Google published a "Chrome browser" app in the Windows Store on Tuesday, but it simply opened up a Google Chrome download page in the default Windows browser. Most users would then have been able to download and install the Chrome browser, except for the minority of Windows 10 S users who are restricted to downloading Windows Store apps which must use the EdgeHTML rendering engine rather than Blink. Microsoft was not amused at the stunt and removed the "app" from its Store later that day:
Google published a Chrome app in the Windows Store earlier today, which just directed users to a download link to install the browser. Microsoft isn't impressed with Google's obvious snub of the Windows Store, and it's taking action. "We have removed the Google Chrome Installer App from Microsoft Store, as it violates our Microsoft Store policies," says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge.
Citing the need to ensure apps "provide unique and distinct value," Microsoft says "we welcome Google to build a Microsoft Store browser app compliant with our Microsoft Store policies." That's an invitation that Google is unlikely to accept. There are many reasons Google won't likely bring Chrome to the Windows Store, but the primary reason is probably related to Microsoft's Windows 10 S restrictions. Windows Store apps that browse the web must use HTML and JavaScript engines provided by Windows 10, and Google's Chrome browser uses its own Blink rendering engine. Google would have to create a special Chrome app that would adhere to Microsoft's Store policies.
Most Windows 10 machines don't run Windows 10 S, so Google probably won't create a special version just to get its browser listed in the Windows Store. Google can't just package its existing desktop app into a Centennial Windows Store app, either. Microsoft is explicit about any store apps having to use the Edge rendering engine.
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(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Wednesday December 20 2017, @05:22PM (2 children)
If they happily put up with it then yes, they are idiots, and probably should stick to their toy cell phone for looking at pictures of cats. Any school or company issued computer should already be locked down anyway, so Windows 10s would not matter. It would be absolutely silly to lock everything else down and yet allow arbitrary applications from an on-line "store". If anyone gave me a Windows 10s computer, they would get a fist in their face because that would be totally useless to me. Xbox speaks for itself. :P
Right, because useless little "apps" filled with advertising and ways to leach money from your wallet and anticompetitive rules are so much better. That is part of my point, people who are not cell-phone pussified idiots should have little trouble discerning if the software they obtain is legitimate. So no one has ever abused trust in a fancy-shmancy locked down store? That is what this story is actually about!
There is no reason not to have one. Just because manufacturers cut corners and leave things out doesn't mean you can not or should not add them. Personally I find archiving certain kinds of data to optical media incredibly useful as one erroneous write will not erase the entire thing, and it is all under my control unlike crap in teh cloudz. And around here isn't like Japan where eveyone has a T-1 line to their PC.
[Hugs my pile of 5.25" floppy disks]
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Wednesday December 20 2017, @06:39PM (1 child)
"Beggars can't be choosers. You're grounded for a month, son."
What video gaming platform should you drag out when you have friends over who didn't happen to bring a PC with a copy of the same game that you want to play? Or are tabletop games preferred in such a situation?
What steps do "people who are not cell-phone pussified idiots" take toward "discerning if the software they obtain is legitimate", especially when it's a niche application from an individual developer?
I agree for smaller data sets, especially with par files for ECC. But if you have dozens to hundreds of GB of photos or especially videos, swapping 4 GB discs in and out of an external DVD+R burner becomes less practical than buying an external HDD.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:46PM
And how is that even a choice? If I can't do what I need to do, then I still can't do what I need to do.
I see, by your standards I'm just supposed to ignore my needs and conform to your consumeroid masses.
Sort of like a school cafeteria where only approved Coca-Cola beverages are allowed, under penalty of losing funding. You have a health problem that prevents you from consuming high-fructose corn syrup beverages? Tough, why are you not just conforming? You might not have a direct say in the matter, but you would be an idiot not to try and get out of that situation.
Hmph. If I need a door stop, then by your Windows 10s standards, I should not be allowed to drive over to Home Depot and buy a REAL one, and under absolutely no circumstances should I be allowed to cut my own from a block of wood. Instead I should just make do using a crushed Coca-Cola can like everyone else.
I suppose you need me to spell this out step by step using only words that can be found in the Sunday newspaper and with no more than two syllables? You kids these days just want everything handed to you with no responsibility, no research, no thinking, and no understanding. You make me sick. How much is Statya Nadella paying you to troll for him?