Here's a recent Forbes article I found: Tim Sweeney: Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform Must, And Will, Die
I cannot post the article's link because the site says I don't have enough posts. Strange. I thought I did. The article is dated March 4, 2016. Here's the article copied and pasted:
Strong words coming from Epic Games? Tim Sweeney today. Microsoft MSFT -0.64% has recently been making a push to unify the Windows platform across PC, Xbox and mobile, and Sweeney is not a fan. In an editorial in The Guardian, the veteran game developer argues that Microsoft is trying to close down the Windows platform and monopolize all of its app business. He reminds us that Microsoft has had flirtations with monopoly in the past:
?In my view, this is the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made. While the company has been convicted of violating antitrust law in the past, its wrongful actions were limited to fights with specific competitors and contracts with certain PC manufacturers.?
Epic Games own the Unreal Engine, and so Sweeney?s words go a long way in the developer communtiy. He argues that the Unified Windows Platform needs to be as open as the current win32 API, allowing any companies or individuals to operate stores or engage in commerce, and that any Windows user needs to be able to download and install any Windows 10 application downloaded directly from the web. Windows 10, he argues, has been less than perfectly open so far:
?Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP, and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem. They?re curtailing users? freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers.?
Microsoft?s Phil Spencer has responded on Twitter TWTR +0.26% in no uncertain terms. ?Windows has always been an open ecosystem welcoming the contributions of hardware and software partners, and will always continue to be,? he said. ?UWP is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, and can be supported by any store.
It?s an important question: Windows is one of the most open platforms out there, and it?s still a bastion of indie game and app development. But Sweeney argues that Microsoft?s rhetoric and actions don?t quite line up:
?Microsoft?s intentions must be judged by Microsoft?s actions, not Microsoft?s words. Their actions speak plainly enough: they are working to turn today?s open PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly, over time, in a series of steps of which we?re seeing the very first. Unless Microsoft changes course, all of the independent companies comprising the PC ecosystem have a decision to make: to oppose this, or cede control of their existing customer relationships and commerce to Microsoft?s exclusive control.?
What do you think? I'd love to read your opinions.
-Cheers.
I cannot post the article's link because the site says I don't have enough posts. Strange. I thought I did. The article is dated March 4, 2016. Here's the article copied and pasted:
Strong words coming from Epic Games? Tim Sweeney today. Microsoft MSFT -0.64% has recently been making a push to unify the Windows platform across PC, Xbox and mobile, and Sweeney is not a fan. In an editorial in The Guardian, the veteran game developer argues that Microsoft is trying to close down the Windows platform and monopolize all of its app business. He reminds us that Microsoft has had flirtations with monopoly in the past:
?In my view, this is the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made. While the company has been convicted of violating antitrust law in the past, its wrongful actions were limited to fights with specific competitors and contracts with certain PC manufacturers.?
Epic Games own the Unreal Engine, and so Sweeney?s words go a long way in the developer communtiy. He argues that the Unified Windows Platform needs to be as open as the current win32 API, allowing any companies or individuals to operate stores or engage in commerce, and that any Windows user needs to be able to download and install any Windows 10 application downloaded directly from the web. Windows 10, he argues, has been less than perfectly open so far:
?Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP, and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem. They?re curtailing users? freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers.?
Microsoft?s Phil Spencer has responded on Twitter TWTR +0.26% in no uncertain terms. ?Windows has always been an open ecosystem welcoming the contributions of hardware and software partners, and will always continue to be,? he said. ?UWP is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, and can be supported by any store.
It?s an important question: Windows is one of the most open platforms out there, and it?s still a bastion of indie game and app development. But Sweeney argues that Microsoft?s rhetoric and actions don?t quite line up:
?Microsoft?s intentions must be judged by Microsoft?s actions, not Microsoft?s words. Their actions speak plainly enough: they are working to turn today?s open PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly, over time, in a series of steps of which we?re seeing the very first. Unless Microsoft changes course, all of the independent companies comprising the PC ecosystem have a decision to make: to oppose this, or cede control of their existing customer relationships and commerce to Microsoft?s exclusive control.?
What do you think? I'd love to read your opinions.
-Cheers.
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