• @[email protected]
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    5 days ago

    Imagine if Microsoft banned Windows users from downloading software outside the Microsoft store.

    Imagine if Microsoft required all Software developers to give them 30% of their income or be banned from Windows

    This is nothing but pure extortion.

    Thank god for the EU, which forced Apple to back down:

    Fortnite, one of the world’s biggest video games, is available as an iPhone app for the first time in four years. However, it will only be available to players in the European Union. This is because EU law requires Apple to allow third-party app stores on its devices - other parts of the world do not have comparable legislation. The game was removed from the App Store in 2020 following a payments row between Apple and Epic.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70j5rx72yvo

    As for canadians/americans, they are in jail.

    Imagine your friend in Europe sends you a phone invite to play .

    -“Oh. I’m sorry but I am not allowed to do that 😢”

    • @[email protected]
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      355 days ago

      The only reason these things haven’t happened is that Microsoft was banned from doing them back in the 90s. They absolutely wanted to require a Microsoft Account (then called a Passport) in Windows XP. The ban was in place until just after Windows 7 came out.

      Blame the government for doing nothing to protect consumers since 1999.

    • @[email protected]
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      135 days ago

      Apple doesn’t ban Mac users from downloading software outside the App Store.

      Microsoft bans Xbox users from downloading unlicensed software.

      • @[email protected]
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        75 days ago

        That this completely true observation has twice the downvotes than upvotes highlights this community’s views on Apple.

        • Ulrich
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          44 days ago
          1. No one was talking about Mac.

          2. XBOX is not a workstation. The only thing you’d want to install on it is games. That’s like, the whole point.

          • @[email protected]
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            34 days ago

            Imagine if Microsoft banned Windows users from downloading software outside the Microsoft store.

            That was comparing desktop OS to mobile OS, which is why the person to which I replied pointed out this is different than macOS.

            On your second point, neither is iOS a workstation, and one could just as easily say, “The only thing you’d want to install is mobile apps.” Okay but the problem isn’t the type of apps, it is the source of those apps. So either you should be able to get application / games from multiple sources or not.

            If you think those initial downvotes were due to some pedantic distinction about workstation, and not because somebody indirectly implied that Microsoft and Apple were on similar footing in this regard, fine.

            • Ulrich
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              -14 days ago

              That was comparing desktop OS to mobile OS

              It doesn’t matter. The point stands.

              neither is iOS a workstation

              Yes it is. It’s a general computing device. The XBOX is a dedicated gaming device.

              Okay but the problem isn’t the type of apps

              As far as this discussion, it very much is.

              So either you should be able to get application / games from multiple sources or not.

              You absolutely should be able to on all platforms, but some are more important than others and comparing them like they’re all the same makes no sense.

          • @[email protected]
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            13 days ago

            It’s not random. It’s a direct comparison, but people like to pretend it’s not.

            I would argue I should be able to buy any game without Xbox marketplace on it.

            That’s where epic is going next.

          • @[email protected]
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            13 days ago

            Imagine if Microsoft banned Windows users from downloading software outside the Microsoft store.

            Imagine if Microsoft required all Software developers to give them 30% of their income or be banned from Windows

            They were replying to the comparison to Windows. What are you on about?

      • Echo Dot
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        4 days ago

        Microsoft bans Xbox users from downloading unlicensed software.

        I’m curious what that would even look like. The only thing you can install on an Xbox is Xbox games, where are you getting the Xbox games from if not the official publisher?

      • @[email protected]
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        5 days ago

        The Xbox doesn’t have the majority of the gaming market.

        The smartphone market is basically a duopoly.

          • Echo Dot
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            4 days ago

            A duopoly doesn’t require a 50/50 market share. It simply requires them to be the only real options and to both engage in similar anti-consumer practises.

          • @[email protected]
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            5 days ago

            Nintendo 0%

            Doubtful. These numbers provided are completely wrong. Back when files were leaked during this very trial, Epic revealed they had 3 to 4 times more players on Playstations than Xboxes everywhere other than the US.

            Accorsing to Statista (accesible on a third party site if you want to avoid registring), Xbox only has 23% of the market (as opposee to PS’s 45% and Nintendo’s 27%).

            I don’t like Microsoft, and I agree sideloading should be a thing on consoles too, but they definitely do not hold a majority of the console market, let alone a monopoly.

          • @[email protected]
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            95 days ago

            Tbh I think that data is incredibly misleading. Every single generation of PlayStation has outsold the Xbox of the same generation(yes even the ps3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles.

            Additionally looking at the faq for that site it appears to get its data via page views. What % of console users actually use the browser? Is bet very few. Especially when you consider the ps5 has no built in browser.

          • @[email protected]
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            4 days ago

            Fair enough.

            I think hardware companies should make money selling devices. They should be banned from jailing their users in a locked proprietary ecosystem.

    • Ulrich
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      4 days ago

      Thank god for the EU, which forced Apple to back down:

      As for canadians/americans, they are in jail.

      This isn’t the EU, this is the US. Epic Games will be back in the App Store in US next week.

      • @[email protected]
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        4 days ago

        Device lock-in is a symptom of a wider issue: the users are not in control of their computing. Charging for services is fine but a company deciding what you are allowed to do with your own property is unjust.

        Change their post to say Microsoft’s old phone brand OS instead of desktop Windows and what changes? You don’t need to pick an equivalent to highlight a single aspect for comparison when arguing for a position.

      • Ulrich
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        34 days ago

        There’s no need to get offended. Replace MS with MacOS and the point stands.

  • Jo Miran
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    145 days ago

    Damn. Epic’s on a roll in my news feed this morning.

  • @[email protected]
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    125 days ago

    Isn’t this charging model the same reason Kindle stopped allowing in app purchases? I thought they had said it was a Google play store thing though. Is Google doing it too or is there pricing something different?