41–50 of 68 posts
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Some of the UI apps perhaps, but if you ripped out win32, I don't think you'd have a very usable machine left to log on to?
That's true, but only because there isn't a great story in UWP for underlying services. Non-sandboxed applications and services are not a sustainable strategy anymore.
What ever happened to programs? Was there something about that word that terribly offended people? Too hard to type out? Is 'app' soon going to be replaced by some kind of pictogram? Enquiring minds want to know.
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(disclaimer, I'm a Microsoft employee and this is only my opinion). There's an important distinction which often don't see discussed when this topic comes up: It can be very dangerous to install a program on your machine, but an 'app' comes with some assurance. People often think of the app store as a method for MS to grab your money, but in my opinion it fixes many of the installation/deployment problems that have e…
This sounds nice and reasonable, but I think it's a post hoc explanation that doesn't quite work. Look at the language in the linked article. It talks about converting my "Win32 apps" into "Universal Windows Platform apps". But those legacy programs aren't "apps" within the meaning you've laid out.
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No, I mean apps. I'm just as lazy as anybody else, and I don't see a need to use an older word with an extra syllable and a bunch of baggage just to show off that I was using computers before the iPhone came out. If they were distributed as .programx files instead of .appx files, maybe you'd have a point.
So when the IPhone came out, the word 'program' was changed to 'app'?
I'd object more if it were something like "nuculer" where we're adding in wrong letters to pronounce it wrong, but I really don't care if something is an "app" or a "program".
As far as connotations go, "app" tends to mean a simple single-purpose piece of software, and "program" is an all encompassing legacy blob that takes a dump in 40 different folders because it can't keep its shit together. Not always true, but still what I think of. I tend to use the words that way when the software in question falls into one category or the other.
Will I call Forza an app because it's on the store? Eh, maybe. I'll probably call it a game (does anybody call those "programs"?). Would I call AutoCAD an app if they started distributing it as a UWP package? Less certain. Maybe not. Skype? Absolutely.
It's weird to hear "win32" called "legacy". Last I checked everything from "wininit.exe" to "svchost.exe" to "winlogon.exe" were win32 (or win64) applications. Guess the entire base operating system is legacy! :O
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So when the IPhone came out, the word 'program' was changed to 'app'?
Even before the iPhone came out, people used the abbreviation "app" for "application". Source: I was around then ;)
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You can distribute universal Windows apps outside the Windows Store.
Yes, they've been trailing that for a while. Do you know if there's any kind of legally-binding commitment to keep this option open, or might this be a temporary thing while they try to get some traction for the platform?
MS seems pretty serious about trying to get developers on board with their platform. I can't imagine them reversing course on this, especially with "Tim Sweeney is wrong about everything, UWP is an open platform" being a recurring subtext of the keynote.
What ever happened to programs? Was there something about that word that terribly offended people? Too hard to type out? Is 'app' soon going to be replaced by some kind of pictogram? Enquiring minds want to know.
You're decades late on this. "App" has been used as a shorthand way to refer to programs for a loooong time. Random example, Apple had an object oriented framework called MacApp in 1985.
An "App" (mobile-style) is a new word. It implies (again, to me) a sandboxed program with a simplified, single-window, full-screen UI.
The same 3 letters (app) have been used my entire life to refer to computer programs, but the connotation has shifted a lot.
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This sounds nice and reasonable, but I think it's a post hoc explanation that doesn't quite work. Look at the language in the linked article. It talks about converting my "Win32 apps" into "Universal Windows Platform apps". But those legacy programs aren't "apps" within the meaning you've laid out.
I'll confess ignorance over what exactly the converter does, or how it does it. I don't know anything more than what was announced today. The article says that it converts win32/.net apps into appx packages, and I'd assume that this does encompass 'the meaning that I've laid out'.