Microsoft Wants 30% Cut on Windows 8 Metro Apps

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
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Microsoft will be requiring a 30% cut from developers for apps designed for the new Metro UI on Windows 8. That is the bad news. The good news is Microsoft welcomes app submissions from all sources, including their direct competition.

This cut, however, only applies to apps designed specifically for the Metro interface as opposed to apps made for the traditional Windows desktop interface.
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Mobile operating systems always set a bad precedent. Why is that? Some kind of phone company aura that drives the people insane with greed?
 
I fully support this. It will discourage people from using that shitty interface and make them stick with the traditional Windows setup.
 
It's the same standard cut they use for the Windows Phone marketplace. I don't see why people hate it so much. Every "app store" takes a cut because they're the ones that handle all the back-end server work.

You think Steam doesn't take a cut from the games they sell?
 
I've been using Windows 8 metro interface for a few days now and while I enjoy the fresh update to the OS , I won't be upgrading to Windows 8 out of the gate.

Its going to take some tweaking and time for apps to be fully realized , but I don't think its unfair that MS wants a cut. However I think they if they want a cut from the App store then they should consider lowering the prices on there Windows 8 OS when it releases.. an incentive that would go a long way to bringing more customers in.

It'll be interesting to see how much business Windows 8 will generate for Windows Mobile , since both use the same type of App store.
 
NKDietrich said:
I fully support this. It will discourage people from using that shitty interface and make them stick with the traditional Windows setup.
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this. kill it with fire. Windows 7 will last for a LONG time. Or just go to Linux. just tell people its android for the desktop and they will never know the difference:D
 
I don't see this as a problem in itself, but rather, the first step toward them eventually discouraging the use and development of traditional windows apps. Once Metro has enough apps of it's own to be viable without using a traditional desktop, killing off apps they don't make money from will become their #1 priority.
 
NKDietrich said:
I fully support this. It will discourage people from using that shitty interface and make them stick with the traditional Windows setup.
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The problem is that the standard Windows API does not lend itself to the kind of power efficiency that Metro does.
 
Valshistixol said:
lol Why the hell would you need an app store on windows?
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I think Windows 8 will be an OS that'll be on both mobiles and desktops. I also think they are incorporating XBL in it. And if it's true that they do TV/Movies, I'll support it. I think it's a stupid idea that they want 30% though, if you want to beat the competition, you'd want to go lower.
 
I don't recall seeing any sort of claim that the only way to install metro apps would be via the marketplace. Windows is not a closed environment. The couldn't enforce that without locking down the entire OS (and thus making it fail completely as a replacement for Windows 7).
 
MS is looking at all the idiots heaping money upon Apple (even for a moment pushing Apple past Exxon as having the biggest pile of cash laying around), and MS wants in on that. The trouble is, Apple has cornered the more-cents-than-sense crowd, so MS is going to be fighting a very steep uphill battle.
 
BladeVenom said:
Because for the last 35+ years you could make programs for Microsoft operating systems without having to pay a cut to Microsoft.
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On other side you won't need to bother with handling downloads (it will go through MS servers), you won't need to bother with handling payments (PayPal, Google Checkout, credit cards - it will go through MS);...

It simply comes down to comfort versus 100% income. Those 30% is the Microsofts cut for handling the kind of stuff i mentoined above, plus for the fact that it is a simple, centralized store - no need to google for apps all around the internet.
 
dr.stevil said:
windows 8 is going to fail (as a desktop OS)... I can see it now
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Yeah, I think Windows 8 is going to be a dud. What does it bring to the table besides an interface that power-users won't like and that even maybe average users will find too annoying on the desktop? Throw paid apps on top, recipe for FAIL.

Microsoft is in a tough spot, and they're flailing in trying to come up with a way to keep their income flowing.
 
heatlesssun said:
But you don't have to use the Windows Store, BIG difference.
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In the long run as as developer and consumer you will indirectly be forced/pressured/given artificial incentives as it becomes entrenched. You can see an example of this with Steam and game digital distribution as a market example that shows signs of going in this direction.

From a pure business perspective it is a no brainer for Microsoft to implement an app store. But the most interesting thing will be how Microsoft can potentially dodge anti-trust issues with an integrated app store.
 
