[deltaknight]

The EV cert system is truly terrible on Windows. Worst of all, getting an EV cert isn’t even enough to remove the scary warnings popping up for users! For that you still need to convince windows defender that you’re not a bad actor by getting installs on a large number of devices, which of course is a chicken-and-egg problem for software with a small number of users.

At least paying your dues to Apple guarantees a smooth user experience.

[jonathanlydall]

No, this information is wrong (unless it’s changed in the last 7 years). EV code signing certs are instantly trusted by Windows Defender.

Source: We tried a non-EV code signing certificate for our product used by only dozens of users at the time, never stopped showing scary warnings. When we got an EV, no more issues.

In case it makes a difference, we use DigiCert.

[e40]

Not true for us. We EV cert sign (the more expensive one) and my CEO ( the only one left that uses Windows) had this very problem. Apparently the first time a newly signed binary is run it can take up to 15 minutes for defender to allow it. First time I saw this, it was really annoying and confusing.

[ryandrake]

Wow. I haven't written software for Windows in over a decade. I always thought Apple was alone in its invasive treatment of developers on their platform. Windows used to be "just post the exe on your web site, and you're good to go." I guess Microsoft has finally managed to aggressively insert themselves into the distribution process there, too. Sad to see.

[jeroenhd]

> Windows used to be "just post the exe on your web site, and you're good to go."

That's also one of the main reasons why Windows was such a malware-ridden hellspace. Microsoft went the Apple route to security and it worked out.

At least Microsoft doesn't require you to dismiss the popup, open the system settings, click the "run anyway" button, and enter a password to run an unsigned executable. Just clicking "more details -> run anyway" still exists on the SmartScreen popup, even if they've hidden it well.

Despite Microsoft's best attempts, macOS still beats Windows when it comes to terribleness for running an executable.

[etbebl]

I get that if you're distributing software to the wider public, you have to make sure these scary alerts don't pop up regardless of platform. But as a savvy user, I think the situation is still better on Windows. As far as I've seen there's still always a (small) link in these popups (I think it's SmartScreen?) to run anyway - no need to dig into settings before even trying to run it.