“Why?!!!!” is the chorus heard around the world consecutively by every developer since Microsoft announced the release data of the much-anticipated Windows 8.1 RTM. But why is it such a problem that’s caused so much anger and frustration?
The Windows Apps Team put out a rallying call for faithful developers to start readying their apps ready for the launch of Windows 8.1, the only problem? They don’t have access.
With every major release; developers have access to RTM ahead of release to do exactly that, ‘ready’ their apps.
I’m probably one of the last-standing Microsoft advocates – I get and appreciate their vision – it’s exciting, but poorly executed. With Windows 8.1 I’d hoped mistakes were in the past, but it’s hard to support a company which doesn’t support developers.
That’s a hard thing to say about Microsoft – if anyone knows developers – it should be the team at Redmond. For a company trying to stay modern and relevant; it’s really out of touch. This needs to change, and soon. We’re no longer at a point where mistakes can be made and we’ll all laugh about it next year; support is waning, and Microsoft is quickly heading towards dangerous territory.
On the PC side, sure, the company needs developers to get on-board, realise their vision, and get behind to start developing the lacking amount of applications in the new “Modern UI”. The desktop has been in a dramatic shift for years; Microsoft is clinging on and trying to re-invent itself – initial mistakes can be somewhat forgiven.
But outside of Windows, Microsoft has one product which has been an unstoppable bestseller; which going into this generation was assumed to follow suit – the Xbox.
Although with DRM controversy, mandatory Kinect worries… and of course, arch-rival Sony taking every opportunity to use these failures to their advantage to promote the upcoming PS4 – it’s been a complete mess in this arena as well. From initial polls; it appears PlayStation will launch ahead.
Brianjsw in a comment below the announcement says: “In a world inhabited by pink unicorns and pixie dust, the advice in this post would be sufficient. However we live in the real world last time I looked out the window.”
He continues: “In the real world, developers must have access to the RTM bits before GA. The fact that Microsoft no longer seems to understand this truly frightens me.”
A sentiment I echo. Get back into the real world Microsoft.
What do you think about Microsoft’s handling of Windows 8 and/or the Xbox brand?
