Windows Blue can't fix Windows 8's rotten apps problem

"Windows 8 sucks because Windows 8 apps suck. And there's nothing in all these rumors of Windows Blue or Windows 8.1 that tells me that apps will be easier to write or that will result in better apps."

"Everyone's obsessed with the look of the thing. What do I care about a Start button in Windows 8 if I spend all my time on the desktop? It's the lack of good applications [that's hurting Windows]. And from what I can tell, developers aren't going to get anything from Blue. I don't see anything about apps getting better."

Windows Blue can't fix Windows 8's rotten apps problem | Computerworld Blogs
 
The reason why Apple has many useful apps is because they are VERY strict with what they will allow in their store, even with the torrents of crummy apps for those devices, apple has always had some kind of Standard. I know the guy who created VLC Remote, which is the most used app on my phone, and he has had several updates refused due to it not meeting the specs he was given. This also applies with accessibility to the device itself - If any app grants the user any access at all to the filesystem, it is rejected out of hand.

Many of the really crummy apps I have seen in the past, like the "Mirror" app - Are not allowed in there unless they actually have some kind of function, the original "Mirror" app was made long before there was a front camera, and it had thousands of "+5" reviews, which was obviously the result of some king of Gaming. That one is no longer there.

Mainly it is the superfluity of all kinds of GAMES, which these people make in batches of hundreds, or, they name an app and Keyword it to show up in searches for something else so you get thousands of hits. But this is way less than it used to be. Many apps are designed to download content from free sources like The Gutenberg Project, and they CHARGE you for using basically a free service, you you do an in-app purchase for some book which is offered for free on Gutenberg, it's 100% profit for these guys, if they have had a lot of people download the thing and use it.

I think both Apple and the Windows 8 store need to add some hurdles into the process of submitting apps for the store, say, something like "What does this app DO, what kind of things can you DO with it."

Because if you look in any of the sections, you will find tiles that have the words "Quicken", "Word" in the name, but they are nothing but some kind of very remedial Tutorial- There are hundreds, maybe thousands of apps like that in the store.

The second most used app on my phone is called "File Explorer" which allows me to manipulate files on all of my computers n the network, plus my dropbox and Skydrive accounts, not to mention FTP access. and it was very cheap, but not made cheaply. If the developer ever creates a Windows 8 version, I'll buy it right away- But there are a bunch of "File Explorer" apps in there priced from free to 10 bucks, with varying degrees of usefulness. The most useful one I found was Modern File Explorer, which allows you access to the whole filesystem.
 

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    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Thanks for your positive contribution... oh wait :sarc:
 

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If any app grants the user any access at all to the filesystem, it is rejected out of hand.

And indeed, that would, for me, be a major game-breaker.
One of the first things I installed on my Androids (phone and tab) was a decent file explorer/manager.

Wenda.
 

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    Windows 8.1 'Ultimate' RTM 64 bit (Pro/WMC).
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    Acer AS8951G 'Desktop Replacement'.
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    i7-2670QM@2.2/3.1Ghz.
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    Acer
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    8GB@1366Mhz.
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    Realtek HD w/Dolby 5.1 surround.
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    18/4" 1920x1080 full-HD.
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    Toshiba 750GBx2 internal. 1x2TB, 2x640GB, 1x500GB external.
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    Stock.
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    Stock.
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    Full 101-key
    Mouse
    USB cordless.
    Browser
    IE11, Firefox, Tor.
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
    Other Info
    BD-ROM drive.
If any app grants the user any access at all to the filesystem, it is rejected out of hand.

And indeed, that would, for me, be a major game-breaker.
One of the first things I installed on my Androids (phone and tab) was a decent file explorer/manager.

Wenda.

Hi there
So what's wrong with the standard Windows file explorer (desktop version).

Seems to me if people are rejecting Windows 8 because they don't like the apps in the store then they shouldn't even be THINKING of buying a laptop or desktop computer but stick to tablets and phones.

I would honestly say that 99.9% of SERIOUS Desktop users don't care two Monkeys about any of the apps in the store for their computer but would much rather be presented with an interface that avoided even SEEING that dogs dinner of a mess in the first place.

I mean C'mon guys -- why on earth would you use say a laptop with an i7 processor and a 17.5 inch screen just to look at the Weather or BING or any of those stupid apps in single FULL SCREEN mode. Movies are about the only case where I use full screen and then things like VLC are far far better than anything in the store.

Even the "Immersive" (Metro) version of IE is a pain -- OK tabs mean you can switch between sites but just THINK for a second -- when you are on a COMPUTER - not a tablet or phone - do you ever have more than one window visible at the same time when using IE. If you say NO then IMO you've never had to search for cheap flights / Car insurance / products you buy online or ever had to copy / translate stuff from various sites and paste into other applications.

