Is this new Windows "app store" the only way one can install software in the future, or is it just one additional way to deploy applications, which is more streamlined? If it's the latter, then I would think a "certification" process makes sense. It's not about closing down a platform, it's about establishing a more user friendly installation experience.
It's the latter. For now it seems like Microsoft is doing what Apple has never considered - building a streamlined frontend interface with a certified app store so casual users can safely and easily access a wide range of software, and maintaining a fully tinker-able backend and not closing off other software distribution channels for expert users.
Unless this is all a prelude to their master plan to pull an iOS in W9, it seems like a highly prudent move. Microsoft is a company, and needs to remain competitive against Apple, and they best achieve this by simplifying the front-end. But they don't seem to be forgetting their expert-user roots.
The only question for me now is how moddable the Metro interface will be. I think it would be smart if Microsoft left it relatively open for expert users to experiment with.
I would like to point out that it isn't actually the latter. If your app is a "Metro-Style Windows 8 app", then you can't sell it on your own, you have to put it up on the Windows Store or make a desktop application if you want to sell it on your own.
> For now it seems like Microsoft is doing what Apple has
> never considered - building a streamlined frontend
> interface with a certified app store so casual users can
> safely and easily access a wide range of software, and
> maintaining a fully tinker-able backend and not closing
> off other software distribution channels for expert users.
Interestingly, model that you just described works fine on OS X and have been this way for more than a year now.
I would hardly call the front-end of OS X streamlined. Metro is streamlined and user-friendly, OS X is, despite (or increasingly because of) the few tacked-on iOS-esque elements, a train wreck for usability. Apple needs to face the fact that small tweaks will not get you the best of both worlds. A comprehensive rethink a la Metro is essential.
> It's the latter. For now it seems like Microsoft is doing what Apple has never considered - building a streamlined frontend interface with a certified app store so casual users can safely and easily access a wide range of software, and maintaining a fully tinker-able backend and not closing off other software distribution channels for expert users.
Isn't that exactly what Apple has done on OS X with the Mac App Store?
Is this new Windows "app store" the only way one can install software in the future, or is it just one additional way to deploy applications, which is more streamlined?
On ARM-based tablets running Windows "RT" (that is Windows 8, without the legacy, without the desktop), Windows only ships with Metro and the AppStore is the only place to get apps.
On x86-based systems, you can fool around in desktop-land as you are used to and install anything you like.
So the answer is yes and no, all depending on platform.
