Lol Notch is a funny dude.
I agree that not making Minecraft (or other games for that matter), for Windows will surely be a slam on Microsoft. Gamers will resort to Linux or even OS X. I personally like Windows 8 overall, but when it comes down to gaming, If all of the games are for Linux, I'm sure I'll have Ubuntu installed as my primary boot, Windows 8 second on my boot list.
Excuse me, but what are you talking about? What is exactly stopping you from launching Minecraft on Windows 8? You don't have to do anything. Notch doesn't have to do anything. Turning games into APPS is not mandatory for compatibility. Windows 8 is Windows 7 with a different UI overlay.
Roughly 95% of all Windows 7 games work on W8. Those that don't work are due to issues, like problems with Direct Draw emulation (apparently), some strange read/write permissions quirk (which is already fixed on RTM) and some other minor compatibility issues (like it didn't happen on Vista/7) which will probably get ironed out, or not. There are LOTS of issues regarding UI shortcuts (because of obvious design faults in "metro"), but that isn't stopping you from launching the game - most people never used the start menu anyway and just clicked on the desktop.
See, that's what irritates me. The poster above clearly has no idea what he is talking about, but has already made up his mind about what is the quality of W8 gaming. Explain to me, why switching to OS X or some obscure linux distro should improve my gaming experience? Because wine/wineskin is a bloody mess to get working right - and most people aren't programmers.
It's not even like Minecraft is some sort of technical wonder. It's written in bloody Java, so OS support is pretty much guaranteed until the end of days (or until something better than Java becomes mainstream).
@SIW2: I would love to know who exactly and what their arguments are. Because with Notch and Gabe running around spouting nonsense without any backing in actual arguments, it's difficult to take it seriously. It is obvious that Newell is just scared that Windows Store might endanger Steam's profits (which is a legitimate concern, but wrapping that in pseudotechnical rants about how W8 will bring about the end of PC gaming is just dishonest).
Oh yeah, there were those Blizzard guys, but they jumped on Newell's bandwagon quite happily and I don't recall them saying anything vaguely important.
Apart from the usual whine that the UI is not suited for mouse/keyboard (not true) and Windows Store requirements, I've yet to hear anything substantial. And I would bloody love to, because I want to make up my mind basing on facts, not bottomless pit of uninformed whine.