[sc:windows-category ]Microsoft is moving full steam ahead on Metro in Window 8 but some of their decisions seem a little wrong to me.
For example, they have decided to limit Metro apps to be installed from the Windows Store only. Ok, obviously this is inspired from the mobile world, where Apple pioneered this model, but we’re talking about a desktop OS here. Everyone is used to installing apps on their desktops and there is no benefit to end users to limit it to the store.
You could argue about safety and security, but as all the vendors have found out, spyware and malware make their way in to the online stores all the time.
So what’s really behind the move? Money of course!
Limiting Metro apps the store only means Microsoft can take a 30% (or whatever they decide) cut of each app purchased and as Apple has found out, that can add up quickly.
There have been many articles on “The War on General Purpose Computing” and this is just the latest salvo.
I’m fundamentally opposed to this position, it’s my hardware, let me install what I want. I’m not a child and I don’t need big brother to decide what I install.
Anyway, how long do you think it will take the hackers to bypass this restriction? If they can do it almost same day as release on an iPhone with limited tools and documentation, image what they will be able to do on a full-blown PC.
Of course just to make matters worse, Microsoft now says that in Windows RT, you will be able to load your own Metro apps, if you’re an enterprise customer. So will that mean as long as a publisher has a valid signing certificate of some kind you will be able to load their app on to your device? Will this hold true for the standard Windows 8?
So many questions, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
