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Windows Store event and blog

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Today at our Windows Store Preview event in San Francisco, Antoine Leblond revealed the business terms and app policies for anyone developing apps for our new Windows Store. He showed some of the great apps that will be available in the Store at Windows 8 Beta, and demonstrated the design, capabilities, and flexibility of the Store as a platform.

Antoine has also just started a new Windows Store for developers blog, where he will provide info and updates related to the Store for anyone interested in developing apps for Windows 8. The new blog is the place where he will announce and discuss any information about the Store and have an ongoing dialog with app developers about terms, policies, revenue opportunities and platform considerations. It will supplement the conversation we’re having here and B8 will continue to be the primary place for our ongoing conversation about engineering Windows 8.

-- Steven

Comments

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    There will be a demonstration of the beta of Windows 8 at CES?

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    I hope the Zune stuff in Win8 is not like the new XBox interface where it is a discontinous experience as you "enter" and "exit" the Zune Marketplace in the XBox console.  It was a design mistake in the new XBox GUI to not have the video/music experience not be seamless (takes too long to transition to/from the dashboard to the Marketplace), I hope Win8 doesn't make the same mistake for its video/music/apps Marketplace.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Where is Silverlight 5 RTM? Or has Microsoft killed it? Let the developers know, so they can decide where to put their efforts. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Change in subjects - Steve, I would be interested in seeing Windows 8 being navigated by Kinects. We all know Windows 8 is fully touch oriented for navigation and functionality, however, can windows 8 be maximized for motion navigation via Kinects for Windows? I look forward to the Kinects for Windows early next year. Windows with touch screen, Kinects, and Tell Me functionality and navigation, Windows 8 will definitely retain the future of PCs.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Curiously, why was the minimum price point of $1.49 chosen over $0.99?

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Most probably since it is a desktop app and it should cost more than a phone app.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Kinect ? Idiots idea for Tablet. I WANT TELL ME for Windows 8 I Want Official EXTERNAL GAMEPAD (like Windows ) for Tablet, remember gamepad, this is a killer feature

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Is there going to be an end-users forum for Windows 8 focussed on apps, such as being able to comment on existing apps, and for users make and contribute to others' wishlists? I would hope this would be important to app developers. Also, is there going to be a pre-screening of apps for the sake of copyright protection/quality control? Will Microsoft be providing incentives to developers for certain apps that it deems important to be developed? I don't know the details of Windows 8, do any of you know of some likely apps, other than those web store apps and stuff that might be useful for the useability of windows 8? Thanks

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    So for those of us not interested in tablets, what have you guys been working on, apart from completely ruining the desktop UI experience and some trivial improvements to Windows Explorer? You're letting your traditional desktop users down big time. Don't be too surprised when Windows 7 becomes the new XP.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    So is this app store going to be the mandatory way of installing apps on particular classes of devices? I would hate to think it is.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    i have a suggestion. My desktop was full by programs and files icons. i was obliged to move or delete some of them. but if was possible to scroll the desktop, i had not this problem. like pic: isaad.persiangig.com/DesktopWidthScroll.jpg Scroll can be more thin.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Why don't you let us sell apps for 99 cents? There are a lot of good apps for 0.99 and they are the bestselling.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    The tax of 30% and 20% is too steep for what the app store provides. Why not be bolder and drop to a 0% tax for apps < $25k, and 5% for > $25k? One-up Apple. $25k of sales is not enough to sustain any real software business. So why tax them? You want Win8 developers to succeed. 30% of $25k makes a huge difference to a fledgling start up. Do a better job helping the smaller developers turn into lasting Win8 development businesses. Then tax them after they are actually sustainable, e.g. making O($1,000,000) a year.

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Nice! I guess a separate blog because it is going to post frequently about the Windows Store or continue even after RTM? ;)

  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 06, 2011
    Will there be an option to allow app installation from unknown sources like Android has? You've got to give your power users at least that option, right? Steve, you've got to comment on this, it will end up being a fundamental issue for advanced users looking to use Win 8.

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    @Steven: Read this IDC study "Worldwide System Infrastructure Software 2012 Top 10 Predictions" It says what a lot of people feel: Win8 will be a FAIL!

