4 ms·

To be blunt, you do not have to create a developer account, sign binaries, or share 30% of your revenue with Microsoft. MS's API are not a mess in my opinion.

To be blunt, you do not have to create a developer account, sign binaries, or share 30% of your revenue with Microsoft. MS's API are not a mess in my opinion. You do have several options (traditional Win32, .NET, UWP, etc.). These options all work fairly well and are very flexible. As for, Apple, I do not know but I suspect you can make Mac applications without a developer account. You need a developer account for iPhone. It's $99 a year the last time I looked. This is not a lot of money if you are serious about making an application.

krageon 2y ago
> This is not a lot of money It is a lot of money when you consider it should be free and serves exactly no purpose.
- siva7 2y ago
  It serves a purpose: Keeping those out who can't afford it. They just can't say it out loud for obvious reasons.
sobellian 2y ago
If you don't sign your Windows installer, then the first N users to use it will get a scary pop-up message saying that the AV "protected your PC." I think you might also need do code-signing if you distribute through the MS store. Compare with the web where LetsEncrypt just works without demanding a king's ransom. As for the APIs, it is very easy to get into dependency hell between all the different UI technologies, .NET implementations, and target systems. Want to develop a brand new plain-old GUI app? Probably simple (although I've never tried, the web is right there). Need to develop a plugin for an existing application, or a new app for something like Hololens? Have fun.
- viraptor 2y ago
  It's a bit worse with windows. You can get a scary warning or you can get smartscreened to death and the app will be prevented from starting. This is random / depending on functionality and effectively impossible to test with 100% certainty.
KomoD 2y ago
> This is not a lot of money if you are serious about making an application. Maybe not for you.

krageon 2y ago

> This is not a lot of money It is a lot of money when you consider it should be free and serves exactly no purpose.

siva7 2y ago
It serves a purpose: Keeping those out who can't afford it. They just can't say it out loud for obvious reasons.

sobellian 2y ago

If you don't sign your Windows installer, then the first N users to use it will get a scary pop-up message saying that the AV "protected your PC." I think you might also need do code-signing if you distribute through the MS store. Compare with the web where LetsEncrypt just works without demanding a king's ransom. As for the APIs, it is very easy to get into dependency hell between all the different UI technologies, .NET implementations, and target systems. Want to develop a brand new plain-old GUI app? Probably simple (although I've never tried, the web is right there). Need to develop a plugin for an existing application, or a new app for something like Hololens? Have fun.

viraptor 2y ago
It's a bit worse with windows. You can get a scary warning or you can get smartscreened to death and the app will be prevented from starting. This is random / depending on functionality and effectively impossible to test with 100% certainty.

KomoD 2y ago

> This is not a lot of money if you are serious about making an application. Maybe not for you.