Windows 8 App Store Screenshots 131
syngularyx writes "The screenshots show Microsoft's new application store for Windows. The store appears to be running in Windows 7, hinting that the software giant may also be planning to offer its app store for legacy versions of Windows. Cnbeta posted the screenshots on Monday, however WinRumors is unable to confirm their authenticity at this time. The screenshots appear to show a number of Microsoft's own software, including third party software from Opera and Mozilla."
You know it's real - it has "Angry Birds". (Score:3)
I'm pretty sure it's real. It makes a ton of sense to have an App Store. If you think about it Linux has had an "app store" for the PC long before Apple with repos that you could pull many applications, the concept has even been guified to some extent over the years...
I was expecting Windows to have an App Store about a half a year to a year after the iPhone App Store. I really wonder why there has been such a huge delay in implementing this concept.
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windows 7 does have an app store, but they just don't call it an app store. It's called the 'marketplace'.
Phone or Desktop? (Score:2)
windows 7 does have an app store, but they just don't call it an app store. It's called the 'marketplace'.
I thought that was on the phone though. We are talking desktop here. It's really a different thing, in part because it's not the only channel to get software as it is on the device, but more a matter of convenience for users.
Jump on the bandwagon... (Score:1)
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Android and iOS are both "viable" operating systems. People are not realizing what life without microsoft might look like, and they like it. What I want to see is Android finish building out their Tablets and start moving to Desktops in 2 years. Microsoft should be quaking in their boots if that should ever happen.
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*now realizing*
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Android finish building out their Tablets and start moving to Desktops in 2 years.
Given that it uses the Linux Kernel... its pretty much an uh... Linux Distribution.
Or would it be a case of prestege or something? Because people 'fear' linux because of all the Terminal work you need (still living under a rock?) while Android is famous.
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Android is as much a Linux distribution as OSX is a BSD distribution.
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Riiiight, and it'll run QuickBooks/Quicken? Aunt Tillie's camera software, all those games junior bought at Walmart? No? Then it isn't really useful on a desktop now is it?
And, uh, why does that determine whether it's useful on a desktop? If we're allowed to make arbitrary requirements I could equally well say that Windows doesn't come with free ponies, therefore it's not really useful on a desktop.
I haven't used Windows as a desktop OS in years, other than occasionally dual-booting into it for games or video editing. Most people don't play games beyond Farmville, don't need a high-end video editing package and spend most of their time just running a web browser.
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Have to second this comment, for a friends family I replaced their ageing infected Windows 98 machine with Ubuntu desktop and recently did the same with their daughters laptop.
With most of what they do being in the the cloud coupled with console for games and open office being good enough for their needs they have not missed the transition, in fact they would not go back.
It's not a solution for everyone but for an average person that has smartphones, games consoles and lives on facebook etc then it is perfe
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Why, yes, it will run QuickBooks and Quicken (WINE is bundled in modern distributions, and QuickBooks in particular has received a great deal of attention). And it supports Aunt Tillie's camera as soon as she plugs it in, no reason to install the software off the disk that came with it at all. I dispute that your hypothetical Junior is buying games for his PC more often than his Xbox, so that one's moot.
I'm not saying it's perfect, but you clearly haven't looked at a modern desktop-oriented distribution lat
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Android is shipping with dancing hookers and blow? Can I swap the blow for some viagra?
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Yeah, MS was on this bandwagon years ago.
Just because you didn't know about it doesn't mean it wasn't there. and for the record, yes it sucked. It was much improved with windows 7. They didn't use trendy terms like 'appstore'. Only through Apple magic could the name 'Appstore' become trendy, and they get thought of as being the first.
.
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Confused (Score:2)
I didn't know if this was for the computer OS or the phone, since they are both at version 7 now, and presumably will progress to version 8. At lease until I clicked on the link.
Of course I was then confused about how a screen shot of the current OS means that there will be support for legacy OS's since the last time I checked, Win8 was not released.
