Microsoft Dumps 1,500 Apps From Its Windows Store 126
redletterdave writes: Microsoft announced on its Windows blog Wednesday that it's removed more than 1,500 apps from its Windows Store in a bid to clean up the store and restore trust with Windows 8 and Windows Phone users. Microsoft's new certification process, in particular, asks for clear and accurate names that "reflect the functionality of the app," more accurate categories, and differentiated icons to ensure apps aren't confused with one another. Microsoft reached out to developers with apps that violated its policies; some agreed to make changes to their software, while those who were "less receptive" saw their apps removed from the Windows Store. That might be just the beginning.
Google needs to clean up search (Score:5, Insightful)
Google needs to clean up misleading apps in their search and stop malware instead of profiting from it.
Look at the ads for Firefox.
http://i.imgur.com/piER06h.png [imgur.com]
It's the same for other apps, like Skype etc.
Walled Gardener (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're going to have a walled garden, you might as well tend it!
*Restore*? (Score:2, Insightful)
Restore trust? Shouldn't it be *there* in the first place to restore it?
They won't (Score:5, Insightful)
They won't fix it. They make a ton of money from those ads, make Windows slow down and look bad so they can push heavily locked down Chromebooks that techies seem to sing the praise of.
I completely fail to comprehend why most Slashdotters seem to push everyone towards DRM'ed iPads and Chromebooks that put Palladium to shame instead of more open Windows PCs.
I guess it's more about Microsoft hate and the desire to bring them down than software freedom.
Re:Walled garbage approach (Score:5, Insightful)
They should crowdsource this. Simply mark new apps as being in a probationary period and give downloaders the option of tagging the app as misleading, malware, abuse of permissions, etc. It would greatly help their human staff find the bad apples quickly. Of course the same goes for Google and Apple.
Re:They won't (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, it's as much about giving our friends and family a user experience which a) won't drive them insane, and b) won't make them come to us for tech support.
And, really, for many of us this whole "software freedom" thing is a little overplayed.
I've always found Stallman to be a bit of a crank, and the vast majority of people hear this stuff, and they think of teenagers spouting Marxist theory because the school cafeteria switched from Coke to Pepsi ... it becomes a little tired and melodramatic.
I'd wager that 99% of all people will never audit their IP stack, recompile their browser, or otherwise want any involvement in this stuff. They want the latest cool thing, and not some near approximation of it which comes in a kit.
What they want is a tool to get the stuff done they need/want to, and they want it with as little hair pulling as possible.
And, really, let's be honest here ... Windows is no more (or less) open than Apple, and in the places where they're more open, they're trying to be less, just like Apple. Everybody wants their own walled garden.
Hell, I installed a Linux Mint VM image a while back, and it wasn't even possible to set the search provider to Google, apparently because it's not ideologically pure enough or something.
So, if my Mom was looking for a tablet ... I'm going to find her one which suits her needs and will work for her, and I am never going to say "ZOMG, but this software is teh free".
Because my Mom already rolls her eyes at the rest of my loony rants, and doesn't give a damn about software freedom.
So, if you want to know why people aren't doing this, it's because when someone starts screaming "viva la revolucion" over software freedom, people roll their eyes and try to get distance from you.
Don't get me wrong, I likes me some Open Source software. But, have I built an entire ideology around it? Hell no.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:They won't (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows 8 Store Epic Fail (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, the Store has been a problem for me from the start. First I don't believe in Walled Gardens but you also can't sideload Metro apps. Couple that along with the fact that you can't delete store history in Windows 8 and you'll have a situation that just pisses people off. There are multiple support threads on this in the Microsoft forums and yet nothings been done to address these deficiencies. That's why you still see vendors creating desktop mode apps which still give them some control over the user experience including downloads and support.
Sorry Microsoft, get your heads out of your collective asses and listen to your customers.
Re: They won't (Score:4, Insightful)
your two weeks of experience with one distro
his two of experience with one distro running in a VM, no less.