Serious Sam 3 Developer: "Gabe Newell did not Overreact on Windows 8"
ubuntuvibes.com
ubuntuvibes.com
It's quite simple...
Metro - for consumers. Mostly for touch-based tablets. Internet, Facebook, Twitter, simple games and apps.
Desktop - for producers. Keyboard and PC (everything from a $600 Dell to a powerful $5000 WorkStation). Large games, VS.NET, Office, etc. And also everthing to do with the non-consumer/enterprise market.
Do you have any idea how many situations, work-flows, and applications NEED the desktop?
Microsoft is not getting rid of the Desktop. The Desktop is here to stay. In Windows 8, in 9, and every other version. Including the Server versions.
Half of their revenues depend on the Desktop situations, work-flows, and applications.
They'll get rid of the Desktop when computers start reading your thoughts or everyone in the world becomes a thoughtless consumer that spends his/her entire time buying useless crap (like in the move Idiocracy).
The author is suggesting at the end of the article that there is a grand conspiracy at Microsoft to lock all games and apps out of Windows eventually unless they go through the App Store (in Windows 9 specifically). I'd like some proof to this because it just does not make sense.
You have to realize though that that's the majority of the market. Most of us aren't programmers who need Visual Studio, or to run servers. So while they may not be getting rid of the desktop (and I don't think they are), it will become less relevant. I'd wager the majority of Windows licenses sold in five years will be WOA. The main thing holding "classic" Windows in place is familiarity, and as you said, games. I think Microsoft looks at the Xbox as hardcore gaming and the PC as "casual", but frankly when it comes to Microsoft and gaming I don't pretend to understand their actions any more. I just hope they realize it's one of the platforms largest selling features over competitors.
>The author is suggesting that there is a grand conspiracy at Microsoft to lock all 3rd parties out of Windows eventually unless they go through the App Store, and to restrict all Windows versions to Metro mode.
You know, I kind of agree. I don't think there is proof other than "it's the logical thing for a company to do".
>I'd like some proof to this because it just does not make sense.
30% from all software sold is a pretty good reason in my mind. Microsoft has Apple envy, and for good reason. Apple is filling swimming pools with dollars right now. Microsoft already has the market share, in both home and enterprise - I have no doubt they want to take advantage of that. If they could move those users to a "faster, safer, easier" interface where suddenly MS makes a cut of all profit - well, that's a really smart thing for them to do.
There's a subtle detail in Windows 8 that makes me look at it this way. It's the way that the desktop is displayed as an app, like it's there for legacy support. You don't boot to the desktop, you boot to Metro, your new interface.
If I were MS, I would somehow extend XBox Live onto tablets. Apple has made a mess of Game Center. MS knows how to do a game ecosystem, and many XBox casual titles would do well on a tablet.
They did great with Xbox, but then they totally botched "Games for Windows Live". I don't know if it's just a different team that couldn't put it together or what, but with MS and gaming I never know what to expect. They seem to want casual games on Metro though, based on the current store selection.
Just because you don't get a proof doesn't mean there is nothing going on there.
I mean, they looked at Apple and said: "me too". It may not be a conspiracy but I would not dismiss the claim as "not making any sense".
Taken literally, just about everything a corporation does is a "conspiracy". In real world uses though the world conjures images of green men, truthers, bigfoot enthusiasts, etc.
Using more neutral terminology, what he is suggesting is that Microsoft has a business strategy with their App Store. Doesn't sound quite so outlandish when you put it like that, does it?
At some point you're going to have to make a choice whether you need a Desktop/PC, a tablet with Windows 8, or a tablet with Windows RT for whatever it is you need Windows for.
> Microsoft is not getting rid of MS-DOS. MS-DOS is here to stay. In Windows 3.1, in 95, and every other version.
There was a time that everything to do with the non-consumer/enterprise market was done in DOS. Soon enough Metro apps will be first class citizens and desktop apps will be second class. If locking down the most important user-facing UI elements to only those apps certified by MS doesn't cause you some trepidation then you might want to examine history a little closer.
Windows has a massive selection of software. Their top priority should have been to make it as easy as possible for those legacy developers to add any level of metro support and integration to their existing applications.
Instead they chose to handicap themselves, as if they were producing a brand new operating system. Was the tradeoff of taking a cut of all software sales worth the effective action of starting with a software library the size of webOS's?
Same. I thought the flat interface was slick. Gestures on the edges of the tablet were smart. Keyboard selections (soft and hard thicker keys) were a nice features. Only thing I didn't appreciate were some of the Windows salespeople trying to convince me my gripes were unjustified. I typed faster than the keys were registered and he said it was because my stance was tense and I needed to relax.