Frankly I closed the tab I opened up TFA in, as it appears that they don't even know where the image came from. At least that's what I got out of looking at it
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It would be more useful in a simple list format, scrap the graphics
Household Apps
Windows Catalog? (Score:4, Informative)
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Sliced bread sucks. It can't get you games, summer blockbusters, or porn. It doesn't even support HTML5.
I mean this is the 21st century! It's, like, a post-Fox [wikipedia.org] world and we can't even get flying cars, real-life magic missiles, or food with Micro-USB ports. Lame.
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Nope. I remember, I also remember the there was a market place for XBox on 2005, and for the PC in 2008.
But everyone here seems to think this is MS coming late to the party.
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APT is from 1999. MS is way late to the game as usual.
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Yeah, those were the days. I remember paying for a lot of applications with FreeBSD's built in credit card processing system. It was nicely integrated into the ports tree.
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What has paying got to do with it?
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"Games for Windows Marketplace"
Hmmm... interesting link I found in my Games folder on Windows 7.
I remember the Catalog in Windows 98...
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Am I the only one who remembers the Windows Catalog in XP?
I remember deleting the shortcut...
It's like Deja Vu all over again (Score:2)
http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/11/windows-app-store/ [techcrunch.com]
(With all that investment in Microsoft Research, why does Microsoft copy others, particularly Apple, so much???)
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http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/11/windows-app-store/ [techcrunch.com]
(With all that investment in Microsoft Research, why does Microsoft copy others, particularly Apple, so much???)
You think people who copy the Apple App store will work for free?
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Make no mistake. The primary mission of Microsoft Research is to pull together some of the most talented and respected researchers in the field, supporting them in a comfortable, low-pressure environment in order to keep them from working for anyone else.
What they do at Microsoft is of no real concern, as long as they're not helping the competition.
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tinfoilhat.jpg
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I hate this anti-intellectual attitude that attacks anything that doesn't lead to a new shiny for the lowest common denominator buyer. MS Research is actually a pretty good shop. Playing up conspiracy theories is being silly. Researchers aren't supposed to be marketers.
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They don't.
Aero was in development before OSX
MS has had an Appstore like product since XP.
I could ask:
With all the investment into Apple research, why did Apple copy BSD?
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Release dates count, not when some intern thought of it.
The "AppStore" thing in XP is pathetic, and app store like package management has been around before 1999 in linux land.
Apple did not copy BSD, Mac OS was replaced with NEXT. They then decided to rename NEXT to OSX.
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Release dates count, not when some intern thought of it. The "AppStore" thing in XP is pathetic, and app store like package management has been around before 1999 in linux land.
Apple did not copy BSD, Mac OS was replaced with NEXT. They then decided to rename NEXT to OSX.
It's NEXTSTEP, NeXTStep, Openstep, or OPENSTEP, but it's never NEXT. It was NeXT Inc., and prior to that it was NeXT Computer Inc.
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10.0 (Cheetah) was released March 24, 2001.
You're saying Aero was in development before that?
[citation needed]
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They don't seem to know what the hell to do, or at least not when to do it. They're stuck in an infinite loop of market research, competitive analysis and responding to consumer demand. So yeah, copying Apple.
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http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/11/windows-app-store/ [techcrunch.com]
(With all that investment in Microsoft Research, why does Microsoft copy others, particularly Apple, so much???)
Because MS doesn't really innovate. You can't come up with new ideas when you are mostly concerned with catching up to Apple. They had been #1 for so long that it didn't matter if they did something new, as they were the only game in town for many peolpe. Look at the Zune; same basic form factor as the iPod. Same can be said for most of the smart phones out there, that look just like the iPhone. And now with all the tablet stuff going on, people don't realize that Apple made the iPad before the iPhone, but
"Opera" (Score:1)
OK, I'll put a firefox logo in there.
"Hmm... perhaps not Firefox"
OK, I'll use Chrome logo.
"Hmm... let's not use Chrome"
Uhh... Safari?
"No. Hey, what about Opera? People will appreciate that."
You mean the browser with less market share than Netscape 4*?
*this may be untrue.
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Can I get a Huzzah for the Bork Bork Bork version of Opera for MSN?