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    A Digital Store is a big step but it need a way to maintain apps updated. In another post you talked about the "new features" of Windows Update but you didnt talk about third parties apps updates. A "Windows" PC its not only Microsoft software. We have a lot of programs. Its Ok, All modern program have an updater or we can check app´s oficial page but It dont the way

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Can't wait for the Beta and Store launch! Do you publish the full video of the event on Channel9?

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Hi, Out of curiosity, why do you indicate EUR price for Switzerland when we have the Swiss frank (CHF) ?

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    "This post kicks off a series of posts on the design of the Start screen and the evolution of the core activity of launching and switching programs." When do you go on with this series?

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    ^Congrats on alienating your customer base tho/

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Take the time to read the other blog before you go bashing this idea. It seems like the store will be very flexible. It doesn't sound like it will be mandatory either. They address enterprises too.

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    One more thing I would like to add is a quote by the great C. Darwin "its not the strongest species that survives, it is the one most adaptable to change"- hint hint Microsoft is adapting to change.

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    i want old desktop.:) Microsoft , what do you do?

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Why the stupid decision to limit app prices to $1.49? That simply reduces the amount of impulse purchases that take place, if you HAVE TO have a minimum price than what about $1.29  or even $0.99? You say we devs are the most important then put arbitrary limits on what we can do, it should be ARE choice ultimately what we charge for OUR apps.

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
    Dude, it's a worldwide OS, that has ~%90 marketshare, I'm sure they will. And Steven isn't here to clarify anything that isn't prewritten for him, kinda llike the president with his speech writers. Honestly, I odubt Steven is even actually steven sfinofsky, it's probably some annoying fat piza faced *** staring at a screen.

  • Anonymous
    December 07, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
    I agree with Freddy H. I care more about the function and how Windows 8 will be an improvement over Windows 7, or at least what Windows 8 can do and its limitations. Only one question for the App Market: Can I put the price of my app as FREE? I make apps to help myself out, or to help improve something that was not working right.

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
    Would it be possible to undertake a discussion on reg edit.  I really would like microsoft to prevent malicious programs/root kits from editing system regedit file.   If you get one of them, its a pain trying to figure it out on removing it.    

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
    yes tell me for windows, but more advanced than siri from the other company. and kinect too. how about windows 8 for microsoft surface, we see a big big future with surface and power users.

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
    @xBoxxer I agree. Failure on MS part. Beautiful update regardless (on the 360 of course!)

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
    Any info about Office 2012 for Windows? Any info about Office 2013 for Mac OS X Lion? Will I be able to buy them from the Stores (Microsoft Store and the Mac App Store)?

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
    @LD 3 blogs? I thought there were only two - this one and the Windows Store blog.

  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
    @Ezequiel Antoine Leblond officialy said the Windows 8 Beta will be available in late February 2012.

  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2011
    in Windows8 please add network send/receive animation icon like XP.

  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 10, 2011
    I apologize for the grammar mistakes and general readibility issues of my last post, I'm tired right now.

  • Anonymous
    December 11, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 11, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 11, 2011
    @oskar.szulc  -- All of the official rules are here buildwindowscontest.com/OfficialRules.aspx.  The submission must be from an organization that fits the rules.  THe individuals in that organization must meet eligibility requirements.

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    @Steven Sinofsky. Could you please, in one of your future posts, address the question whether indexation of partitions will be possible? Could you please also consider writing a future post on music, videos and pictures in Windows 8? I really don’t understand why there currently is two media programs: WMP and Zune. It complicates things so much.

