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Comment by bl4k | Hacker News Reader

and we all used to hate on Microsoft so much, but they never 'pulled' a windows app

Does deliberately crashing Windows when your software is detected count? Microsoft were accused of doing this to DR-DOS. Alas, as part of a settlement, Microsoft paid DR's successor $150 million and in return they destroyed all evidence of Microsoft's actions thus making it impossible for Microsoft to be effectively prosecuted for their behaviour.

No, but occasionally they chose to create a detailed duplicate of your app and give it away for free, especially if you had turned down a buy out offer.

So does Facebook. :)

Urgh.. gurgle... believe me, I know all about that.

Just wait until they launch an app store for their new Windows 7 Phone operating system.

You run Windows applications locally and no-one but you has control about what you do with your Windows installation (mostly). Microsoft simply could not pull applications even if they wanted to.

Embrace your freedom by utilising it. Consider how the future might look like if everything is "in the cloud", remote and you are at the provider's grace to be allowed to access your tools and data.

Disclaimer: I run Linux because it is convenient and I think a gnu are cute animals (as in: I am not an extremist loony).

There was something about Windows Media player being able to revoke a local media file that was in breach of whatever the rule for the day was, wasn't there? Sorry about being vague but it's years since I was in Microsoft land. But yeah, this kind of stuff by Facebook surprises me not in the slightest. As a software company, would you be bothered getting into the compliance game? That's like being a software house and a cop shop.

Because they didn't have the capability to do so? I'm sure they would have "pulled" malicious apps if it were possible.

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