The perfect name for the App Store (Score:5, Funny)
Windows8MyComputer
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Windows8MyComputer
At some point they'll get to where apps run about as fast as on a quintuplecore Win 7 Phone as they did on 33MHz 486 desktop with Win 3.1
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At some point they'll get to where apps run about as fast as on a quintuplecore Win 7 Phone as they did on 33MHz 486 desktop with Win 3.1
I know you're joking, but honestly my Neo Freerunner was faster than my 386 running windows, it certainly outstripped it in every attribute except screensize (but not resolution), and I'm pretty sure the iPhone 4 is faster than a 486
warez versions of windows (Score:3)
hinting that the software giant may also be planning to offer its app store for legacy versions of Windows.
Here's a dilemma for MS... given a guy with a warez version of windows, do you let them app store it or not... Justification for no, is you just wanna make life more difficult for unlicensed windows installs. Justification of yes, is here's a guy who wants to give you a fat stack of bills for a bunch of 1s and 0s, so take it while you can get it....
I've, uh, heard from friends, that apple accepts money in the itunes music store from OSX pirates. But MS has a cultural love of making users jump thru windoze activation foolishness.
Re:warez versions of windows (Score:4, Insightful)
Being that one of the other leaks was about their new authentication scheme, I'd say that more likely than not they will bust people with unlicensed versions of windows when they try to run the app store.
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Funny enough, or ironically enough depending on your view, when you install OSX Apple trusts that you bought it and doesn't know or care if you pirated it. No CD Keys, no activation codes, no serials...
Given that Apple isn't worried about it's cash flow anytime soon, it makes me wonder if CD Keys are really worth the hassle.
There is a big "key" for OSX... (Score:1)
Given that Apple isn't worried about it's cash flow anytime soon, it makes me wonder if CD Keys are really worth the hassle.
Other vendors don't have such an expensive dongle to make money with.
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given a guy with a warez version of windows, do you let them app store it or not
Simply allow unlicensed installations of Windows to become legal by purchasing an OS licence from the app store. Have the version purchased update the existing install to the correct configuration (starter/home/ultimate) depending on what is purchased. Allow in store upgrades to the OS.
Why now? (Score:3)
Seriously, Ubuntu has had an 'app store' for ages. Was a brilliant idea. Now apple's getting into the game, and Microsoft might step in.
Why now? Seriously? Given how popular 'one stop get everything' services are... why hasn't someone had this idea a few years earlier?
2011 the year of the app store.
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So why didn't they put a giant spotlight on it? A desktop shortcut, an introduction... more push towards it... Sometimes I wonder whether Microsoft Marketting is composed entirely of monkeys.
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Seriously, Ubuntu has had an 'app store' for ages. Was a brilliant idea. Now apple's getting into the game, and Microsoft might step in.
Why now? Seriously? Given how popular 'one stop get everything' services are... why hasn't someone had this idea a few years earlier?
2011 the year of the app store.
You write of Ubuntu as if DEBIAN never existed. Sorry, but DEBIAN has had a Software Repository Service since 1999, not an App Store.
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repository yes, but Ubuntu also has an "App Store", debian doesn't.
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Given how popular 'one stop get everything' services are... why hasn't someone had this idea a few years earlier?
They did. It was called "iPhone". Once that concept proved itself to be working very well, everyone is jumped on the bandwaggon.
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too little (Score:1)
too late
Apt-get (Score:2)
Just curious (Score:2)
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you run VMWare on your windows 8 machine and need to test software on windows 7.
Where you gonna get windows 7 from?
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Where you gonna get windows 7 from?
In my case, it would be the second drawer down on the left. Will most people go straight from XP or Vista to Windows 8? Am I unusual in this?
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that's 1 license. I was thinking of small businesses and it professionals who might want to virtualize windows 7. Just thinking of a hypothetical reason for it to be in the app store.
Also, maybe windows 8 will have minimum hardware requirements that mean it wont run on some older hardware, while windows 7 will...just guessing of course.
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Will most people go straight from XP or Vista to Windows 8? Am I unusual in this?