Stone Cold said:
So, you don't see free apps alongside the paid ones on WP7 Marketplace, iOS App Store or Android Market ? :confused:

This article just says that if you will sell an application through Windows Marketplace, 30% payment will stay at Microsoft, 70% will be sent to the developer. Nothing more, nothing less. 30% of 0 is still 0 for free apps.
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dr.stevil said:
windows 8 is going to fail (as a desktop OS)... I can see it now
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Unlikely. I've been going over the developer release like made and there's a LOT going into this OS and the developer release only gives us the basic framework. One thing that people are missing with the new Metro apps is the framework underneath, and it's a VERY big change in terms of not only the UI but the underlying APIs. Metro or the Windows Runtime, is an completely new and rearchitechted API, it's not just another wrapper around Win32. For Windows 8 the focus is on the UI side of things

There's a lot in this release, it's the most comprehensive OS ever released and much has been rethought. Now there's a lot of room for missteps and it is such a big release that it is going scare and confuse some. Lots of tools in the toolbox here to get cut up or build something very interesting.
 
Meh, if developers want to avoid paying the fees, they'd just make apps the way they've been doing it the past 20 years. They'll only pay a fee if they want it available for mobile platforms (Metro included) because someone's gotta pay for the servers and Microsoft sure as hell isn't going to pass the buck to customers. We've already been paying Microsoft premium dollars for OSes and Office and other business apps for decades now.

Nothing to see here.
 
It's quite interesting how MS is trying to merge the mobile and desktop models. I'm not really sure how it's going to work out.
 
I dont see it as a problem. Most developers pay that to get on Steam or similar stores, and more to get on a shelf at Best Buy and Walmart!!! It all depends on what you GET for that 30%, and its most likley a spot on the Windows 8 market place, right in front of 100% of your target market, and most likley will be MILLIONS of possible customers.

What would really piss off dev's is if they dis-allowed any other software to be installed any other way, like phones do. This would never fly with Windows.
 
ferzerp said:
I don't recall seeing any sort of claim that the only way to install metro apps would be via the marketplace. Windows is not a closed environment. The couldn't enforce that without locking down the entire OS (and thus making it fail completely as a replacement for Windows 7).
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From the article:
Microsoft won’t require apps to publish through its App Store, but being in the official channel would give apps more exposure.
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FoxhoundOp said:
Can someone tell me why this is unreasonable?
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Because its Microsoft. Doesn't matter what they do people are going to bitch about them fucking everyone over. they could give out windows for free and pay people to post apps in the store and people would still be bitching.
 
Good news! Microsoft is still copying everything Apple does, even the bad ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXi_aFK2r9Y

Does anyone really think many companies are actually going to use the Metro UI, with the only exception of applications aimed at ARM platforms? It's not like anyone didn't guess that Windows 8 was trying to do the same thing as Mac OS X Lion, by incorporating cell phone features into a desktop OS. We all know how well that worked out for Apple. If you haven't guessed, very badly.

The problem with Microsoft is that their cell phone OS is doing horrible. So who here thinks that Windows 8 going to be any good at all? I know I'm looking forward to our Linux overlords. Cell phone belongs on cell phones, and desktop stuff belongs on desktops.
 
There's always Windows 7 for home users and companies if Windows 8 turns out to be a flop.

Unlike XP which was very old by the time Microsoft released a new OS, Windows 7 is still relatively new and there is no reason to upgrade from Windows 7 yet. Nothing is broken or lacking in it, I don't see why we must upgrade to Windows 8 or something else instead of sticking to Windows 7 for the time being.

If its a flop, then Microsoft will learn from it and release a proper Windows for the desktop in the future.
 
Hornet said:
There's always Windows 7 for home users and companies if Windows 8 turns out to be a flop.

Unlike XP which was very old by the time Microsoft released a new OS, Windows 7 is still relatively new and there is no reason to upgrade from Windows 7 yet. Nothing is broken or lacking in it, I don't see why we must upgrade to Windows 8 or something else instead of sticking to Windows 7 for the time being.

If its a flop, then Microsoft will learn from it and release a proper Windows for the desktop in the future.
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Well see, Vista was a flop, and a huge one at that. Anyone that disagrees is clearly insane. Anyway, it was such a huge flap that people stuck with Xp, and were reluctant to move away from it, even with Windows 7, which wasn't a bad OS.

Thing is, during the Vista era of computing, lots of different sources were trying to take that thunder away from Microsoft. Apple had advertisements that deliberately mentioned Vista, and even Linux got some attention for running Windows applications faster then Vista did.

Windows 7 is really a patch up job of Vista, and it was done to save Microsoft's arse. Everyone knows that Vista could have had all the changes in Win7 as a service pack. So why create Windows 7? It's to kill the Vista name, as it got a bad reputation.

Now, Windows 7 is a good OS, but it's really a fixed up Vista. So if Windows 8 fails, then we'll technically still be using Vista, except it's called Windows 7.
 
Ashbringer said:
Does anyone really think many companies are actually going to use the Metro UI, with the only exception of applications aimed at ARM platforms? It's not like anyone didn't guess that Windows 8 was trying to do the same thing as Mac OS X Lion, by incorporating cell phone features into a desktop OS. We all know how well that worked out for Apple. If you haven't guessed, very badly.

