.

      So in the end, while I'm sure there are people in the fringes doing productive things on their phones and tablets, for the vast majority they are toys. This is not meant to be a disparaging comment - I have a smartphone, I have tablets... but I don't do anything more productive on them than take short notes and check email. Mostly they are consumption devices.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    4. Re:Windows 8 app store? by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A quad core phone has less IPC than a Pentium 4, a dead end CPU that is over a half a decade old. Take the absolute lowest Intel and AMD quads, the Atom and Jaguar respectively, and put it against the most expensive top 'o the line ARM quad and what happens? the ARM gets a curbstomping, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the latest chips from Intel and AMD couldn't bitchslap the ARM with half their cores disabled, they are THAT mismatched.

      Lets face it ARM only has 2 things going for it, 1.- its cheap, 2.- Anybody can make one so you can have some plant in China crank them out like flapjacks...did I mention they are cheap? To suggest an ARM with a keyboard and HDMI is in any way comparable to an actual PC is a bad joke, its good for content consumption and time wasters and that is about it.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  2. Selling Free Software by tepples · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but many open-source apps can be found at the store from unofficial sources that have a cost

    FSF says it's perfectly fine to distribute free software for a fee, so long as the license is followed.

    But platforms relying on a single app store have in the past made copyleft license compliance difficult or impossible. The GNU General Public License, for example, defines "source code" to include what GPLv3 calls "Installation Information" and GPLv2 calls "scripts used to control compilation and installation". When a platform requires all code to be digitally signed, a signing key is part of this "Information" or these "scripts". And the terms for obtaining a code signing certificate tend to forbid developers from sharing the private key with the public. This is why GPL software like VLC can't be on Apple's App Store, nor can ScummVM be on the Wii console.

  3. Re:Does Microsoft f*ck up everything? by gweihir · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Their business is going well. Why would they care about their customers? Of course, if ever a real alternative comes along (or they cannot bribe enough people anymore), quite a few people will never look back.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  4. Re:Notify them by Rosyna · · Score: 2, Insightful

    All this means is that companies like Apple and Mozilla happen not to have notified Microsoft of the infringement yet. So if you're worried about it, go tell Apple's legal department and Mozilla's.

    Why should they have to? The store is supposed to be curated and given these examples, it's obvious it is not curated at all.

  5. Re:Yeah, it brought a lot to the table by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But why should I get Win8 when I have to get it and then jump a few hoops to get what I already had with Win7?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:Three more years of support by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My hope is that by then either Windows 10 is out or a replacement OS is available to escape the upgrade hell altogether.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.