Will SwordSearcher be Windows "S" compatible?

  • Thread starter Anonymized member 1393
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I was looking at the new Windows Surface and while I don't know all this means yet... I guess it will only initially allow (unless you pay extra or something) Apps that come from the Windows store that have been "checked". Is SwordSearcher going to be one of those type of Apps?
[I am only considering stuff that that works with SS ;) and I really need to get a new computer some time fairly soon.] Thank you!
 
If you buy a device that comes with Windows 10 S, you will need to upgrade it to Windows 10 Pro to install SwordSearcher. (From the looks of it to me, the only way these devices will be useful for most people doing real work is to upgrade them to Windows 10 Pro.) The good news is that Microsoft will let you upgrade "S" to "Pro" for free, according to what I have read, at least through the rest of 2017.

The problem is that Windows 10 S is locked down to Windows Store apps only. This may have some advantages, but the problem for me is that in order to put my software in the Windows Store, I have to "wrap" it as an app, and then either give it away for free, or let Microsoft have 30% of the revenue. 30% is a crippling amount just so that they can manage the sale and download. My current costs for processing sales and downloads are closer to 3%. So I do not expect to be putting SwordSearcher in the Windows Store any time soon. The only viable way to do that would be in some way that gets around their requirement that app purchases be processed by their store API.

Bottom line is, you can get a Windows 10 S device, but you will need to upgrade the OS to Windows 10 Pro to install SwordSearcher -- and pretty much most useful software, for that matter. But doing so should be easy -- you can upgrade Windows from S to Pro from within Windows itself. It should be easy. (SwordSearcher will also work on Windows 10 Home, but as far as I can see, the upgrade from S is only available to go to Pro.)

When Windows 10 S is actually available for sale and we can see if it is successful, I will take a close look at possibly putting SwordSearcher in the Store if I can find a way to avoid donating 1/3 of SwordSearcher sales to Microsoft. But given Microsoft's poor track record in this area (Windows RT, Windows Phone, etc.), it would not be prudent to jump the gun and invest resources in supporting it now.
 
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