MicroSFT is thumbing its nose at Apple with a new “app fairness” policy


Micro .ft sign in at the entrance to their Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, California.
Zoom in / Micro .ft sign in at the entrance to their Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, California.

Microsoft this week embraced the full extreme of “fairness principles” for its Windows App Store. The list of principles sounds like the right set of guidelines for both consumers and developers – but it all seems like MicroSt is taking the metaphor off the ball, throwing it in Apple’s face, and daring their Icopatter to take the next step.

The principles that Microsoft outlined in the corporate blog post essentially promise that Windows will continue to do what it already does in terms of application distribution, inter-functionality, payment systems, and everything else.

The first item, for example, promises that developers will be able to distribute Windows programs through the Micro .ft Store or through their own competitive app storefront. This has always been the case, and that’s why every software distribution system on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Windows exists. Windows promises not to block applications from Windows, depending on which payment system to use to process the application for in-app purchases from Windows, which is why and why both web-based and application-based digital software software storefront for Windows Why does it exist?

“Windows 10 is an open platform. Unlike some other popular digital platforms, developers are free to choose how they distribute their applications,” Microsoft said. “The MicroStore Store is one way … but there are other popular and competitive options on Windows 10.”

The company specifically gave the game distributor a voice, “Third-party app stores, such as Steam and Epic, are available for Windows and offer developers a variety of pricing (or revenue share) options, standards, requirements, and features.” MicroSF’s principles are “built to maintain this freedom of choice, and the strong competition and innovation that enables it on Windows 10.”

A trillion tons of apples in the room

The .po is not mentioned once in the blog post, but it is impossible to read the announcement of the micros anything fit except for the shot on the bow of the Microsoft moment. Microsoft has made it clear that its principles lead to work through App Collection for App Fairness, a trade group that will push for a change in App Store policies together in September. Coalition’s founding members include companies such as Basic amp, Spotify and Epic, all of which have been embroiled in a fierce public battle with Apple Pal over its policies in recent months.

Developers who have challenged have have argued that the company is doing the exact opposite of what Microsoft promised to continue to do. Apple Pal requires developers to distribute iOS apps through the App Store, without exception. It requires developers to use the payment system in the app, without any exceptions. And that takes a 30 percent reduction in all those transactions – except for a few exceptions for companies with enough clout to make demands like Amazon and Netflix.

It’s not just rivals who are disappointed with Apple’s behavior. A congressional committee released a blockbuster report this week arguing that the way Apple Paul integrates payment methods into its App Store and app falls short of antitrust law and is a competitor.

MicroSt .ft, meanwhile, has an immediate interest in its elbow route on iOS devices. The company hinted this week that it plans to use the browser-based workround to access the program XCloud, its in-game streaming service on the iPhone.

Silence “X”

The Windows-Native App Store, especially for most users, is not integral to the PC experience, even if Microsoft .ft tries to promote it. Microsoft did not introduce the platform in its current incarnation until the launch of Windows 8 in 2012, and by that time both individual customers and enterprise buyers had been studying their Windows programs for nearly 30 years rather than receiving them elsewhere. (And some of Microsoft’s previous efforts, such as the rude games for Windows Live, are actively running users for competitors, such as Steam, because they’re kind of scary.)

But Microsoft really cares in its blues g post that it has Two The main application stores in its name, and the company acknowledges that the new rules for its “fairness” do not apply equally to both. The Xbox store works more like software distribution for Windows, such as the online store, the iOS app store. Companies like Epic charge more than 30 percent for in-game purchases for Xbox players in micro .ft, as they do with Apple Plus, Google or Sony for iOS, Android or PlayStation players.

“It is reasonable to ask why we do not apply these principles [the] Xbox stores today. “Instead of answering this question directly, Microsoft punished the uncertain future,” Microsoft said.

“Game consoles are specialized devices that are optimized for a particular use. Despite being very popular with their fans, they are gaining ground in the markets through PCs and phones,” said Microsoft. Take care of the difference when it comes. To cut that 30 percent. Noting the “fundamental differences” between the PC and the set-top console market, Microsoft said, “We need to do more to establish the right set of principles for game consoles.”