Tendo City

https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-core-polaris

So, MS announced a new version of Windows 10, codenamed Polaris, which is going to be their new main consumer version of the OS... and it won't natively run Win32 applications, it's UWP-only. Other "unimportant legacy features" are also going to be disabled. What this means is that people who only use their PC for web browsing and such will be fine, but for gamers is catastrophic!


I think that if Microsoft sticks to this path they will have signed Windows' death warrant as a gaming platform. Because no UWP-only, Microsoft Store-focused OS will ever be the amazing gaming platform that the PC is. I wonder, will Microsoft come to their senses (or be forced into it by user criticism), or will they stick to this awful, AWFUL idea?

I don't want to have to go to Linux; I mostly like Windows, its issues aside. I'm used to it, it has a good interface, it's got the largest software library of any platform, and so much more! I have some issues with Windows 10, but for the most part it is still Windows. But THIS? If this is what it sounds like, this thing is not Windows, and it's not an open computer operating system the way all computer OSes need to be. It's one more step towards turning PCs into a walled garden and requiring developers pay MS for the privilege of releasing software on the "PC", while turning Windows into a service you pay for yearly for the privilege of continuing to use. Anyone who thought MS was not going to do that should have their confidence seriously shaken now, because it seems to be happening.

This ResetEra post by Jams775 sums up quite well why this is such a big issue:

Quote:Yup, companies do it all the time. I used to have a checking account that got bought out by a bigger one. They promised to keep the free checking for grandfathered accounts. They did... for like a year. Then they didn't.

This is how it'll go. They promise support for win32 and keeping normal 10 updated. They'll do it for a year or two. All the while win32 apps will be in compatibility hell either right away or after "updates" that'll keep breaking compatibility. Over time, companies like Adobe can switch over. But stores like Steam will probably not be allowed to. Eventually they'll just come out with some statement saying it's been long enough and now they're dropping support completely. By that time though, most people have been forced over because they're not knowledgeable enough to Linux or have the dough for Apple. The conversion will be assisted by apologist or whatever you'd want to call them. They'll continue brow beating and calling people who dare question Microsoft crazy or ridiculous.

Exactly, this is very well said! And that's why people saying "but Win32 and real Windows aren't going away, you will still be able to buy Win10 Pro!" are so wrong. This is just one step in a process, and keeping Win32 or non-UWP Windows application support are not a step that will stay in that process forever. Microsoft doesn't make money from Win32.

Microsoft is making money, sure, but they aren't making MORE money. That is the greatest sin in objectivism, the irredeemable sin.

How do they make more money? Make money off ALL program sales to their operating system. The only way to do that is to control the store. Now, this may not go anywhere. The pushback is huge, and "win32" is still modern in spite of MS's claims (it's 64 bit in spite of it's own name now, for example). None of their customers want this. MS does though, and so this will be defeated, and the one after that, but MS is going to try and find a way to get everyone to "switch" to their walled garden any time they think they can get away with it. It's just too tempting. Realistically, I really don't think MS can win this. So long as people want to use Windows over anything Unix based, those very same people won't stand for MS breaking software in such an arbitrary way. Companies that aren't MS won't stand for it either. In the long run, we'll be seeing people dowload tools to "break" windows updates rather than be forced to "upgrade" to a version of Windows that runs NOTHING outside what they buy on the store, meaning literally none of their software will work after that update because there is no way the MS Store will recognize purchases of that software from outside it. At best, this will work in very limited environments, like their console and their phones. But what if it didn't? What if, somehow, MS actually won the fight against their own customers? That's when Unix truly takes off.