> I'm browsing through an app store filled with shit which is supposed to be curated.
Microsoft can't really put a gun to developers' heads and force them to write software for Windows Phone. If developers don't want to write non-shit software, then the store will only have shit software. There's only so much a company can do. iOS and Android app support is coming in Windows Mobile 10 (http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8511439/microsoft-windows-...) with minimal changes necessary to get the apps working.
> And from the looks of it, Microsoft's Edge only supports extensions installed from this same store filled with shit, it won't be open-source and it won't be cross platform.
That's a sleight of hand you're trying to do... the link explains how to load an app from an SD card, not how to load a 3rd party app (that is, an app someone else made and gave or sold to you independent of Microsoft). According to Microsoft[1]:
"To enable sideloading on a Windows 8.1 Enterprise and Windows 8 Enterprise computer that is not domain-joined or on any Windows 8.1 Pro or Windows 8 Pro computer or on a Windows RT device, you must use a sideloading product activation key. For more information about acquiring sideloading product activation keys, see Microsoft Volume Licensing"
So, true third party sideloading is limited to enterprises. Microsoft is just as bad as Apple in terms of controlling what the consumers do with their phones.
You are talking about sideloading in Windows 8/RT, not Windows Phone 8.
You can also sideload third party apps without a sideloading activation key in Win8, it's how testing on devices is done. You get a developer certificate for yourself (completely free and one button press when you first try to sideload) and essentially self-sign the apps. It's not as simple as double clicking, but it's one Powershell command (Add-AppXPackage IIRC). It's much easier to sideload with the sideload activation key, yes, because sideloading as a whole seems to have been created for Enterprise App deployments, but it's fully possible without it. I believe the only restriction is you need to renew the developer certificate every few months.
As I understand it, all "sideloaded" apps still have to go through the Windows Store. If it doesn't map to a free or trial app in the Windows Store, it won't install.
I believe it's similar to the Windows 8 sideloading process, which is that it has to be created by a developer and using a marketplace ID, but the app does not necessarily need to be published on the marketplace. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to test your apps on real devices prior to releasing them in the wild.
I'm sure if you have a paid app and try to sideload it, you'll need to own it on the marketplace (otherwise piracy, etc), but for a free or unpublished app, I believe it should work fine.
That's true, since of course developers need to be able to test their own applications, but that's hardly comparable to letting ordinary users install third-party apps, as you can on desktop Linux/Mac/Windows and Android.
Except for Apple's higher developer fees, you might as well say that iOS allows sideloading, then.
If an ordinary WP user wants to install an app that hasn't been published, they're out of luck, whether or not they have an SD card.
The criticism was "I can't install apps from third party sources". There was never a requirement to make it particularly user friendly in the OP. If it's a Windows Store application, then XAP sideloading coincidentally is easy. If not, then it's still possible, even if it requires you to be more of a power user.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp8/apps/how-do-i-i...
> I can't use my IMAP email account
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp8/email-and-calen... under "To enter email account settings manually (advanced)"
> I can't use CardDAV or CalDAV
Available in GDR2 (http://allaboutwindowsphone.com/features/item/17752_CalDAV_a...) and was available by hacking on older versions because CardDAV and CalDAV was only available for Gmail and iCloud accounts before (http://www.reddit.com/r/windowsphone/comments/23o89h/setting...)
> I can't change the default search engine
http://www.pocketmeta.com/change-search-button-function-defa...
> I'm browsing through an app store filled with shit which is supposed to be curated.
Microsoft can't really put a gun to developers' heads and force them to write software for Windows Phone. If developers don't want to write non-shit software, then the store will only have shit software. There's only so much a company can do. iOS and Android app support is coming in Windows Mobile 10 (http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/29/8511439/microsoft-windows-...) with minimal changes necessary to get the apps working.
> And from the looks of it, Microsoft's Edge only supports extensions installed from this same store filled with shit, it won't be open-source and it won't be cross platform.
Wut? It supports Chrome and Firefox extensions (http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/microsofts-new-browse...) and like Windows and Windows Phone itself, sideloading will probably be supported.
If you go bash a product, at least make sure your bashing is accurate.