Leaked MS Presentation Shows App Store Plans For Windows 8 339
FrankNFurter sends word of an internal Microsoft presentation leaked online today that contains details about Windows 8. The slides mention support for 3-D displays, connectivity upgrades, rapid startup times, and an integrated application store. Quoting Neowin:
"Consumers will be able to search on the web or locally on a Windows 8 machine to access applications from the store. Microsoft also details plans for application developers to help reach millions of users. One of the goals is to ensure licensing and monetization for developers is flexible with a transparent on-boarding process. It's clear that the 'Windows Store' will be a software service Microsoft provides and hosts fully in the cloud. The company will likely build the distribution model on Windows Azure to lure application developers."
Waaay behind on the 8 ball. (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft... Bringing you Today's technologies 4 years from now..
Wheres the innovation?
And really? an App store? For WIndows?
Cloud Computing? Really? Isn't it here now today?
Searching the Web or Locally? (Hmm... I dunno if I have been doing this my whole life)
Rapid Startup times? Every OS I have boots in less than 30 seconds.. Last time I booted windows it took 5 mins.
Re:Just hilarious (Score:3, Interesting)
And it would be one way for an administrator to allow people to download software while being reasonably assured they're not going to install malware by accident. I would hope.
Check out AppLocker.
It allows you to vet certain programs and allow them to be installed, including updates and future versions, without granting the user account full rights to install.
Or you can publish MSIs to the network and allow your users to install programs from the "Add Programs" menu.
A Real Solution (Score:3, Interesting)
I think going forward, most OS's are going to have an App Store built in. It's simply to convenient and brings to many advantages to the average user. It's also almost certain to be abused to reduce consumer choice and make the application market less competitive. So rather than complaining about it, I propose we modify the app store so we get all the benefits and none of the drawbacks.
A central "store" app for downloading, buying, upgrading, and registering software does not really exist on any desktop today. Some handle noncommercial downloading, some handle nothing, some handle commercial titles only. The real hurdle is in getting some of the benefits (like vetted software and remote disable of malware) without getting the drawbacks (like a single gatekeeper and fewer choices due to artificial restriction). We can't trust any single vendor and we shouldn't have to. Rather we need a model where one app can manage multiple repositories, all with signed software, updates, and the ability to transfer payments for registration purposes. Then we need a separate component that vets the apps, verifies the sources and ACLs, and lets the user know how much they can trust the app. This info can come from multiple parties and be weighted to give an overall trust rating the OS can use to apply default security restrictions automatically. The multiple parties might be the OS vendor, a security company, and an open project akin to ClamAV and together they build a greylist for your apps.
The benefit here is competition and better quality as a result. If MS is deciding all by themselves what software is trustworthy, they have little motivation to fix problems in a timely fashion or work hard at it. If, however, three or four parties are offering a for pay service, they're all competing for your money and are directly motivated to do the best job possible, resulting in fewer mistakes and better data for end users.
Re:Don't care... (Score:3, Interesting)
As long as I can continue to purchase and download software as normal I couldn't care less about an MS app store. The second they try to lock down Windows so you must use their app store, I'll be gone from the Windows platform and won't look back.
So, whatever. Don't care. If Microsoft decides to shoot themselves in the foot trying to push this, they are easily replaceable.
I really don't think MS is that quick to hurt itself, I think what they are looking to do is monetize development on their platform just like Apple does. To develop for the iPhone/Pad you need a Mac and the piece of hardware you want to develop for plus a developer's license, not only that Apple gets a cut of every sale. For Windows all you need is a copy of Windows and MS sees no money after that unless you get their development environment.
What I do see MS doing is pushing this as the best way to get software and downplaying anything Joe Internet user downloads, maybe going so far as to disable UAC for all app software to make it even more painless.
Re:Just hilarious (Score:3, Interesting)
> Yes, except for the bit you left out of your copy'n'paste. Apple don't have a monopoly
> or even near monopoly of the smartphone OS market.
It really depends on which fanboy you ask and when.
More Microsoft 'Innovation'? (Score:2, Interesting)
If the OS were free and they made their money in the App Store, this would make more sense - they would be beholden upon revenue from the App Store to survive. But this is just an attempt to counter Apple's success and Apple's increasing mindshare. Microsoft's 'App Store' will be an ugly, controversial mess and will likely drive more business toward Apple.
First question would be - Don't they already have an 'App Store'? Oh, wait, it only sells Microsoft software.
What happens when somebody comes up with something that competes with an existing Microsoft application? I think we already know the answer to that one.
What happens when someone comes up with a truly 'killer app' that becomes hugely successful? Microsoft will first try to buy the app to capture that 'lost' revenue, and if they fail to negotiate a suitably low price, will duplicate the app in-house and compete for that market.
So, someone quickly que the glossy, focus-group approved, TV ads that promise shiny exciting new toys for your already buggy, overburdened laptop.
Everybody sing! I'd like to buy the world an APP, and keep it company, I'd like to promise happy times, and flying chairs to see.
Re:More Microsoft 'Innovation'? (Score:2, Interesting)
So let me get this straight, you've just speculated about every possible thing that could be wrong with Microsoft's app store, with no evidence or foundation for your comments whatsoever?
You seem to be assuming that Microsoft is less open when it comes to 3rd party development than Apple but that's complete rubbish. Microsoft has always been absolutely superb to developers, it's one thing they do right.
It's utterly rediculous that a comment like yours get modded up when it's just a rant with absolutely no foundation behind it.
As a counterpoint, look at Microsoft's efforts with XNA on the 360, Microsoft have taken great strides to open the platform up for 3rd party developers, and submission acceptance/refusal is entirely community driven. There's no removing games that compete with Microsoft's offerings.
The fact is we've absolutely no idea what a Windows 8 app store will be like, any suggestion we do, any suggestion as to how Microsoft will behave with the app store when there's just as many examples of Microsoft being good to developers as there is screwing them over is just stupid.
Microsoft of all companies realises that treating developers well is what keeps companies using your products- this is why there's so many .NET jobs out there, this is why Visual Studio is best in class. Google realise this, hence why they've made such efforts to make Android equally easy and hassle free to develop and deploy for. Developers developers developers is funny as fuck, but there is a subtle yet important point behind Steve Ballmer's love of developers- developers making killer apps is what pulls people to your platform, discouraging creation of killer apps for a platform just means people will go elsewhere- where the killer apps are allowed to flourish.
Microsoft may be a cruel business, they may have done a lot of things wrong, but for the most part they sure as hell know how to court and look after developers. If Microsoft do follow the Apple model of dictatorial control over the app store, removing apps without good reason, without warning and without justification, it would be a complete and utter u-turn of Microsoft's long established ethos of supporting developers.