>Another big difference from Apple. I wonder though, with the various antitrust agreements Microsoft has made around the world, whether they could even consider an Apple-style “if you use our store, all transactions must go through us” policy.
I believe that doesn't really apply to Windows 8 because you can sideload regular non-Metro programs all you want, just like on Windows 8. The Windows Store will still link to third party websites carrying non-metro apps.
The only hardware where you cannot do this will be Windows 8 ARM tablets. And since Windows is starting from zero in a market completely dominated by the iPad, I doubt anti-trust will be a concern anytime soon, considering that Apple is getting away with the lockdown and 30% cut of all in-app purchases despite being a near monopoly.
The only hardware where you cannot do this will be Windows 8 ARM tablets.
I don't think is set in stone yet. AFAIK, the classic Windows desktop and associated APIs like .NET have been ported to ARM. For example, Microsoft has showed desktop Office running on ARM last year.
There seems to be some internal debate at MS about whether to ship Win8 ARM as Metro only, with the classic desktop included, or even both (i.e. have two SKUs and let the OEMs choose).
I believe that doesn't really apply to Windows 8 because you can sideload regular non-Metro programs all you want, just like on Windows 8. The Windows Store will still link to third party websites carrying non-metro apps.
The only hardware where you cannot do this will be Windows 8 ARM tablets. And since Windows is starting from zero in a market completely dominated by the iPad, I doubt anti-trust will be a concern anytime soon, considering that Apple is getting away with the lockdown and 30% cut of all in-app purchases despite being a near monopoly.