The problem with Microsoft is that their cell phone OS is doing horrible. So who here thinks that Windows 8 going to be any good at all? I know I'm looking forward to our Linux overlords. Cell phone belongs on cell phones, and desktop stuff belongs on desktops.
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People are simply looking at the UI and aren't digging deeper. Metro or the Windows Runtime is an entirely new native Windows API and it provides a way to write all kinds of business applications. Metro is PERFECT for all manners of vertical market applications, point of sale, healthcare, sales, ect. that are FAR more capable than what could be easily done on a mobile phone OS.

I started playing with the Visual Studio 11 preview and the code samples and there is just some very cool stuff that can done with Metro that's much harder to do with standard Win32 desktop development, it is very similar to Windows Presentation Foundation but much cleaner and faster which were reasons why many developers never used WPF.
 
Exavior said:
Because its Microsoft. Doesn't matter what they do people are going to bitch about them fucking everyone over. they could give out windows for free and pay people to post apps in the store and people would still be bitching.
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Exactly.

I am amazed that there is this ever growing generation that seems to think everything should be free and moans when anyone wants paying for the effort they put in to provide something worthwhile.

I'd love to see how these very same folks would behave if their boss called them in and said he felt they should work for free too.

However, MS should have gone for 20-25% instead of 30%.;)
 
Ashbringer said:
Good news! Microsoft is still copying everything Apple does, even the bad ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXi_aFK2r9Y

Does anyone really think many companies are actually going to use the Metro UI, with the only exception of applications aimed at ARM platforms? It's not like anyone didn't guess that Windows 8 was trying to do the same thing as Mac OS X Lion, by incorporating cell phone features into a desktop OS. We all know how well that worked out for Apple. If you haven't guessed, very badly.

The problem with Microsoft is that their cell phone OS is doing horrible. So who here thinks that Windows 8 going to be any good at all? I know I'm looking forward to our Linux overlords. Cell phone belongs on cell phones, and desktop stuff belongs on desktops.
Click to expand...

And in another thread, people wonder why corporate users wont step up
to even windows 7 and will stick with XP.

These are just more reasons why MS is going to fail.
 
heatlesssun said:
Unlikely. I've been going over the developer release like made and there's a LOT going into this OS and the developer release only gives us the basic framework. One thing that people are missing with the new Metro apps is the framework underneath, and it's a VERY big change in terms of not only the UI but the underlying APIs. Metro or the Windows Runtime, is an completely new and rearchitechted API, it's not just another wrapper around Win32. For Windows 8 the focus is on the UI side of things

There's a lot in this release, it's the most comprehensive OS ever released and much has been rethought. Now there's a lot of room for missteps and it is such a big release that it is going scare and confuse some. Lots of tools in the toolbox here to get cut up or build something very interesting.
Click to expand...

Thx for the heads up - will reconsider upgrading from Win7 x64 as I've not been keeping up with the updates to the guts of Windows
 
niconx said:
The problem is that the standard Windows API does not lend itself to the kind of power efficiency that Metro does.
Click to expand...

The Playschool engineer that wrote it said the same thing...
 
daglesj said:
Exactly.

I am amazed that there is this ever growing generation that seems to think everything should be free and moans when anyone wants paying for the effort they put in to provide something worthwhile.

I'd love to see how these very same folks would behave if their boss called them in and said he felt they should work for free too.

However, MS should have gone for 20-25% instead of 30%.;)
Click to expand...

Isn't that the problem, that the stuff isn't worthwhile anymore? Who here would switch over to a linux OS, if your application ran on it? I know I would, in a heart beat.

Firefox is free
VLC is free
Thunderbird is free
OpenOffice is free
XBMC is free

I have no problem paying for applications, that seem worth it. What Microsoft is doing is trying to turn the PC into the Xbox, and collecting royalty fees. So now Windows 8 is a profit generating OS, that I had to buy to begin with?

It'll get to the point where every application must be downloaded through their app store, and must use Metro. I assure you that people would have left Windows in favor of some other OS. Don't be surprised if Google is working on a OS of their own, one based off linux, and I don't mean Chrome.

Do people really think that Google has no interest to take the OS market away from Microsoft, in order to preserve www.google.com. Linux isn't something people think of, but if Google gets behind it.... well just look at Android.

Microsoft has been threatening Google for a long time, and they've been doing it through Windows. If Google offered a competitive OS that was free, you can kiss Windows goodbye. Someone could just get behind Ubuntu and offer them some serious funds, and you'll see them as a serious threat to Windows.
 
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