5 ms·
The whole point of the reaction is that with UWP Windows will cease to be an open platform.
by vonmoltke 11y ago
The whole point of the reaction is that with UWP Windows will cease to be an open platform.
- madspindel 11y agoWhy is that? It was still an open platform after Valve released their closed Steam platform. This doesn't change anything at all.
- kristiandupont 11y agoIt does if new API's are only available through UWP.
- sbarre 11y agoThis is all kind of addressed in the article, did you read it before coming here to comment?
- fsloth 11y agoBecause the threat is, Windows as a platform will be engineered so that unless the app is provided through Microsoft's store, it will be effectively crippled. Valve cannot cripple OS level features. Microsoft - owning both the OS and the app store - certainly can.
- cmiles74 11y agoI think his concern is that UWP apps are the first step towards blocking non-UWP apps. Kind of like Apple does on MacOS X, where you have to dig into the security settings. From the article: "The specific problem here is that Microsoft's shiny new 'Universal Windows Platform' is locked down, and by default it’s impossible to download UWP apps from the websites of publishers and developers, to install them, update them, and conduct commerce in them outside of the Windows Store," said Sweeney. "It's true that if you dig far enough into Microsoft's settings-burying UI, you can find a way to install these apps by enabling 'side-loading.' But in turning this off by default, Microsoft is unfairly disadvantaging the competition."
- scholia 11y agoYeah, obviously Microsoft is planning to lock out Microsoft Office, all its business apps, and all its server apps... /s
- tdkl 11y agoThis would be more believable if distribution of UWP software was possible without the Store, f.e. with sideloading like on Android.
- zanny 11y agoYou can't install iOS apps without the store, and Microsoft definitely favors being more Apple than Google.
- vonmoltke 11y agoThat's the point. To get full access to Windows features you have to go through the store.
- jcotton42 11y agoYou can enable sideloading quite easily in Settings
- jblow 11y agoToday you can do that. This is a boiling-the-frog kind of situation. They do just enough to get people today to accept what they're doing, then the next steps come later.
- cwyers 11y agoEnabling sideloading is a developer convenience feature. It's not really meant for end-users. I don't think shutting off developer features is part of their future roadmap, and your certainty about it is unsettling to witness.
- jblow 11y agoDid you read Microsoft's reply to Sweeney's article? They basically used sideloading as an excuse for why this isn't anti-consumer.