You can sideload store apps in Windows 8 relatively easy. What you need is the .appx file for the app and powershell. Using the PS prompt you can sign up for a developer license (free, renewed each month) and deploy the .appx file containing the app. No store updates this way, but the app appears on the start menu and works normally.

Microsoft even provides a PowerShell script that automates this installation each time you build a Windows Store app in Visual Studio along with the .appx file.

That's "easy" for development. Suggesting that it's something all end users of Steam should do is absurd.

Is Microsoft competing with Linux for unusability now? This sounds more involved than customizing GNOME, which is a feat...

> you can sign up for a developer license (free, renewed each month)

Great, my OS is now timebombed to permit me to only install what I want on it at Microsoft's pleasure.

How on earth is this "easy" compared to "compile it and you can run it forever" like Windows has been since Windows existed?

(Also: what happens when Windows 8 support is "sunset"? You just can't use that computer anymore? Jeez.)

We had a team prepare for a demo on WinRT tablets in the US. They went overseas to do the demo - license expired in route. No connectivity; couldn't VPN in due to no WinRT VPN client, had to drop that part of the demo. Huge pain, no gain.

>You can sideload store apps in Windows 8 relatively easy.

OK.

>What you need is the .appx file for the app and powershell

what

Steam is more an open platform than Microsoft App Store? Really? While I like Steam, it seems to me to be the most closed and opaque of all the various app stores around

Look at Steam Greenlight, which provides a very slim chance an indie game might get onto steam: http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight

Basically the rules seem to be lots of people apply, everyone pays, and you might get on if we like you, we will set your price and tell you the revenue split. In particular, a very small number of submitted apps get onto the store.

On the other hand, getting into the windows app store seems to have much more clearly defined rules, and Microsoft is trying everything they can to get more games on.

Steam is open in the sense, that if you don't like their rules you can distribute outside of their ecosystem.

The Windows App Store is more inclusive, but there is no distribution outside of their ecosystem unless you have an enterprise license.

These restrictions are already in place on Windows RT like the MS Surface, right? You can't install apps that use the desktop, and you can't sideload any Metro apps.