And if you like playing things like Spider Solitaire (Windows 7 Classic Games) while waiting for a slowish download or site to appear these old fashioned standard games that were supplied as part of W7 work really brilliantly too on W8 -- much better than the full screen metro versions in the store (and you can re-size them and hide them if your boss suddenly appears !!).

Anybody interested I've got these in installable format and can give you the dropbox reference to download the install file.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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I remember when ios 2 was released, the very first wave of apps were literally third party apps of built in first party apps. Seriously, the torrent of notepad and youtube and alarm apps were ridiculous.

But I agree, certain apps in Windows 8 just do suck. Xbox Music is NO WAY in hell a Zune replacement, no way no how. Actually, some of the apps aren't too bad, the web based Bing apps are nice to use and Microsoft consistently tweaks them. They recently updated the News and Finance apps, MUCH better than initial RTM versions. Xbox Music though....yuck.
 

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    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
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    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
If any app grants the user any access at all to the filesystem, it is rejected out of hand.

And indeed, that would, for me, be a major game-breaker.
One of the first things I installed on my Androids (phone and tab) was a decent file explorer/manager.

Wenda.

Hi there
So what's wrong with the standard Windows file explorer (desktop version).

Seems to me if people are rejecting Windows 8 because they don't like the apps in the store then they shouldn't even be THINKING of buying a laptop or desktop computer but stick to tablets and phones.

I would honestly say that 99.9% of SERIOUS Desktop users don't care two Monkeys about any of the apps in the store......

<Edited to reduce size of my post/avoid excessive quoting.>

Cheers
jimbo



Jimbo,

I appreciate the points you've just made regarding the Windows interface, and
by-and-large I agree with you, which is why I'm curious as to why you used a quote
of mine to reinforce them, as it that you are in disagreement with me and/or my
comment.

Yes, I'm a serious user and almost always have multiple windows open, and multiple
tabs in my browsers. I, too, dislike the 'immersive' IE intensely, and the only 'apps'
that I do use are, funnily enough, Bing and the weather, on an i7. :p;) But that is
very infrequently, the rest of the time I'm in 100% desktop mode. I have little use
for the Metro side of things except as a program launcher.

My comment was addressed to XweApoN , who was referring to restrictions on access to
the file-system on Android devices, not Windows, and mentioned that he'd installed
a file manager which did not have those restrictions. I merely agreed with him and
said that I'd done the same. I wasn't even thinking about the Windows store or apps
when I made the post.

I'm not having a go at you, Jimbo, and quite possibly I've misread or misunderstood
the connection. If so, I apologise, but again, I essentially agree with your points, not
disagree, so don't see the connection between my comment and yours.


Wenda.
 
Last edited:

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    Full 101-key
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    USB cordless.
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    IE11, Firefox, Tor.
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    Windows Defender, MalwareBytes Pro.
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    BD-ROM drive.
I remember when ios 2 was released, the very first wave of apps were literally third party apps of built in first party apps. Seriously, the torrent of notepad and youtube and alarm apps were ridiculous.

But I agree, certain apps in Windows 8 just do suck. Xbox Music is NO WAY in hell a Zune replacement, no way no how. Actually, some of the apps aren't too bad, the web based Bing apps are nice to use and Microsoft consistently tweaks them. They recently updated the News and Finance apps, MUCH better than initial RTM versions. Xbox Music though....yuck.

Yah but those are Microsoft apps made by Microsoft. I'm referring to the superfluity of "3rd party apps built on 1st party apps" - Why the hell do I want any of those if they are already IN there? the Apple store is chock full of garbage like this, I don't understand why those apps are even allowed in there.
 

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    AMD 4400+/4200+
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    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
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    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
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    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
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    "1842 x 1036"
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    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
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    Water Cooled
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    Microsoft Intellimouse
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    Cable Medium Speed
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    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
The PDF reader that Microsoft developed for the mobile platform is junk! There is another in the market that has all the features one would need, like being able to see the PDF's on the device tht you placed there via PC connection. The one MS made only sees what were attached to emails and what's in skydrive. That is why there are 3rd party versions of what MS "develpoed".

Not saying there aren't junk apps out there, but this is one reason that 3rd party for the same thing are there. Some may need more or less features than what MS tried to create...

Geeve
 

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Oh you mean the "Reader" app? I've never tried it. I just downloaded several PDF readers of various ratings.
 

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  • OS
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    PC/Desktop
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    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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