Microsoft takes veiled shots at Apple in its new ‘fairness’ principles

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Microsoft Windows
Windows 1.0 is the operating system you haven’t been waiting for.
Photo: Microsoft

It’s been a hot minute since Microsoft and Apple were the big tech rivalry. But Microsoft is ready to renew cold war hostilities for old time’s sake. At least, if a new blog post is to be believed, that is.

In a new blog post promoting the Microsoft Store on Windows 10, Microsoft takes a few thinly veiled shots at Apple, cashing in on the current rough time Apple is having regarding its allegedly monopolistic running of the App Store.

In the post, Rima Alaily, Microsoft’s VP and Deputy General Counsel, lays out 10 principles for its app store. The principles “promote choice, fairness and innovation.”

Microsoft’s principles

Some examples include:

“We will not block an app from Windows based on a developer’s business model or how it delivers content and services, including whether content is installed on a device or streamed from the cloud.”

“We will not block an app from Windows based on a developer’s choice of which payment system to use for processing purchases made in its app.”

“[Microsoft’s] app store will charge reasonable fees that reflect the competition we face from other app stores on Windows and will not force a developer to sell within its app anything it doesn’t want to sell.”

“Our app store will not prevent developers from communicating directly with their users through their apps for legitimate business purposes.”

“Our app store will hold our own apps to the same standards to which it holds competing apps.”

“[Microsoft’s] app store will be transparent about its rules and policies and opportunities for promotion and marketing, apply these consistently and objectively, provide notice of changes and make available a fair process to resolve disputes.”

An accompanying blurb notes that, “Unlike some other (my emphasis) popular digital platforms, developers [in the Microsoft Store] are free to choose how they distribute their apps.” It then promotes third-party app stores like those made by Steam and Epic.” There are also references to “other (again, my emphasis) app stores that require [developers] to sell services in … apps even when … users don’t expect or want them.”

Apple’s not mentioned by name

Microsoft doesn’t mention Apple by name. Nonetheless, it’s pretty clear who is being referenced. Apple company has recently faces a slew of developers who accuse it of behaving in an overly controlling manner and taking an unfair cut of revenue. Apple is currently battling Fortnite maker Epic Games. The two companies will clash in court next year. This is over Epic’s decision to give users a way to buy in-app purchases without giving Apple a share of the profits.

Apple also faces antitrust complaints in both the U.S. and Europe, scrutinizing how Apple runs the App Store. (Which Microsoft’s president has chipped in to talk about.) Apple, for its part, defends itself against what it suggests are developers wanting to use its established infrastructure without paying their share.

Of course, the fact is that Microsoft is not currently in a position to dictate terms with its app store. You can argue Apple’s terms all you want, but people are still lining up to develop for iOS because it is a massive spinner. That’s simply not the case for Microsoft. Just like Samsung ads used to spend more time targeting iPhones than they did talking up Galaxies, Microsoft is making a shrewd move by calling out Apple. It’s got people talking about a blog post made to promote the Microsoft app store. Mission accomplished.

But let’s not forget just how ruthless a company Microsoft could be back when it was on top in the 1990s.

Source: Microsoft

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