 Welcome to Newsdesk on SiliconANGLE TV for Friday, September 28th, 2012. I'm Kristen Folletti. Yesterday, well-known developer behind the cult classic game Minecraft tweeted to the world that he'd rather have Minecraft not run on Windows 8 at all than to play along. Microsoft pundits around the blogosphere have noted the hypocrisy of such a statement given the wide variety of walled gardens and closed platforms Minecraft has been adapted to already. Is notch correct when he says Microsoft seeks to destroy its open platform? Here to help us find answers is Minecraft addict and SiliconANGLE founding editor Mark Risen-Hopkins. Welcome Mark. Howdy. So first of all, tell us who is this notch character and why does the world seem to care so much about his opinion of Windows 8? So I've torn myself away from my Minecraft game long enough to do this interview here. So actually, a little backstory, Marcus Notch, Harrison Notch is his online name, kind of like I've got one I guess, and he has been, he's well known for having done the bulk of the heavy lifting and developing a very popular game started out very underground. Now it's sort of mainstream called Minecraft. In a sentence, Minecraft is like Legos where you're being chased by like zombies and creepers and other kinds of monsters that want to kill you at nighttime. But at any rate, it's a wildly addictive game. I daresay half the production staff has played it and most of us find it pretty fun, if not outright addictive. And it's basically, it's elevated him notch to somewhat of like a cult celebrity status within the gaming world because of the amount of time that he put into it, how he did it outside of the traditional structures of the gaming industry, kind of did it all as an indie game that went wildly popular. And is these things combined that kind of give his even flippant statements about the state of general purpose computing so much weight. So what are the general, what's the reasoning behind his statements? So this all kind of, you've got to be kind of a Windows insider to, or maybe you don't at this point, but to understand what he's talking about. Windows 8 is going to drastically, at least attempt to drastically change the way we view desktop computing and put it more in line with how we view tablet computing and other forms of mobile computing and even living room computing. They're changing the primary interface to Windows to something that's been called Metro UI, although they Windows has stopped calling it Metro, you and I just call it the new interface for Windows 8. But if you've ever played on Xbox or if you've seen the Windows phone 7 or Windows phone 8, it's that tile based interface, different colored tiles that is going to be the primary way to access the operating system for Windows as opposed to the traditional start menu, lower task bar based system that you see on everything going back to Windows 95. So is Nach alone in his beliefs about Microsoft or are there others who are also opposed to the Windows 8 model? So there are other people that agree with him. I had to kind of dig around to figure out on which side most of the industry falls. And to me, this was all very puzzling because Windows or Microsoft from very early on has said that, well, Metro UI is a default interface. It's not the only interface for Windows and you can disable it and go to the more traditional start menu based system. And this was done mostly to appease the enterprise consumers that are the primary audience for the Windows operating system who Microsoft is trying to make sure is happy. But looking back to the gaming world, which Nach is a part of, you've got Valve that has said some things against the new Metro UI certification process. And you've also got a fellow by the name of Brad Wardell who is the CEO of a company called Stardoc who has been very vocal in his opposition to the new Windows 8 interface, which personally I find very puzzling because part of the Stardoc's claim to fame is putting wildly creative interfaces on traditional operating systems. So since Nach is so highly opposed to this interface, could he possibly remove Minecraft or block it from running on Windows 8? Yeah, I don't think that that's going to be the case purely because of how Windows 8 is going to work and how Minecraft works. Minecraft is written kind of on Java framework, which is the claim to fame is totally cross-platform compatible on a variety of stuff. And also Windows. Windows is notorious for making things legacy compatible. That's one of the the hallmarks of the system. And what's really at issue here is not whether or not Minecraft will or will not work in Windows 8. It's whether or not it's going to be certified to work within the Metro UI, which amongst a number of things, certification lets it work within this kind of weird tiled interface and also lets it be listed in the official Microsoft App Store. According to a recent poll, more than half of Windows 8 users prefer Windows 7 mostly because of fear of price and compatibility issues. Do you feel that's because of fear tactics? Yeah, I think that that has to play a part and I was talking about this with someone else this morning. This happens every time a new Windows comes out and rightfully so to a certain extent. I mean, Windows is the most popular operating system on the planet and change is scary. Just on a human level change is scary. So if you look back to like Windows 95, there were fears about the command line being completely made obsolete and not being available. And so much of technicians expertise was built on being able to zip around on a command line and fix computer quickly. Windows XP and Vista had similar kind of DRM-ish like anti-piracy features that were supposedly built into the operating system that well-known pundits were spreading around as if this was going to be the death knell for open platform computing. So price being one of the major fears, do you feel the price point for the Windows 8 is fair or overpriced? Everything's going to boil out to what the market can bear. The upgrade price for existing Windows 7 users, licensed Windows 7 users is 20 bucks for the upgrade to Windows 8. I don't know anybody that has a computer which that can't afford that upgrade price. And then beyond that, I mean, there's always going to be like these outlandish enterprise, perceived prices and then the low priced student license that's 50 bucks or 60 bucks or something like that. So there should not be a legitimate fear that prices will be an issue for Windows 8. I think everything will kind of come out in the wash. So you mentioned change being sort of a fear factor for many of the users. What are some of the features that you feel users will welcome or some of the features that users are going to be hesitant to accept? So here's where I think Windows 8 is really going to shine. And this comes from having just come back from the Intel developer forum a few weeks ago. And Intel developer forum, as John said yesterday on the program, is kind of a bellwether for what's two years out in the PC business. They show technology there earlier than any other tech show there is because they're so far ahead with the Moore's law and whatnot. And the striking thing that I noticed there at IDF was the fact that there were no PCs on display that didn't have touchscreens. If you looked at a laptop, it was a laptop that turned into a tablet and had a touch screen. Or if you looked at a desktop machine, it was a desktop machine that had a touch screen interface as the primary driver for interaction as opposed to a mouse. Still had a keyboard, but it was a touch screen. So when Metro UI is engineered to be a tablet or living room operating system first and then a desktop second, but the desktop and laptop business is recognized in the fact that this is where we're going. So let's shift the paradigm a little bit on how we want our users to access our computers. So Microsoft claiming that Windows 8 is going to be the first version of Windows to be designed for both tablets and desks, hops is to make, you know, basically it easier for users to switch between interfaces. Is that something users are excited about or something that can also cause more headaches for users? So there was a piece in the register today and from an unnamed Intel source and there's been some rumblings in kind of the IDG IDC Info World type publication saying, look, you know, this is not something consumers are excited about, but it's also something that you really have to try it out to understand why this is at least a comfortable, if not better user experience, much like what people said about the iPad. I mean, I was one of those people that listened to all of my Apple nut friends talking about, okay, Mark, you just don't understand what makes the iPad so special. If you had one in your hand, you'd get it, right? And I'm on the shoes on the other foot now. I've had a chance to play with desktop and laptop machines that use Metro UI well. And I understand how it is a comfortable computing experience in ways that, you know, the general public doesn't understand yet because they haven't seen it, haven't been exposed to it. So whether or not the public will take to it, I mean, I think it's the role of the dice that Microsoft's willing to gamble with. Well, Mark, we appreciate you joining us today and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you. Keep up to date with the latest in tech innovation by joining us daily at Newsdesk on SiliconANGLE TV.