So with the new UNIVERSAL APPLICATIONS that Windows 10 will introduce, I was wondering if GOG was going to REBUNDLE some of the games as SIMPLE UNIVERSAL APPLICATIONS.

Anyone in blue got word on that?

Maybe.

But then, they will either be giving 30% of their coins for the games to be hosted on the Windows Store, or require users to enable the Developer Mode of the OS to side-load the packages.

EDIT: They will NOT be universal packages, only wrapped around the new distribution model with the first compatibility bridge for Win32 that was announced during Build.

I mostly meant the compatibility bridge so as to get rid of registry messes and such.

They will still be there, but virtualised. So when you remove an app packaged in such a way, everything that that app created is going to get removed as well.

Universal Applications? What's that? Did Microsoft try and "fix" something that didn't need to be fixed in Windows 10?

"It's not a BUG, it's a FEATURE!"

- Universal response to anything from Microsoft Technical Support

Good thing we don't rely on your engineering skills to see if something is broken then.

Well, they were trying to fix messy uninstallers that results when idiots like EA are trusted with registry entries and cleanup.

Won't happen. Universal applications require being distributed through the Windows App Store, which in-turn requires DRM.

Now, if you're talking about registry-less/installer-less bundled applications, like portable applications, or OS X apps, without having to hook into the WAS, then I'm all for it. I've loooooooong thought the registry needs to f' off and die. Linux and OS X seem to get by just fine without one, and Windows long ago established a system directory structure that doesn't change from computer to computer, and generally from OS version to OS version, so linking to necessary libraries instead of bloating your program's size by including them is a non-issue unlike going from one Linux distro to another.

Well, the Windows Registry is a legacy feature from Windows 3.11.

A legacy feature? What?

Its old, obsolete, and there are far more efficient ways to keep track of the things it does?

Yep, earlier even if I remember correctly. I didn't start regularly/reluctantly using Windows until NT4, much preferring to stick to DOS. My first several computers all had DOS and DOS only, from an Apple IIe to a custom build from a local shop. But when I did eventually get a computer that came pre-installed with Windows 3.11, I'm pretty certain that I never actually started Windows after the first boot up that had it automatically start through good old autoexec.bat. After that I started building my own PCs. Even when I had Windows 95 and 98 I'd set them to boot into DOS and only go into Windows if I absolutely needed to, which generally was only for the occasional game or to get online.

I've always tangentially disliked the registry just because of the hoops you have to jump through to find anything, which was exponentially worse in the pre-internet days with a lack of readily available information at your fingertips. Config files in DOS (and Linux and OS X) are just so easy and elegant. I started doing tech support and PC repair for a living during the 95->98 transition and that's when I realized just how truly insane it is to have this one central tangled ball of shit be the thing that pretty much holds all the keys to your entire computer. And it's so easy to get corrupted and you're on your way to having a very bad day. "Oh you wanted to upgrade to Windows 98? Oh, well wow about I just beat your registry to a pulp instead and leave you with a non-functional computer? Cool? Cool." I can't even begin to count how many computers were brought into just our little local shop, let alone every other shop around the world, where the first thing out of the customer's mouth was "Well I tried to upgrade to Windows 98..."

Those "universal applications" look simply like attempt to monopolize PC, console and mobile market. it has nothing to do with compatibility (in fact it will hurt it), availability or anything of that kind.

I think this idea is as "brilliant" as Win8 UI.

By OP's suggestion, everyone who doesn't have Win8/10 will not be able to launch any "universal application" game, and we can forget about any Mac/Linux ports.

Like junk text or XML files spread ALL OVER THE DAMN SYSTEM?

What exactly is better than a centralised dictionary-like solution that gets queried only when it is necessary?
Facepalm. Because bringing a unified / universal platform that makes app development easier and allows easier code sharing as well as UI design across all possible form factors is a bad thing right?