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Microsoft goes all Apple with a Kill Switch for Apps under Win8
justice:
Let's see Linux...
We have Android and iOS mobile devices, both have a kill switch. Apple has never used theirs. Google has. Android runs on Linux. Watch out for the spin.
wraith808:
Good point. (Apple has pulled many apps from their store after the fact - as for wiping, not sure...)
-Renegade (December 09, 2011, 06:10 AM)
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That was my point. They've *never* used the killswitch. But google has... and multiple times.
I've had apps disappear off my iPhone after they've been pulled from Apple's store.
-40hz (December 09, 2011, 07:02 AM)
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What apps? I've never had an app disappear from my phone. Some aren't on the store, but I still have them on my phone, and locally. Some examples include the recent tethering app and VLC and the old fictionwise ereader (which even fictionwise won't acknowledge now that they've been bought by B&N).
Freeware developers will hate it.
Poor people will hate it.
You will hate it.
This will be your Apple device.
This will be your Microsoft device.
This will not be your Linux device. You can not install Linux on it.
I said this 3-4 years ago. It is my computing nightmare. Let's see if it comes to pass. It has already started.
-app103 (December 09, 2011, 08:36 AM)
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I don't see it happening. For some uses, sure. But for general usage? They said the same thing about the dumb terminal in corporations. That didn't go over so well either. And I don't get the Windows 8 hate...sure it's there. But no one has still responded to the fact that it's optional. The kill switch only exists for apps that have been purchased from the marketplace, and other apps can still be installed.
40hz:
What apps? I've never had an app disappear from my phone.
-wraith808 (December 09, 2011, 10:04 AM)
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I know this is going to sound like a cop out, but I can't remember the exact app names since this happened a few years back. Both apps were wireless network utilities that allowed for some very in-depth network probing. I recall there were words about about some of how they worked suddenly being in violation of Apple's murky policies regarding "acceptable" use. I've since replaced them with something called Scany (HappyMagenta.com) which does many - but not all of the things those other two utilities did.
Just to be sure I wasn't imagining this, I asked a fellow tech (who also uses an iPhone, and most of the same apps I do) if he recalled the names of the apps I was talking about. He didn't. But he did say (without prompting from me) "Do you mean the ones that they pulled off our phones?" So I guess it's not a total hallucination on my part.
Note. They also pulled a fast one on users with an upgrade made to the Stanza ebook reader some time ago. TechCrunch covered it when it happened:
Last night, I was prompted to update the app to a new version (2.1), and as usual I checked what the changes were. The accompanying message was pretty brief: ‘Removed the ability to share books via USB’.
I thought it was an odd update but didn’t think much about it, and since I didn’t actually use that feature simply downloaded and installed the new version.
Just for your reference: the feature enabled users to transfer books in the ePub or eReader format to their mobile devices using a USB cable.
This morning, we got some tips from people who were angry or surprised about Lexcycle removing the USB sharing feature from the Stanza app. I looked up the app in the iTunes Store and saw that the update notice now read ‘Removed the ability to share books via USB as required by Apple’. A glance at the forums on the Lexcycle website revealed that users were quite upset about the removal of the app, with only some suggesting that Apple may have had something to do with it and offering explanations why they would have demanded it.
I asked Lexcycle if and why Apple had requested the removal of the feature from the iPhone app via e-mail and swiftly received a short response, saying that Apple had indeed demanded that Lexcycle remove the feature from Stanza. I requested more information but was subsequently told by Lexcycle was strictly ‘forbidden from discussing the specifics of our conversations with Apple on this matter’.
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And while it's true you didn't need to immediately do the upgrade (and lose the direct USB feature) that version of Stanza eventually stopped working if you didn't
There's more in the TechCrunch article if anybody wants to read the rest of it.
I take comfort in the certainty this iPhone will be the last time I every buy an Apple product. 8)
40hz:
And I don't get the Windows 8 hate...sure it's there. But no one has still responded to the fact that it's optional. The kill switch only exists for apps that have been purchased from the marketplace, and other apps can still be installed.
-wraith808 (December 09, 2011, 10:04 AM)
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Read up on how Metro, Metro Apps, and the Microsoft store will be implemented under Win 8 and you'll better understand. It's a move toward a walled garden virtually identical to what Apple is presently doing - or plans on doing.
It's also only optional as long as Microsoft continues to support the "classic desktop" - which as of now seems to exist in a completely different space from Metro. It's one or the other - with no direct link underneath it all. Furthermore, Microsoft has indicated that the classic desktop will eventually be phased out, leaving Metro as the only option down the road.
Add in the weaselly way they're looking to capture and lock in hardware via UEFI without specifically requiring it from hardware vendors (and thereby risking the wrath of antitrust regulators) and you'll see a lot to be concerned about.
Seriously, this truly blows. And big time!
If Microsoft, Apple, the media industry, and it's trained lapdog (otherwise known as your wise and benevolent government) has their way April's prediction will become a reality - and everything all of us worked for will get thrown out the window so that the bastard idiot stepchild* of television can replace the personal computer as the default (and possibly only) personal 'computing' platform.
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* Lapdog? Bastard idiot stepchild? Wow! Am I starting to sound like Renegade or what? ;D :Thmbsup:
mahesh2k:
Dumb question - so it's not possible to create metro app and distribute via your own website ? also is it not possible to test your own app inside windows phone ?
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