Comment by add-sub-mul-div
9 hours ago
Not Microsoft. "Sideloading" is not even a term in Windows culture the way it is with Apple and Google because it's not a second-class citizen.
9 hours ago
Not Microsoft. "Sideloading" is not even a term in Windows culture the way it is with Apple and Google because it's not a second-class citizen.
Old windows yeah. Now they also require code signing, etc.
Not required
Source: I use Windows and Windows VMs sometimes and install whatever I want without hassle.
On a regular consumer version of windows what happens when you open an unsigned exe?
That’s not for lack of trying, though: remember Windows RT?
MS has mostly abandoned that approach now. But during Windows 8 days? Yeah. There was a legitimate concern that MS will lock down Windows and try to funnel everything through Microsoft Store, establishing an Apple-style walled garden.
The concern was serious enough that Valve took a defensive posture and started investing into Linux support. Which, at first, largely failed - but eventually resulted in Steam Deck.
For sure, and I'm glad they backed off from it. I'm also glad they did it because of how it pushed Valve into making Steam OS so good. But Microsoft really did want to go down the same path, and I do not trust them not to try it again.
WinRT wasn’t locked down.
The Surface RT that I tried absolutely was, and everything else I'm seeing to make sure I'm not misremembering shows that Windows RT was still locked down. So you should expand on what you mean.
Windows S Mode shows that Microsoft still thinks this is a good idea, too.
> Not Microsoft
No Steam on Xbox Series X/S, last I heard.
> Apple
Steam still works on macOS, last I checked.
macOS and Xbox are rounding errors compared to iOS and Windows.