Microsoft announces it will soon stop supporting apps for Windows 8

[sincity]

Microsoft has announced that it will cease to support apps for Windows 8 at the end of October.

In a blog post, the company clarified that come October 31, the Microsoft Store will stop accepting apps from developers targeted at Windows 8/8.1 (or indeed Windows Phone 8.x).

Furthermore, Microsoft also reminded folks that from July 2023, updates for existing Windows 8 apps will be done away with as well, and will only be supplied to those using Windows 10 (of course extended support for Windows 8.1 finishes in January 2023, anyway – so the show is effectively over at that point).

Clearly, this is another move by Microsoft to focus more on Windows 10, and herd those who haven’t yet upgraded towards its newest desktop operating system.

Universal acclaim

Software developers are being encouraged to port their apps to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and fully get on board the Windows 10 train, unsurprisingly.

If you were wondering how Microsoft’s newest operating system has been doing of late, Windows 10 is still growing, and indeed stripping away users from Windows 7, according to the two big stat-crunching firms which keep an eye on desktop OS market share.

The computing population using Windows 8.1 is continuing to slide, and according to NetMarketShare, it’s currently installed on only 7.5% of Windows PCs. That’s a minority Microsoft will be hoping to make considerably smaller with this move…

• Most of our best laptops run Windows 10

Via Trusted Reviews

View the full article

[Xernicus]

I have mixed feelings about this:

1. Windows 8.1 was a difference of night and day from Win 8. There's not reason not to use 8.1 if you're still on 8-- it's worth it and you could never go back once you experience it. (Personal opinion)

2. This is complete and utter bull****. They have the option not to be like Apple, and what do they do? (Professional and halfway personal opinion)
Yeah, yeah I get that it's not a major market share- and I understand the costs of backwards compatibility- and how it actually sets Windows development back. It's certainly not going to grow either, considering it's not sold anymore. (Though I find the occasional copy of Win7...) However, rather than segment the market like Apple with both iOS + MacOS and (to a lesser extent) Google do, they could be innovative (in a way) and backport UWP to Windows 8/8.1 and support all of the people still on old software that helped launch their new platform (Windows 10/Surface/UWP).

[joynhappiness]

They should think this through before finalizing their decision as a lot of users might be affected.