Microsoft BUILD: Windows 8, A Pre-Beta Preview
by Brian Klug & Ryan Smith on September 13, 2011 12:05 PM EST- Posted in
- BUILD
- Windows
- Microsoft
- Windows 8
- Trade Shows
The Windows Store
As we mentioned previously, the Windows Store will be the Metro carrot for developers. At the same time it will be a significant change for end-users, double-so for Windows users who move to ARM.
Fundamentally the Windows Store is as you’d expect: it’s Microsoft’s rendition of the application stores we see on Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Ubuntu, etc. It will have a prominent place in Windows 8 (currently it’s the 2nd tile) and Microsoft would be very happy if all of their developers distributed applications through it. For x86/x64 users it will be just another source of applications; Metro applications can be sold through it, while for Win32 applications it will act as a listing service directing users to the owner's website. For ARM users however the Windows Store will be the only place users can get applications from, thereby not only requiring they be Metro, but that the entire experience for ARM users will be a walled garden like iOS.
Unfortunately the Store is one of the few features Microsoft showed off during the press event that was not enabled on our tablet. Right now Microsoft is still working on what their content standards will be, a Terms of Service agreement, pricing/developer cuts, etc.
As it stands the store itself looks like functions exactly how you’d expect a Metro based application store to behave. The store will only be accepting and selling Metro applications, so non-Metro applications will continue to be installed via traditional methods.
The Windows Store alongside Metro’s APIs will serve as a two-pronged approach for security for Microsoft. Metro applications will have a fine grained permissions system similar to Android, and as a result most applications will have even fewer rights than today’s applications running with user level permissions, as applications will only be given the permissions they ask for and the user approves. Meanwhile the Store’s content approval process will further weed out bad applications. As such we’d expect Microsoft’s pitch to end-users to be something along this line: so long as you stay in the walled garden, you’re guaranteed to be secure.
From an end-user perspective one big thing differentiating the Windows Store from Apple’s Mac App Store is that Microsoft will also be allowing developers to offer time limited trials through the store, by building on top of Microsoft’s existing DRM/licensing technologies. Along these lines Microsoft will also be offering the now obligatory ability to make in-application purchases, allowing developers to sell application features beyond just the application itself.
We’re still waiting to see how software updates are handled, but at this point it’s reasonable to expect that they will become part of the Windows Update process as low-priority updates.
The layout/categorization of the store hasn’t been finalized, but it’s going to be of great interest from developers and end-users alike thanks to its significant status on ARM devices. Microsoft has gained a lot of experience from the Xbox Live Store, and at the same time developers have gained a lot of experience living and dying by the Xbox Live Store. As it currently stands Microsoft will have a curated “Spotlight” category, while other categories such as “Games” will be semi-to-fully automated.
From a development standpoint Microsoft is pitching the Store not only as an easy to access storefront for their wares, but as a source of analytic/telemetry information. Developers will have access to sales data (including sales relative to category leaders), crash reports, certain usage statistics, and other types of information commonly seen in other application stores.
Finally for developers, Microsoft is also looking at what they can do to beat Apple when it comes to application submission and approval. The Windows Store will of course have content restrictions and technical requirements, and Microsoft is looking to capitalize on making those mechanisms transparent versus Apple’s black box process. The Store’s terms have not been finalized yet, but Microsoft is promising that they’ll clearly outline what will be acceptable for the Store. For applications already submitted to the Store there will be a status page developers can access that will tell them which stage their application is currently at: pre-processing, security testing, technical compliance, content compliance, signing and publishing, and finally release. Microsoft’s technical compliance requirements will be public, and developers will have access to the tools needed to test technical compliance ahead of time to confirm compliance before submitting it to Microsoft.
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Ryan Smith - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
"How will this upset the AV vendors, and how does it affect corporate users who can currently only use MSE if they have up to 10 machines?"Realistically I have to think AV vendors will be upset. You can easily disable Defender and replace it with other AV software, but this will hurt consumer sales. For businesses it's murkier. I can't imagine MS will turn off Defender if you have too many employees, but products like Symmantec's Endpoint Protection do more than just AV scanning and will probably remain desirable.
"Also, wouldn't it be a simple fix to allow the mouse-wheel to scroll left and right in the tiles display? Down goes left and up goes right?"
The mouse wheel currently works that way. The problem is that it's on a per-app basis, it isn't implemented in a universal fashion. Also, it's very slow to scroll that way with the wheel.