As far as I can tell you are. I'm actually seeing corporate uptake of Win7, unlike Vista, if only for 64bit memory spaces.
it's a hoax, why is this on slashdot? (Score:2)
* Angry Birds: Not by "clickgamer" it's by Rovio.
* Windows 7 Ultimate? As an app you can download from Windows 8?
* "App Store" is trademarked by Apple.
* Title bar text isn't centered like in other Win8 leaks.
FAKE. move along, nothing to see here....
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They're not going to have legit apps on there now - its just for testing - so expect bogus entries for now as placeholders.
Win7 is still useful on windows 8 for running VMs, why not make it easier for people to get access to it?
"App Store" more than likely isn't its final name, and probably only used internally during development
Why does the title bar need to mimic other leaks, which also may or may not be bogus.
Not saying its definitely legit, but your arguments dont hold up. Nothing here to say it isn't
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Read this thread where these screenshots first showed up back in January (from a new account with a single post). And decide for yourself...
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/967600-windows-app-store-screenshot/
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Me Too = Microsoft (Score:1, Insightful)
Bing the lame version of Google (seach , maps, everything)
Zune the lame version of iPod
Media Centre the lame version of iTunes
Windows 7 phone the lame version of iPhone (lame because OS can't scale even to iPad size)
The only real question is how lame will the Microsoft App Store be?
Will MS App Store be as lame as Ultimate edition Extras?
or as lame as Windows Catalog in XP,
o
I just hope we can opt out... (Score:1)
Fake (Score:2)
Uber Fake (Score:2)
as pointed out this is fake if for no other reason then it actually says "app store" in the menu.
"App Store" is trademarked by Apple; MS would not be so stupid to actually use that term.
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Following Apple again (Score:2)
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Personally if I could I would mod you down for not having the courage to post that as a real user. All AC's making meta complaints should be automatically modded down to oblivion, no matter how worthy the cause.
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The Borg, Star Trek and the vision contained within are just as relevent as they ever were.
Bill Gates is still the "figurehead" of M$ and always will be, long after death.
And last, but not least, we all WANT it really, so I think we've left it there as a reminder of things to come - Star Trek-type travels, and possibly even the ultimate evolution of biotech and networking - the Borg.
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the Borg reference is just not relevant or current these days.
Seems to me that after buying ISO and the rent-seeking patent trolling they've been up to lately, it's just as relevant as ever.
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much like the Borg at the end of Star Trek: Voyager's run, Microsoft has become a giant impotent joke, but you really still don't want to get on their bad side.
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I wonder if they're going to try and kill Steam with this store.
Pimp the horrible "Games for Windows" service and use their monopoly to hurt Valve.
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I could definitely see this as a new attack on the Redmond giant for anti-trust laws about abusing monopoly power, regardless if there is any evidence to the claim. The flip side of that coin is that there are already application stores for Windows, and have been for a while; Steam, GameTap, RealArcade, Direct2Drive, just to name a few. As long as Microsoft doesn't bundle/tie the app store with the next incarnation of Windows, they should be fine with regulators. Otherwise, we can expect to see the "Choose
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Pimp the horrible "Games for Windows" service and use their monopoly to hurt Valve.
No-one in their right mind would use GFW if they could use Steam, so unless Microsoft can convince all the PC game publishers to stop selling on Steam it's not going to happen. Since, from what I've read, game developers are trying to avoid GFW because it's a steaming heap of crap that a lot of their customers hate, I don't see that happening any time soon.
I was really impressed when I ran GTA4 from Steam recently and GFW, which serves no purpose in the game at all that I can determine, announced that it ha
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Pimp the horrible "Games for Windows" service and use their monopoly to hurt Valve.
Microsoft have been doing online stores for years. Windows 98 had Windows Catalog, while Windows Marketplace for the desktop Windows dates back to 2004. In late 2009 they introduced Games on Demand, which later morphed into Games for Windows Marketplace.
Has Microsoft's monopoly managed to hurt Steam in that time? No, and I don't think that this latest attempt will do so either. This is mainly because they just don't get the third party developer support for their online stores. They certainly don't do the s
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This is a big deal? Whoopty freaking do.