I am all about hoping for good MS hardware, and desperately want to find a Windows phone I like, but if you need a special stance for your tablet there's something wrong.
In other words, sounds like something that would be more useful to be hooked into via API be app developers, but doesn't sound like it would solve any general OS usage issues.
If this happened while you were typing in Word, they may not have installed the update that fixed this issue (was reported in the comments of a surface article on here somewhere).
Some teething issues no doubt, and the store staff are being clueless salespersons, but it feels like it has promise.
I believe that WinRT is actually a relatively easy migration path from .Net. The biggest change is needing to use asynchrony in certain cases. You can even still link to your old C++ dlls! You do need to strip out disallowed API calls (Winsock, for example), but you are allowed to link against offending dlls during development. They only need to be removed for certification.
That said, Steam right now is more of an open platform that the Microsoft App Store. Even if Microsoft put up big, scary warnings, they really should allow the side-loading of Metro apps or have a Control Panel option to allow for their installation.
Microsoft even provides a PowerShell script that automates this installation each time you build a Windows Store app in Visual Studio along with the .appx file.
OK.
>What you need is the .appx file for the app and powershell
what
Great, my OS is now timebombed to permit me to only install what I want on it at Microsoft's pleasure.
How on earth is this "easy" compared to "compile it and you can run it forever" like Windows has been since Windows existed?
(Also: what happens when Windows 8 support is "sunset"? You just can't use that computer anymore? Jeez.)
Look at Steam Greenlight, which provides a very slim chance an indie game might get onto steam: http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight
Basically the rules seem to be lots of people apply, everyone pays, and you might get on if we like you, we will set your price and tell you the revenue split. In particular, a very small number of submitted apps get onto the store.
On the other hand, getting into the windows app store seems to have much more clearly defined rules, and Microsoft is trying everything they can to get more games on.
The Windows App Store is more inclusive, but there is no distribution outside of their ecosystem unless you have an enterprise license.
I do believe the gaming landscape is changing and maybe that means Linux is the winner for the next generation of awesome computer gaming titles.
Nevertheless, Microsoft is a company that is in the business in making money, and they are making a huge push for their new platform which is mimicking the most successful company in the world... Seems like they are making good decisions.
This whole 'marketplace' story is bad because
- it's not true. Steam is same thing like win store, or apple store (IMHO). Just money will now go to MS, not to Valve
- news portal editors should explain readers that you can install classic apps to Win8 (Pro), but Metro apps must go through Store. So, on PC+Win8 you can install everything.
- MS PR is responsible for this also, they should educate ppl more about this RT/Classic mess
You might disagree, but don't pretend it wasn't mentioned.
On the other hand, I'm not surprised to see the lockdown on mobile/tablet applications. People are already used to this and haven't yet been introduced to true freedom on their mobile devices (besides those of us who have rooted our phones). It'll be interesting to see what happens if some of the new Ultrabook/transformer devices take off.
In the end, we do need to make sure this issue is still raised. You never know, Microsoft might take this step and that would be bad for many developers and consumers.
How many non-programmers actually recognize the difference between full Windows 8 and Windows RT? They are both Windows, right? They are both new. Who cares about the details... until it is too late.
Windows RT is not really Windows in the sense it was understood in the past decades. It is a real disaster for every conscious Windows developer.
Programmers are not immune to the confusion, I've had to explain the difference to multiple coworkers.
In what way is it any different than selling an app through the Apple Store? If you want to add the extra functionality, you have to sell it through the Windows store, but no one is forcing you to use it in order for you costumers to use your program (lets face it, your games probably dont need the tiles) and if you do so choose to use their store, it isn't forcing you to remain exclusive to that store, you can sell it anywhere you want.
Right? If so, what is the fuss about?
I think the real issue is Microsoft's horribly Apple-esque policy on Windows 8 RT: you can only install software from the app store.
The core worry is that this is going to transcend ARM in future releases. Given the unified branding--both products are called "Windows 8"--I think this is a very real worry.
Even if it doesn't transcend onto x86 and desktop Windows 8, it's still every bit as bad Apple's policy and should not be condoned even only on RT.
Microsoft set things up this way because they want the Surface and Win8 metro to be similar.
The UI formerly known as Metro also seems that it would work reasonably well, at least better than WIMP, with a controller. Have anyone tried to plug in a controller to Surface, and see if it works?