I have been making native Windows applications for years and I am still making them. Around year 2000, Microsoft was a reliable partner. They made the OS, provided the tools and others were free to make any applications they liked. There was little to complain about.
These days, being a Windows desktop software developer is pretty bad. Leaving out all the .net framework craze, Microsoft has made things much worse for many old software developers with their attempts to control everything. I am not OK with Microsoft being the one, who decides, whether users may run my software or not. I simply cannot develop for WinRT no matter how nice the native+HTML5 API may be. Even on desktop, Internet Explorer checks every download and hides the install button if the installer is "untrusted".
In short, Microsoft is not a reliable and respectful partner for independent software developers anymore.
These days, being a Windows desktop software developer is pretty bad. Leaving out all the .net framework craze, Microsoft has made things much worse for many old software developers with their attempts to control everything. I am not OK with Microsoft being the one, who decides, whether users may run my software or not. I simply cannot develop for WinRT no matter how nice the native+HTML5 API may be. Even on desktop, Internet Explorer checks every download and hides the install button if the installer is "untrusted".
In short, Microsoft is not a reliable and respectful partner for independent software developers anymore.