I refuse to switch to windows 8, I hate what they are doing to it.

Could you please stop quoting a below average code who has no clue what he's talking about?

windows 8 is a great new beginning for windows. a true multiplatform development environment and true multiplaftform system without having to really change platforms. mobile, handheld and home computing, all as one adding up to a unique user experience. phones are great, desktop pcs and tablets feel more useful, from a business to a common user standpoint. personal and practical. it may feel like a transitional product to some, and it may be, but it is a great one without doubt!

Is a game running within java even eligible for authenticode certification?

Sounds to me like he's afraid of the mess that would be exposed in his shoddy work. Why else turn away a huge load of cash?

Every single title that runs on Windows 7, including Minecraft, runs on Windows 8 right now, today, in Desktop mode. That channel is not going away during the life of Windows 8.

The Windows Store is an additional, new channel, and the deal is this: we build a store that takes care of ingestion, merchandising, billing and digital delivery, and we sell it to (we hope) hundreds of millions of people who are then one click away from buying those games; and in return for being one of those games we ask you to use the Windows 8 UI, observe a few house rules and give MS a small cut. If that's not appealing, ignore it. Totally optional. Continue as you were, selling your content through your favourite channel.

Hard for me to sound objective about our own software but really, I think this is flipping awesome for game developers.

"I think this is flipping awesome for game developers."

It's interesting how msot developers don't feel the same way though, is that something you guys are looking to address? Or are you pushing on ahead and ignoring the massively negative image Win8 has right now? =

@CukyDoh - it's important that developers understand the real picture, definitely, and I've tried to lay it out again in this thread. Most developers *do* understand it: it's everything you already had with Win7, plus a new way of selling to a (hopefully) vast audience. That's good for everyone, isn't it?

I'm with the M$ guy, Its just a store. -.-"
And its not like Notch's game isn't running on Win8, it runs on a freaking Virtual Machine.
The only reason Notch refused is because he wanted to make the news once again. He only had more to gain from it, really. If you think otherwise, info and references please.

I love how Random throws out his personal opinion and then tries to legitimize it by calling out for "info and references" from everyone else. That really made my day. This new sales channel is exactly what Bennyboy said, play by our rules and give us a cut. They want to dumb down the computer using experience as much as possible so no one will be interested in moving to any of the significantly superior OSs currently in competition and virtually if not actualy free susuperior OSs

I'm so tired of publishers & platform holders trying to monetize virtually everything that they get their grubby little mitts on. This over-monetization is one of the primary reasons I let my Gold subscription lapse after 8 years (started with 2002 XBL beta), and have curtailed nearly all purchasing of Xbox games, downloads, DLC, etc. Online passes, season passes, and on-disc unlocks are a major detractor for many of your potential consumers, and you're driving us away in droves (which is apparently being made up by more than enough sheeple to make it worth Microsoft's while to continue pursuing).

I've been spending most of my entertainment dollars these past couple of years on OS X, Windows 7, and a few PS3/PSN games, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I'm also looking forward to receiving my Ouya console, which is a much more palatable investment than the overpriced, artificially-proprietary HDDs, specifically), and failure-prone hardware. I finally ended up purchasing a newer edition 360 after going through five RRoDs from the refurb dead pool, so at least the latter's been addressed.

Then, Why is Minecraft on X360? You can't get more closed than that...

The "PC" as an open platform, not the XBOX360 which would fall under the console category.

But sure, it's a store but it's running behind the most unintuitive OS yet. In it's current form it's incredibly tedious to use though it does look reasonably sleek and attractive, but it's core design is for that of a touch-screen monitor or a tablet, not a true PC, for gamers, who use a mouse and keyboard and want things to be easy to get to and manage.

Microsoft are aiming to lock down the PC to increase their income, we all can see that, they simply want to turn the PC space into that of a similar standing to what Apple has with the Mac. Only for MS it will be a much, much, much bigger scale and it will slowly turn into that, not one fell swoop.