Notch slams Windows 8 but is he correct or confused?

[xxMATTGxx]

Notch as recently slammed Windows 8 and told Microsoft to stop ruining an open platform. But is he correct or is he just confused?

Part 1:
http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/09/28/notch-doesnt-hate-windows-8-hes-just-confused/

Part 2:
http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/09/29/okay-maybe-its-about-app-restrictions-on-windows-8-not-that-either/

Part 3:
http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/09/29/maybe-its-about-closed-marketplaces-nope/


I personally think he is confused about Windows 8 because there's nothing stopping people from going onto the internet and say buying and downloading Microsoft. It will just basically work like previous Windows operating systems. What do you think?

[GommeInc]

I saw this come up on his Twitter before the BBC article wrote about it. Considering how little can be written in a Tweet, it seems a bit blown out of proportion but yeah I am with you on this one - he seems a little confused.

It's like the Google Maps debate and iOS6 - nothing is stopping you from ignoring the App store and going straight to the product in question.

Microsoft are doing what seems natural in the OS world and that's making come programs and Apps officially acknowledged. Although it is a bit controlling and ruins the "openness" of Windows, it's not stopping people from doing what's been natural with the OS and just going straight to the source. If I wanted to download Minecraft on XP, Vista or 7, I'd just go straight to Minecraft.net

Perhaps he's worried that Microsoft will start pulling the strings of Windows users, by slowly making them only look at what is available straight from the App Store (or whatever Microsoft is calling their ones) rather than go out and look themselves?

[peteyt]

I read some people are calling him a hipocrit because he has his games on Apple which is a walled type operating system. I saw him mention no one owns Windows and found that quite naive because obviously Microsoft own it. I agree that Microsoft should stay as it is but if he stops making games for windows he should do the same for Apple and there seems to be more windows gamers still right now than apple.

[Recursion]

Someone ran Minecraft through the certification test, it received 5 warnings, which would take minutes to fix.

Notch is either confused, or being a bit of an ass.

[xxMATTGxx]

I saw this come up on his Twitter before the BBC article wrote about it. Considering how little can be written in a Tweet, it seems a bit blown out of proportion but yeah I am with you on this one - he seems a little confused.

It's like the Google Maps debate and iOS6 - nothing is stopping you from ignoring the App store and going straight to the product in question.

Microsoft are doing what seems natural in the OS world and that's making come programs and Apps officially acknowledged. Although it is a bit controlling and ruins the "openness" of Windows, it's not stopping people from doing what's been natural with the OS and just going straight to the source. If I wanted to download Minecraft on XP, Vista or 7, I'd just go straight to Minecraft.net

Perhaps he's worried that Microsoft will start pulling the strings of Windows users, by slowly making them only look at what is available straight from the App Store (or whatever Microsoft is calling their ones) rather than go out and look themselves?


I re-tweeted an article about it and got replies such as this:


@mattgarner Notch's fears are real and valid. Microsoft is laying the foundations to close Windows completely, not something to support

@mattgarner Apple will too, to the extent that they'll likely adopt their own chips. Not something I'd support either (by choice)

While we don't know if that is the plan for Microsoft and Apple but surely if Notch has a problem Windows 8 then surely he should have a problem with Apple as well but nope he doesn't.


Someone ran Minecraft through the certification test, it received 5 warnings, which would take minutes to fix.

Notch is either confused, or being a bit of an ass.

Think it was the guy who I linked to.

[HotelUser]

Methods of obtaining applications such as Windows Marketplace or Apple's AppStores are great ways for developers to gain advertising for their products but I strongly dislike how it costs money to publish applications even when these companies collect money from you for every sale you make.

Moreover I am annoyed at the limitations Apple imposes upon developers and how strict they are, I am annoyed that Microsoft has disgusting limitations on RT. I'm actually moderately happy with Google, other than some of the restrictions they embed into the Chrome app store such as prohibiting JSONP over non-secure connections and not allowing third party installs of crx files as openly as they once did.

Notch in my opinion does have valid reasons to be slightly bothered (I actually don't know how the Windows 8 RT minecraft version will work with the imposed restrictions on Java), but it sounds like he's expressing a premature negative attitude toward Microsoft, which may or may not be deserved but we wont know that until Windows 8 has been around the block for a year or two.

Windows 8 is going to shift the industry (hopefully in good ways), but I'm not going to make big personal speculations or assumptions until I've actually had a thorough hands on with Windows 8, and until I've seen how Microsoft adjusts it and their policies to satisfy both developers and consumers. Microsoft usually hasn't been a nazi to desktop developers in the past so fingers crossed that they don't have intentions of screwing devs in the future.

[Chippiewill]

I have never once said I don’t like closed platforms. I have quite a few of them laying around my house, and I love most of them. My Nintendo 3DS brings me headaches and remakes of good games, my PSP Go is pretty much the only one sold in the entire world, and my cable modem from Cisco brings me amazing internet access almost 98% of the time.

But my favorite device out of all of them is my PC. It’s an open platform, designed to be open, and to allow different hardware and software to all work together kinda-sorta crash free, and it’s amazing. I can install whatever OS I want on it, or even write my own if I happened to be a mad genius (I wish). I care a lot about my PC, and I want it to stay open, and will not participate in anything that would make it more closed.

For every user Microsoft convinces to use the Modern UI, they have one more user they get to choose what programs they can see. They get to certify programs and control the experience. This is great for them (and possibly arguable makes for a smoother end user experience as well, but that’s debatable if it’s good), but it places faaaaar too much power in the hands of a single entity.

This is my complaint.
http://notch.tumblr.com/

Notch has a point, although to say the PM platform has been ruined is a major exaggeration, you can still install a different operating system onto a PC. He doesn't have a vendetta from a business standpoint, just from a personal emotional standpoint (Although he does want to leverage his business power to discourage moving to Windows 8 which is a MASSIVE **** move).

[GommeInc]

He does make a point, especially when Microsoft will be joining Google and Apple in taking percentages of each App sold. Yes it's fair to do that, as they are giving you revenue but it also means they are in control of what can be seen on their system. People will slowly switch to only downloading and installing applications which are approved on whatever marketplace they use. If you are not in with it, you simply do not benefit and slowly fizzle out. The problem is with the naivity of the end-user, than Microsoft or the developer.