Jexel, it’s so obvious what Microsoft is trying to pull here that I’m having a hard time understanding why you guys can’t see it immediately.

Look at it: no Start Menu, desktop apps now being called ‘legacy’, Aero removed, Metro UI *by default* and *no choice* about it – Microsoft is *forcing* users into WinRT.

Microsoft trying to copy Apple’s business model, the new Surface tablet that can only run WinRT apps which you can only get from the Microsoft store…

Surface (not Surface Pro) is Microsoft’s real vision of the future and Microsoft’s BIG experiment, and what they would have done with Windows 8 if they had thought even for a minute that they could have gotten away with it. They know the market is not ready yet, therefore the existence of a ‘Surface Pro’.

I mean… how much more do you need to open your eyes?

Anyway, Microsoft is betting the farm on their market share, i.e.; that pissed off developers won’t abandon them in droves and will instead switch to making WinRT apps simply because the potential market is too big *and* developers thus have no real choice. This way Microsoft’s control over Windows, including everything that gets developed for it, would be *absolute*.

Microsoft *can*, *has*, and *will* alienate Windows developers without thinking twice about it. They couldn’t care less about how many businesses and developers this abrupt switch to a completely new OS will obliterate. That’s what makes it so evil.

It has done this already, although on a much smaller scale, when it discontinued classic Visual Basic (the most popular high level computer language *ever*) and replaced it with an incompatible VB .NET.

Behind that move and WinRT is the same school of thought at work inside Microsoft: Steven Sinofsky and his minions. A lot of people inside Microsoft do not agree with the direction Microsoft is currently taking, but they have no say in it at this point. All they can do is wait and secretly hope that Sinofsky and his plan of world domination (TM) end up going down in flames.

As for those users who are mistakenly convinced WinRT is a good thing, they will be in for a huge surprise if Microsoft is allowed to get away with this. I can spell out the reasons if anyone asks.

“then you can pay for the certification. It’s a powerful and attractive option that developers should be OK with paying for.”

You know that in order to gain certification, you have to jump through hoops. It’s not just a matter of paying for the privilege. It has already been stated that “Mature Content” will not be distributed via their store, so any product with a 17+ age restriction have automatically failed to gain said certification.

The restrictions make it easier for MS to control what becomes popular, thus falsely dictating the direction Windows heads in.

Do you think they will allow “Open Office” or other freeware that competes with their own products?

Microsoft won’t be backing out of this, despite any level of complaints. New PC’s will ship with windows 8 so they’ll always have enough market share to push their agenda. Having a closed system with an appstore so they can take a percentage of each sale is too tempting for them. Controlling which apps are approved means they can push people towards using their services, which means more advertising revenue.

Don’t be so naive, antitrust laws aren’t preventing any other company from making closed systems, iOS, kindle, etc. Apple have been happily rejecting apps for the appstore based solely on competition reasons.

Sigh, I despair of idiots accusing others of being so. He wasn’t claiming the surface pro didn’t exist, he’s using the surface RT as an example of where microsoft is heading… a closed platform. Microsoft more than likely won’t be offering a “surface pro” alternative when they make their next iteration of windows.

Can’t you read? The article is clearly talking about what Microsoft intend to do. Windows 8 is a stepping stone towards a closed OS, with only microsoft approved apps. They’re basically just going to copy iOS.