Please Don’t Publish in the Microsoft Store: It Hurts You, the Users, and Only Benefits Microsoft

The Microsoft Store is a nasty thing. It’s made to attack the user.

Unfortunately, I’ve read about even Free and Open Source Software ending up there.

In some cases, where the license is copyleft, you may not be able to satisfy a Free and Open Source Software license due to the restrictions imposed by the store.

(This is another good reason to use a copyleft license, such as the GNU GPL, so anyone who puts your program in the Microsoft Store can be told to take it back out!)

Regardless, you will be doing unpaid work to make Microsoft money, and to give them more power over everyone.

You might not be thinking about it, but many users prefer to back up certain versions of programs they like.

When you publish to the Microsoft Store, the system stops them from doing this.

When you publish to the Microsoft Store, the Store controls how many copies of the software that user’s Microsoft Account, which they now must log into Windows with, can deploy to their computers. This is a major nuisance, and like the inability to copy the setup program, it’s also a form of Digital Restrictions Malware.

As the Microsoft Store grows larger, it eases the user’s natural discomfort of being prevented from double clicking on a program’s installer to be able to install software themselves.

Microsoft has already tried taking this ability away from users before, and called it “Windows 10 S”.

They tried to force the user to pay them another $100 to get it out of this mode, which was very aggravating, and which was a form of fraud.

(The $100 “tax” to unlock the PC AFTER you got home made the PC $100 more expensive than the customer thought it was in the store, and they were going to have to pay it to do anything with the PC.)

After users were outraged, Microsoft scuttled the $100 fee and called it “S Mode” and said the “S” was for “Security”. (I just called it Shit Mode.) But really, it was an attempt to lock down the x86 PC and make it even worse than an Android tablet, where users can at least install their own preferred Free and Open Source Software from F-Droid.

Microsoft could try this “lock the user out of everything” bullshit again later, and if it’s not uncomfortable, less people will complain.

This is a problem because Microsoft already attacks BitTorrent programs, the Brave Web Browser, LibreOffice, and others with “Windows Defender”, an alleged anti-virus program that curiously misses most viruses and blocks Free Software and Bittorrent programs.

If you publish to the Microsoft Store, Wine users on Linux (like me) can’t install your software. I would hope you consider us.

When you publish to the Microsoft store, Microsoft will take a significant amount of any licensing revenue you make, or donations you accept via a “purchase”. This bleeds you like a stuck pig for Microsoft’s benefit, and leaves you having to charge more to cover the fees, which results in fewer sales.

Since many developers weren’t stupid enough to give Microsoft 30%, they lowered it a little bit, but this is still less money in your pocket and more in theirs.

As you can see, the Microsoft Store very clearly only benefits Microsoft, and is there to help them control the developers (there are rules in the store you don’t have to follow when you self-publish) and attack the users at the same time.

There are Free and Open Source installation frameworks you can use instead, such as NSIS, which won’t cost you any money.

Please do yourself and the users a service, and use a traditional program installer, and skip the Microsoft Store.