Re:Microsoft Announces Converter for Bringing Win32 Apps to ...
by wlesieutre on Wednesday March 30, 2016 @03:19PM
(#11392141)
In popular usage, pretty much.
I'd object more if it were something like "nuculer" where we're adding in wrong letters to pronounce it wrong, but I really don't care if something is an "app" or a "program".
As far as connotations go, "app" tends to mean a simple single-purpose piece of software, and "program" is an all encompassing legacy blob that takes a dump in 40 different folders because it can't keep its shit together. Not always true, but still what I think of. I tend to use the words that way when the software in question falls into one category or the other.
Will I call Forza an app because it's on the store? Eh, maybe. I'll probably call it a game (does anybody call those "programs"?). Would I call AutoCAD an app if they started distributing it as a UWP package? Less certain. Maybe not. Skype? Absolutely.
I'd object more if it were something like "nuculer" where we're adding in wrong letters to pronounce it wrong, but I really don't care if something is an "app" or a "program".
As far as connotations go, "app" tends to mean a simple single-purpose piece of software, and "program" is an all encompassing legacy blob that takes a dump in 40 different folders because it can't keep its shit together. Not always true, but still what I think of. I tend to use the words that way when the software in question falls into one category or the other.
Will I call Forza an app because it's on the store? Eh, maybe. I'll probably call it a game (does anybody call those "programs"?). Would I call AutoCAD an app if they started distributing it as a UWP package? Less certain. Maybe not. Skype? Absolutely.