Minecraft Creator Won't Support Windows 8

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Minecraft Creator Won't Support Windows 8

Markus "Notch" Persson claims Microsoft is "trying to ruin the PC" with Windows 8.

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson has always been one of the more outspoken members of the gaming industry, and his latest outburst concerns Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, which is due to launch next month. In a tweet [https://twitter.com/notch/statuses/251239807257296897] posted early this morning, Notch stated that Microsoft wanted him to work with the publisher to certify Minecraft for Windows 8, but he refused.

"Got an email from Microsoft, wanting to help 'certify' Minecraft for Win 8. I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform," the tweet read. He then added, "I'd rather have Minecraft not run on Win 8 at all than to play along. Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to Win 8 that way."

Notch has expressed concerns about Windows 8 before, saying that it could be "very, very bad for indie games" earlier this year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118846-Notch-Windows-8-Could-Be-Very-Very-Bad-for-Indies].

So far, Notch's comment has received a lot of support from gamers, with over 2,500 retweets in just a few hours. Only a few weeks remain until Windows 8 launches, and it will be interesting to see if the gaming industry's concerns are warranted or not.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/370329/notch-attacks-windows-8-refuses-to-port-minecraft/]

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[GAunderrated]

Well now we have both Gabe and Notch saying screw windows 8. I hope many other developers/publishers also follow suit once they realize just how bad it would be for PC gaming.

 

[silverbullet1989]

would someone mind explaining to me why windows 8 is going to be so bad? not that im interested in switching over to it, windows 7 is just too good in my opinion. Are microsoft trying to make windows 8 locked down like xbox live?

 

[Fasckira]

A noble stand. Not going to stop me from upgrading to Windows 8 though. Or playing Minecraft on my 360.

I dont understand why hes kicking off about this tbh, really dont think introducing a form of app security into the OS is that bad a thing. Admittedly I dont use many non-"big" apps though.

 

[Krantos]

Well, I wasn't planning on getting it anyway. I'm quite happy with 7, thank you very much.

It will be interesting to see where this goes, though.

Gaming is the biggest reason I've stuck with Windows as long as I have, which I'm sure is true for a lot of people. If this backlash from game companies continues, Microsoft could see a sizeable shift in their market.

 

[Quaxar]

I don't even know what's so bad about Win 8 that the gaming industry would have concerns. I just saw the desktop tablet layout start screen and knew I wasn't gonna get this.

 

[snekadid]

Windows 7 works well, Windows 8 is more limiting, I think I'll save both money and sanity and stick with Windows 7.

 

[mad825]

I and a few people seem to have grind with Win8. Honestly, I want to know whether the commercial industry and governments are ever going to adopt Win8 as this is where the main income for Windows comes from.

 

[Fappy]

Every time I hear about it I think Vista 2.0.

Hopefully Windows 9 will make up for it >.>

 

[John the Gamer]

Isn't it Microsoft's tradition to screw up every other OS?

2000=Good, ME=Bad, XP=Good, Vista=Bad, Win7=Good, Win8=Bad

Well, more or less. I'm not an expert on such things. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is; NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED. AT ALL.

 

[lancar]

While I'm feeling old & grumpy, and therefore will stick with Win7 until they stop supporting it, I haven't been paying much attention to the specifics of Win8 other than the tablet-like UI that made me hiss and recoil like an angry cat.

It sounds to me like there's more to its bad-ness than that, so... enlighten me?

 

[FEichinger]

would someone mind explaining to me why windows 8 is going to be so bad? not that im interested in switching over to it, windows 7 is just too good in my opinion. Are microsoft trying to make windows 8 locked down like xbox live?

Metro Launch Screen which effectively splits the whole thing into two seperate interfaces, Accounts tied to Windows Live, Software Store forcing similarly expensive certification as for the XBOX. Oh, and it's totally designed for tablets, while it is a desktop OS.

Of course, Minecraft will work the same way as it used to, as a non-certified desktop application. But it shows a "OHMAHGAWD IT'S NOT CERTIFIED, IT MIGHT BE MALWARE!!!!!" message, unless you switch them off, and Microsoft could choose to just plain refuse to allow installing them whenever they like.

Right now I'm glad I'm running Linux and Gaming support is growing.

 

[TKIR]

I don't even know what's so bad about Win 8 that the gaming industry would have concerns. I just saw the desktop tablet layout start screen and knew I wasn't gonna get this.

There is still the regular desktop.

 

[Vivi22]

I dont understand why hes kicking off about this tbh, really dont think introducing a form of app security into the OS is that bad a thing. Admittedly I dont use many non-"big" apps though.

I don't think it's just adding app security though. Admittedly I haven't looked into things too much, but it does sound like having the Windows Store bundled in there gives them an unfair advantage over competitors, and it certainly seems like the potential is there for Microsoft to tighten the reigns on the OS if they chose and start kicking big players off or at least making their lives hell. Not saying they would, but having the ability to is a frightening prospect.

 

[drizztmainsword]

While I'm feeling old & grumpy, and therefore will stick with Win7 until they stop supporting it, I haven't been paying much attention to the specifics of Win8 other than the tablet-like UI that made me hiss and recoil like an angry cat.
It sounds to me like there's more to its bad-ness than that, so... enlighten me?

People are worried that with the advent of a software store baked into the OS, Microsoft will lock out installation of 3rd party software that doesn't go through the store and/or have an exceptionally large fee for submitting content to the store along the lines of how they deal with games on Xbox Live. Honestly, I think those fears are somewhat unfounded. I'm not going to be getting windows 8 because it looks like a horrid exercise in trying to make one user interface work across two fundamentally different input/output scenarios.

 

[silverbullet1989]

would someone mind explaining to me why windows 8 is going to be so bad? not that im interested in switching over to it, windows 7 is just too good in my opinion. Are microsoft trying to make windows 8 locked down like xbox live?

Metro Launch Screen which effectively splits the whole thing into two seperate interfaces, Accounts tied to Windows Live, Software Store forcing similarly expensive certification as for the XBOX. Oh, and it's totally designed for tablets, while it is a desktop OS.

Of course, Minecraft will work the same way as it used to, as a non-certified desktop application. But it shows a "OHMAHGAWD IT'S NOT CERTIFIED, IT MIGHT BE MALWARE!!!!!" message, unless you switch them off, and Microsoft could choose to just plain refuse to allow installing them whenever they like.

Right now I'm glad I'm running Linux and Gaming support is growing.

Thanks for clearing that up... but im curious as to the certification cost which is similar to that of xbox live, does that mean a developer has to pay royalties to Microsoft in order for them to host their product? and would that entail the god awful patch / update process the consoles have to endure? where by a developer has to pay for a patch to go into the certification process before becoming available to download for the general public?

 

[mad825]

Isn't it Microsoft's tradition to screw up every other OS?

2000=Good, ME=Bad, XP=Good, Vista=Bad, Win7=Good, Win8=Bad

Well, more or less. I'm not an expert on such things. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is; NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED. AT ALL.

It's actually more complex than that.

XP = Bad, XP SP2 = good, Vista = Bad, Vista SP1 = Good, W7 = good

and so on

What about XP SP1, XP SP3 and Win7 SP1? You missed that out.