Kakureru - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
the beginning of the end for useable open platform computing..TPM sucked ass when it was thought up and sucks ass now as implemented.
Sure its greeeeat to prevent a few pieces of malware but corporate abuse is more
of a danger than the viruses its sought to prevent.
A5 - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
If you'd like cite your claim of TPM being used for "corporate abuse", that'd be great.CSMR - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Could someone explain: why is the start menu so small in the desktop?The links there are: Start, Search, Share, Devices, Settings
No recently used programs, no pinned programs, no all programs? No libraries?
How is accessing programs going to work on Win8?
UMADBRO - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Why not try our the developer release and find out?bupkus - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
I'm hopeful that it will run on my HP Touchpad.rasueno - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
does it play crysis?Ryan Smith - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
I'm wishing I brought a copy of Crysis with me. I would have installed it on the Samsung tablet given the opportunity.Exodite - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
So in the end Windows 8 is Windows 7 with an UI I hate?No thanks, I'll pass.
Over the last weeks we've seen some minor utility functionality previewed and I've tried my very best to keep fingers crossed that the many technical problems related to the OS will be addressed as well.
Not so it seems.
Essentially, from '95 onward the only real difference between releases have been a constantly changing UI and tacked-on convenience functionality. And the changing UI isn't a good thing, that's one area where consistency is paramount.
Personally I find what I've seen of the new UI to be a complete clusterfuck and the fact that we seem to get further and further away from the simplicity, power and elegance - let alone the intuitive interface - of a 20 year old OS (namely AmigaOS 3.x) is deeply troubling.
I don't want to advocate thrashing the entire code base and rewriting everything from the ground up but it seems more and more likely that's what it's going to take.
Oh well, my '92 Amiga still works.
Belard - Tuesday, September 13, 2011 - link
Hey... I used to run AmigaOS 3.0 on my Amiga 1000. :PI'm still not a lover of MS... but MS I see what MS is doing... it does make sense and they want to cater to the typical computer user, which is still a moron -er I mean, novice. I see teenager kids nowadays who grew up with computers that don't actually know how to USE a computer. Other than games, opening a browser to use facebook, email and IM and look at porn, that's about it.
For those in the work place, its about running a few apps (Word, email, quickbooks). So for many people, the desktop is either a clean place they rarely see or mess with hundreds of icons all over the desktop.
With the launcher and controls off to the side - which is a good place for these stupid 16x9 screens, it may means faster access to our apps and data on the computer.
I have 9 Apps open right now (Photoshop, Word, excel, Opera, Notepad++ (awesome - a text editor with tabs that remembers everything), various explorer windows. I can't see the icons, widgets or folders on the desktop itself. If its not on the taskbar - I'm not seeing it. So maybe, Metro/Win8 will work in the end.
Windows 8 is obviously about keeping control of the computer market... as iPad and MacOS are selling like mad - even Walmart proudly sells iPad2s - the marketing is more so than anything I've seen at a Walmart, oh well.
The removal of the F8 DOS is a step in the right direction... remember AmigaOS 2.0 and above from 1990 is still more advance than Windows7 in some ways.
I own an Android phone, which its GUI works like iOS. I run a WindowsPhone7 Launcher to replace the Android one... why? Its easier to use, its faster, it tells me info... I spent almost a year trying to find an app, my alarm, camera etc with my Samsung phone... I know where they are, but I maybe on the wrong screen or an icon gets moves. Whatever. The WP7 launcher works great for mobile devices... and an ACTUAL WP7 works even better.
I generally don't NOT like or trust Microsoft. In the end - it was Commodore that screwed us and killed the Amiga, not apple, not MS. I still have my Amigas... along with my Win7PC, ThinkPads and iPad. Whatever works.
If MS wants to improve upon what they have... a major change is needed.
Dos > Win3.0 / 3.1 > Win95 / Win98 > WinXP / WinXP > Win7 (weakest jump).
Hmmmm.... I think Microsoft may actually OUT-Macintosh Apple... that would be fun.
Windows 7 is the best MS has down for their desktop OS, finally. Its still a challenge for most humans. Win8's Metro interface is a GOOD move towards more elegane and simplicity over the OLD desktop. But MS *MUST* do a good job in making Win8 run properly with a mouse and keyboard. I'm fine with fingerprints on my iPad... Pros are NOT going to be putting their hands on their 24~30" screens to use PHOTOSHOP!!
PS: notice there was still a DOS Prompt: Icon in the Win8 preview.