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Earlier this year, Epic Games' co-founder, Tim Sweeney, spoke quite openly about his issues with Microsoft's new Universal Windows Platform, which is created to allow software to run across the PC and Xbox One. Microsoft did announce plans to keep improving the new platform at its Build conference last month but it looks like Sweeney still isn't impressed.
Speaking at the GamesBeat summit earlier today (via: PC Gamer), the Epic Games' co-founder talked about Microsoft's approach with Windows as a whole, claiming that it has been slowly tightening its grip over time, slowly getting Windows owners used to the idea of a closed platform and changing the rules as it goes: “If you throw a frog in boiling water, he’ll just hop out. But if you put him in warm water and you slowly ramp up the temperature, he will not notice and he’ll be boiled”.
“Look at Facebook: Every company moved their brand presence to Facebook, sending out messages for their customers to receive. Now, you have to pay to send out your messages to people who chose to follow you. You’ve become a boiling frog.”
While Microsoft may talk a big game when it comes to supporting open platforms, Sweeney is unconvinced: “Microsoft has given itself the ability to force dash updates without your authorisation. It will just update itself and you can’t do anything about it. They can change the rules of the game at any time.”
The final point of Sweeney's talk was that by closing its platform off, Microsoft may well be stifling future innovation, rather than encouraging it: “Open platforms encourage innovation, and when you have a closed platform and a monopoly on commerce, it stifles it.”
KitGuru Says: Microsoft has been making some huge changes to its policies with Windows 10 but I do wonder how many other developers aren't on-board with the new approach. Maybe if more spoke up, Microsoft would re-evaluate its approach a bit.
Tim is right and I’m glad he’s openly talking about it. I guess Microsoft is using 1984 as their guideline.
Open platform (google) riddled with back doors for the outdated versions that google will not patch, why should they, its open, does the consumer program, no, closed platform, Apple, has been and guess what, most users use either google or apple phones at this point, so argument, well is now a closed one. On a different point, the whole UWP is the one way to get developers to the platform. One program many devices, not a waste of time, they just need to come out with something neither google or apple can do at the moment, patent the hell out of it and run with it.
He is wrong. They are not gradually switching to a closed platform. In fact they are gradually opening the Universal App Platform. The best examples of this are how the first feature update made it easier to side load UAP apps and how Anniversary Update will enable UAP apps to have user created extensions.
Also, the update thing, while annoying, is in no way evidence of his silly theory. Nor is it entirely accurate since Microsoft actually provide a tool for you to hide updates for Windows 10 from the Windows Update tool and what he talks about us only even partially true only for Home, not Pro. The only reason the update thing exists is that they want to end the problem of horribly out-of-date Windows machines, at least in the home.
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Given Microsoft’s tendency to “Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish” I don’t feel that he’s being all that paranoid. The fact is, Microsoft’s pretty much a de-facto monopoly on Desktop and Laptop OS’s and they can still do whatever they want, so if people don’t watch them, they might decide to go more closed or completely closed and force everyone to go to their app store.
Honestly, if they ever get the ability to do it without people rebelling and jumping to Linux, they may try anyways.