This is just Microsoft once again showing up late to the party.
Yeah but the recent kerfuffle over the 'App Store' name with Apple means this site can serve a bunch of ads as people posture about it.
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It is a good thing in one sense -- getting Joe Sixpack to only download stuff from one central store or repository. This way, he might put down his Bud Light and not follow directions to manually install some "pr0n codec" from some sleazy site he is browsing because it doesn't show up as a link to MS's Application Market, or whatever it will be named.
Of course, the dancing bunnies security hole remains, but having it become the exception and not the rule that software is downloaded manually and installed (
Re:So ... (Score:5, Insightful)
I already download most of my software from one place: The Pirate Bay.
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It is a good thing in one sense -- getting Joe Sixpack to only download stuff from one central store or repository. This way, he might put down his Bud Light and not follow directions to manually install some "pr0n codec" from some sleazy site he is browsing because it doesn't show up as a link to MS's Application Market, or whatever it will be named.
Of course, the dancing bunnies security hole remains, but having it become the exception and not the rule that software is downloaded manually and installed (versus going to a repo/store) will help to mitigate that infection vector.
Anyone who drink a Bud Lite without being held down, blackmailed, or forced in some way, will do anything that a marketing machine tells them to.
Ever taste that stuff?
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I'm sure most /.'ers have encountered people like this. You don't have to be a burned out IT vet. There will always be the clueless (but with good intentions) Aunt Tillie type, the "OMGLALA" teen/tween type installing every animated emoticon program available, but the archetype that most people encounter that is one of the hardest to deal with is the Joe Sixpack one -- the person who has no interest in keeping his stuff secure ("because that is what my geek friends and Geek Squad are for"), and has an ego
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That's what Ubuntu is for, a great fix for their completely trashed infected Windows machine that they love because 'my machine is really fast now' and also means that they can't install the shite that got it infected in the first place!
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That's what Ubuntu is for, a great fix for their completely trashed infected Windows machine that they love because 'my machine is really fast now' and also means that they can't install the shite that got it infected in the first place!
Yeah, that's how I fixed my mothers Windows Box. I installed Ubuntu. She just uses the browser, she's good with it.
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That's what Ubuntu is for, a great fix for their completely trashed infected Windows machine that they love because 'my machine is really fast now' and also means that they can't install the shite that got it infected in the first place!
That's fine until they ask you to install Microsoft Office, all their old games, etc.
...in related news.... (Score:1)
In related news, WinRumors reports that even they couldn't find anyone who cares anymore.
iRumors reports that dull is the new shiny.
AndRumors reports that root is the end of all evils.
cheers,
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The big deal is that Windows might finally have centralized package management, including updates, for all software rather than just core Windows stuff.
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It's no more package management than Mac App Store is. It's really just a way to centralize installs and updates - the real complexity in Linux/BSD package managers is dealing with dependencies.
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I don't know what it is with MS design but they just love mixing GUI metaphors on screens. Trees, icons, buttons, text.
The worst part is that this is supposed to be a marketplace.
Lose the cruft, just show me the apps in boxes, I click on them to buy them. Give me some filtering at the top or bottom and that's it! Done! I want to spend as little time fucking around in some virtual space to get programs I want.
Hell, just make the app store look like ThePirateBay: Oh look, the name of the thing I want *click* *buy*
Microsoft continues a long tradition of not "getting it"
I don't want pretty, I don't want cute, I want FUNCTIONAL! I want EASE OF USE! I want TO SPEND AS LITTLE TIME AS POSSIBLE LOOKING FOR THINGS AND GET ON WITH MY LIFE!
But nooooooo they think I'm there for the Microsoft Experience *cue mirrorball and dance music*
ooh, ooh .. boogie wonderland
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I dunno, the screenshot actually looks very plain-looking and functional to me. Much more so than, say, iTunes - and how many people use that crap to shop for music?
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APT was released in 1999. It can even update a machine without human interaction once started, lets see this app store do that.
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