> What I meant by backwards compatibility was that Microsoft rarely breaks or removes API's, so from a developers perspective they aren't any worse than Apple.
It's been ages but I remember being annoyed when they sort of nerfed DirectInput into XInput [1]. The earlier API had way more features for advanced force-feedback and some other features. Why cripple things like that at all?
I think the Vista Sidebar vs. OS X Dashboard is a good example; Apple has kept it around for people who might still prefer it, and the widgets made for it still work, whereas any work that developers had put into making Sidebar (and Sideshow [2]) widgets has been negated by Microsoft. I actually liked the Sidebar.
In each of those cases, Microsoft seems to have crippled or took out features and APIs mostly to force something else on us; XBOX and the Windows 8 Start Screen, respectively.
It's been ages but I remember being annoyed when they sort of nerfed DirectInput into XInput [1]. The earlier API had way more features for advanced force-feedback and some other features. Why cripple things like that at all?
I think the Vista Sidebar vs. OS X Dashboard is a good example; Apple has kept it around for people who might still prefer it, and the widgets made for it still work, whereas any work that developers had put into making Sidebar (and Sideshow [2]) widgets has been negated by Microsoft. I actually liked the Sidebar.
In each of those cases, Microsoft seems to have crippled or took out features and APIs mostly to force something else on us; XBOX and the Windows 8 Start Screen, respectively.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectInput#DirectInput_vs_XIn...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow