Microsoft is apparently applying a strict set of rules to the Windows Store, which is making its debut on desktop PCs with the arrival of Windows 8.

By the current rules, many popular PC games would not be acceptable for the Windows Store, including Skyrim. Games not available through Windows Store would still be available in the usual way, but they would be limited to running on the Windows desktop rather than on the new user interface. But who cares whether a game will run on the new UI? Most PC games take over the entire screen when they run anyway.

I’m betting this goes one of four ways:

1. Game developers ignore the Windows Store and sell their games the same way as before. Windows Store becomes increasingly marginalized and irrelevant.
2. Microsoft figures out how to sell mature content in Windows Store, and game developers gradually give in and start using it.
3. The Windows Store restrictions remain in place, Microsoft phases out support for desktop gaming, and PC gamers revert to Windows 7 in disgust. Windows 8 retail sales drop to zero, joining business sales levels.
4. Microsoft relents, recognizing that the only way to keep Windows Store relevant is to allow people to buy what they actually want there.

See Techdirt’s coverage of this issue for more details and links.

Update 2012Oct27: Microsoft is apparently paying attention. They have decided to adjust their rules to allow inclusion of mature games, although the change will not take effect until as late as December 2012.

The Verge reports on findings from a Forrester study (as interpreted by The Wall Street Journal) showing that companies are significantly less interested in Windows 8 than they were in Windows 7.

Clearly, businesses have settled on Windows 7 to get them from the impending demise of Windows XP to the next (post Windows 8) version. Microsoft’s extended support for older operating systems is a real boon for IT departments, but there’s a danger that eventually Microsoft will give up and adopt a support model more like Apple’s, in which you’re practically forced to upgrade the O/S every other year.

Users forced to switch to Windows 8 are going to have a hard time adjusting to the new user interface. People who provide technical support for those users are going to wish they were on an extended vacation. Ars Technica provides an early glimpse at the Windows 8 support experience.