> In fact, if you don't have a lot of downloads, SmartScreen will block your executable even if you pay for the privilege of signing your executables!
There's more nuance here which OP is alluding to. If you form a corporation and get an EV cert, you will not get a SmartScreen block, not even on your very first download. Immediate SmartScreen reputation is the point of getting an EV cert for this; Microsoft says this explicitly. If you get an OV cert (the only kind that an individual developer can get!), you will get blocked and will have to build reputation.
As an individual open source developer, I have an OV signing cert :( At least it shows my name on the SmartScreen prompt.
There's more nuance here which OP is alluding to. If you form a corporation and get an EV cert, you will not get a SmartScreen block, not even on your very first download. Immediate SmartScreen reputation is the point of getting an EV cert for this; Microsoft says this explicitly. If you get an OV cert (the only kind that an individual developer can get!), you will get blocked and will have to build reputation.
As an individual open source developer, I have an OV signing cert :( At least it shows my name on the SmartScreen prompt.