
Paint.net is now available on the Windows Store - NicoJuicy
https://blog.getpaint.net/2017/09/29/paint-net-is-now-available-on-the-windows-store/
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criddell
Does anybody make money with the Windows Store?

I just went there and search for "paint.net" and the app wasn't in the
results. The closest thing was the book _Getting Started with Paint.NET_.

It also returned _Wild Gorilla Slots_ , and a bunch of fantasy games like
_Grim Legends 3: The Dark City_.

Why do app stores have such a hard time with search?

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lnrdgmz
From the link, near the top:

> (It may take a little bit of time before you can search for Paint.NET on the
> Windows Store. I’m told that things take up to 24 hours to “propagate.”)

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rosstex
Does Microsoft's database run on DNS?

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pavel_lishin
I wonder if every machine stores the entire catalog, and periodically syncs.

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louithethrid
I assume on limited connections, it will never sync, meaning if you use a
latop tethered to your cell-phone, you will see the windows-appstore of 1984.
(any old date would have done, but this one rhymed)

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redstar92
Supporting this, for all the work the developer (Rick Brewster) has done over
the years, $5.99/$8.99 is a really small price to pay.

~~~
butz
But 30% goes to Microsoft. I think better option would be to donate directly
to Paint.net project.

~~~
hkmurakami
I'm with you. Been using paint.net on and off since my high school days, and
now that I am a wage earning adult, I'll be making a donation today even if I
no longer use it all that often, because of how much I've used it in the past.

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hackbinary
Firstly, Paint.Net is an awesome program. Thank you.

I don't have a problem with the author wanting to charge for it as it is his
software afterall, but I really wish more software vendors would follow
Redhat's model of charging for the stable and supported version of their
software, and giving away the bleeding edge 'Fedora' version for free.

As a techie, I love getting my hands on the new and most innovative stuff; I'm
okay with breakage.

As an IT manager, I just want the stuff to work and be stable, with well
planned upgrades.

I'm not sure where software authors got the idea that charging for their
newest and buggiest features was a good idea. When I'm buying software, I am
buying robustness and stability. I just want it work.

~~~
the_common_man
If redhat charges for stability, then won't they make the free stuff as little
tested as possible.

I won't pay for redhat style software at all. It's based on locking people
with fud.

~~~
type0
RHEL is a subscription for their support, if you don't need it then run CentOS
- it is as rock solid if not more.

~~~
the_common_man
If it's Rock solid, what support do I need? Besides if they are selling
support, they are not selling the software as a product. Paint.net is a
product and not some support subscription.

~~~
type0
here you go: [https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2016/03/31/no-cost-
rhel-d...](https://developers.redhat.com/blog/2016/03/31/no-cost-rhel-
developer-subscription-now-available/)

Paint.NET via Windows Store has one major advantage: automatic updates.
Besides it's still is a free software and it's not a subscription - as far I
understood it's just one time payment. I wouldn't mind paying for that if I
used Windows.

The bigger issue is 30% MS tax:

> And you can still send a donation if that’s your preferred way of providing
> financial support. This is actually more effective because Microsoft does
> take a 30% cut of every transaction that goes through their Store.

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baggadonuts
I went to college with Rick. He's an awesome guy and deserves to be paid for
his work on this. He's the only developer of it. Look at what photoshop costs.
It's a tiny amount to pay for what you get.

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jokoon
Still lacking text outline, which is still available as a dll plugin.

Other than that, one the best software on earth. I have never used photoshop,
and I don't need it.

~~~
Navarr
My biggest issue, as a web developer, is my inability to handle PSDs. There is
a Paint.NET plugin that does a semi-okay job, but it's not good _enough_.

Do you have a good plugin for working with PSDs, or are they not in your
personal scope of necessity?

~~~
jokoon
I don't know, I don't really use photoshop. If PSD is binary, I guess it would
make things hard, but easier if it's text or xml.

~~~
EpicEng
It's a binary format which has 20 years of backward compatibility shims
present to support 14 versions of PS. And it's huge and complex. No fun at
all.

~~~
kyrra
Reminds me of this PSD parsing code comment that isn't happy about the file
format.

[https://github.com/zepouet/Xee-
xCode-4.5/blob/83394493f51991...](https://github.com/zepouet/Xee-
xCode-4.5/blob/83394493f51991748b9b4706e6d37a8ed874bc05/XeePhotoshopLoader.m#L108)

~~~
EpicEng
Yep, pretty much. I started on a parser long ago as a side project and...
quickly decided there were better uses for my free time.

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insulanian
This is one of the few applications I'm missing badly since I switched to Mac.

Is there a decent free equivalent for Mac? I've tried Gimp, but many things
are complicated, hidden or slow.

~~~
qntl
Patina isn’t free, but it’s only a few bucks and is a decent “Mac-first” paint
program.

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smacktoward
_> The Store release of Paint.NET is not distributed free-of-charge. This
allows many things to converge and solves a lot of problems, while still
providing value for new and existing users (err, customers?)._

So let me see if I've got this straight. I can go to the Windows Store to get
Paint.NET, in which case I will have to pay USD$8.99 for it. Or I can go to
getpaint.net to get Paint.NET for free, in which case I will expose myself to
a barrage of misleading ads designed to get me to download malware (see
[https://jasonlefkowitz.net/2013/03/google-and-paint-net-
need...](https://jasonlefkowitz.net/2013/03/google-and-paint-net-need-to-stop-
misleading-users/) \-- I wrote that four years ago, but the ads are as bad
today as they were then).

"Now you can pay us money to skip past the part where we try our hardest to
screw up your computer!" is a real innovation in software marketing.

~~~
tyingq
Google said they were going to go after those ads on AdSense with misleading
"download" and "install" buttons.

[https://consumerist.com/2016/02/05/google-hates-those-
fake-d...](https://consumerist.com/2016/02/05/google-hates-those-fake-
download-buttons-as-much-as-you-do-will-now-block-sites-using-them/)

But right now, the misleading ad showing on getpaint.net is an ad for a Google
product. Lol.

[https://imgur.com/a/OdgpG](https://imgur.com/a/OdgpG)

~~~
myko
I don't think the Duo ad is confusing - it clearly shows that the install
button will take you to somewhere to install Duo.

The misleading buttons are ads on download sites that just say "Install" and
make the user think it's the button to download the item the user is looking
at (in this case, Paint.NET).

~~~
DougWebb
I don't think that's clear at all; there's no border around the ad, so you've
got quotes about how great Paint.NET is, some info about Google Duo, and then
a big INSTALL button. It's not at all obvious that Duo and Paint.NET are
unrelated, if you don't know what Duo is.

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Meph504
I just can not see how the windows app store is a good thing.

Firstly, it adds a 30% surcharge to every application. Secondly, it is a
walled garden, and everything is fine until microsoft decides they don't want
your app there, or it conflicts with a product they want to sell.

I fully support the developer right to monetize his application but, I think
once there is a large ecosystem of profitable applications on their store, I
look for Microsoft to update their TOS, to require exclusive distribution
rights on application. By then, it's lose your largest revenue stream, or lose
your donation based customers.

I think most developers will stick with the store, and that's a shame.

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zentiggr
What is this "Windows" "Store" you speak of? /s

~~~
zentiggr
Or... why would I help anyone who locks my options down as hard as Microsoft?