  • First, why opting for a 3-level rating strategy (like, unlike, unrated) in Zune? This is so insufficient for those of us who have thousands of medias. I want my computer to sync my favorite songs to my phone. But by “favorite songs” I don’t mean all songs I occasionally or generally like (3 or 4 stars in WMP), but only those songs I want to hear at the moment (5 stars). Please implement Zune with a 5-level rating, or add one more level: unrated, unlike, like, prefer. But at the very least, adopt the same strategy for both Windows Media Player and Zune.
  • Why are search results so unclear in Zune? Why are songs I already have and songs I could buy presented on the same results page? And why are buyable songs listed without further precisions than name and artist? How can I know without multiple clicks from which album these listed titles are from? Zune doesn’t give enough information. Without further clicks I would expect to be informed of the album, the year, and the downloading popularity.
  • Why is there no easy way to rotate a video in Windows Explorer or in Zune?
  • Why are there no folders for the Videos section (as for the Pictures section) in Zune?
  • Where are in Zune those data we easily find in WMP: contributing artist, composer, year, tags, etc.?
  • Why is everything so uncustomizable in Zune?
  • And why do songs always cost more at Microsoft Marketplace than at iTunes Store?
  • Finally, why do we need to buy Microsoft points rather than just buy through money? This is really annoying. One has to calculate each time to get to know the real price. Please give us only one media player, with everything in it. Please add a RSS feed reader to Zune or at least to the Live bundle, a reader which would get synced and actualized on all devices according to a unique Live account (so that my computer will know what posts I already read on my Phone and vice versa). Please enable more formats in Windows Media Player/Zune, at least more lossless formats. And please give us more space on SkyDrive for music. Thanks.

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    @Dany Rodier This is the Windows Team and not the Zune team!

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    @Bastian92. Thanks, I know that already. I suppose I said too much about Zune here. But where then? At Zune Insider? I have seen no page there for feedback. Or at Microsoft Answers? This site seems rather unfit for feedback. But my question was really about Windows 8, that is, about a better built-in software for music and videos, for buying and syncing. I think Windows 8 would offer a good opportunity to make this right. For I suppose Zune is here to stay, since it is so central for other Microsoft products (WP and Xbox). Why not, then, integrate an optimized version of Zune in Windows? At least, why not improving both programs (WMP and Zune) to make them more compatible?

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    Let me add one short comment on the close connection between Windows 8 and Zune. It seems to me that the personal computer market gets more and more organized around ecosystems. People have come to see Apple products as belonging together. iPhone customers will tend to buy Mac computers and iPads. I think something similar could happen between Windows 8 and Windows Phone (and even Xbox). But in the end, the strength of an ecosystem mainly depends on the syncing experience. This is where Zune (and SkyDrive) comes into play. My point: an unsatisfying media syncing program will do great harm to Windows 8 (as well as toWindows Phone).

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    I did say this about a month ago, we desperately need a unified media experience which blows the competition away – why would you not just combine WMP and Zune into the ultimate media player and pump the resources to make sure every codec is supported and making sure that the offering for music and movies is on par with iTunes, SkyDrive music syncing would be a bonus.

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    •Update the old Registry Editor icon, WinLogon application icon, please -- they existed and left without visual update so long ago. •Update Windows Media Player (or merge Zune Media Player with), please. Seemed like WMP hasn't been updated lately •Update old Disk Space pie chart in Disk Properties. •Use Direct2D rendering across Windows, not GDI/GDI+. •Use Segoe UI font across Windows. Not a mixed of Arial, Tahoma, MS San Serif like currently has in Windows 7.

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    "•Use Segoe UI font across Windows. Not a mixed of Arial, Tahoma, MS San Serif like currently has in Windows 7." Read "Fix Windows Vista’s Fonts!" by Chris Pirillo -- chris.pirillo.com/fix-windows-vistas-fonts And a simple Registration Entries file can easily solve this problem: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionFontSubstitutes] "MS Shell Dlg 2"="Segoe UI" "MS Shell Dlg"="Segoe UI"

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    You guys should also completely move EVERYTHING over to the UTF-8 standard, instead of ANSI. I just tried that reg file above me, and I saved it as UTF-8, and Windows 7 said it wasn't a valid reg file, resaved it as ANSI, it worked like a charm. stop relying on GDI/GDI+ as well, You have Directx 2D use it.

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    Here is a clip about Windows 8: http://youtu.be/qhp7TF_qV9s

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
    Just a note to other commenters that it's not worth asking about minor UX fixes at this point, when the Windows team has said repeatedly that we haven't seen the final 'fit and finish' of the UI...

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2011
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  • Anonymous
    December 13, 2011
    "If you're not going to use the new one, don't f*cking build it!" Cough Hello WPF Team Cough