Hacker News Reader

Comment by ryandrake | Hacker News Reader

Wow. I haven't written software for Windows in over a decade. I always thought Apple was alone in its invasive treatment of developers on their platform. Windows used to be "just post the exe on your web site, and you're good to go." I guess Microsoft has finally managed to aggressively insert themselves into the distribution process there, too. Sad to see.

View on HN

> Windows used to be "just post the exe on your web site, and you're good to go."

That's also one of the main reasons why Windows was such a malware-ridden hellspace. Microsoft went the Apple route to security and it worked out.

At least Microsoft doesn't require you to dismiss the popup, open the system settings, click the "run anyway" button, and enter a password to run an unsigned executable. Just clicking "more details -> run anyway" still exists on the SmartScreen popup, even if they've hidden it well.

Despite Microsoft's best attempts, macOS still beats Windows when it comes to terribleness for running an executable.

I just wish these companies could solve the malware problem in a way that doesn't always involve inserting themselves as gatekeepers over what the user runs or doesn't run on the user's computer. I don't want any kind of ongoing relationship with my OS vendor once I buy their product, let alone have them decide for me what I can and cannot run.

I get that if you're distributing software to the wider public, you have to make sure these scary alerts don't pop up regardless of platform. But as a savvy user, I think the situation is still better on Windows. As far as I've seen there's still always a (small) link in these popups (I think it's SmartScreen?) to run anyway - no need to dig into settings before even trying to run it.

Are you sure? I had not used Windows for years and assumed "Run Anyway" would work. Last month, I tested running an unsigned (self-signed) .MSIX on a different Windows machine. It's a 9-step process to get through the warnings: https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-test-certificate-f...

Perhaps .exe is easier, but I wouldn't subject the wider public (or even power users) to that.

So yeah, Azure Trusted Signing or EV certificate is the way to go on Windows.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com