Tim Sweeney, the co-founder and CEO of Epic, has slammed the upcoming Windows 10 Cloud from Microsoft and called it "ransomware." 

He has earlier attacked Windows 10 and called it a walled garden and stated that the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is nothing but similar to a virus.

Sweeney also said that if Microsoft can convince everybody to use the UWP, then the Win32 applications may even fade out, thus, leading all games and apps to be distributed through the Windows Store.

Now, Sweeney has taken to Twitter to express that Windows 10 Cloud is a "ransomware." In series of tweets, the Epic CEO hit out at the Windows 10 Cloud and said that it was a malware, which would compromise PCs.

Windows Cloud is ransomware: It locks out Windows software you previously bought and makes you pay to unlock it by upgrading to Windows Pro.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 7, 2017

For the uninitiated, ransomware is a kind of software that locks down files and later on charges money to unlock or restore those files. According to Sweeney, the upcoming Windows 10 Cloud will operate as "ransomware", requiring users to repurchase software they already own.

"Firefox blocked. Google Chrome blocked. Google search blocked as web browser search option. OpenGL, Vulcan, OpenVR, Oculus VR blocked," tweeted Sweeney. The Epic CEO is of the belief that Microsoft will be taking a huge step against the entire PC ecosystem by blocking content like Adobe, Autodesk, Valve, Activision and more. The company, he believes, would also steal all the content inside the PC games.

Microsoft is making a huge move against the whole PC ecosystem: @Adobe, @Autodesk, #Valve, @EA, @Activision, @Google, @Mozilla. All blocked. — Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 7, 2017

The Real Story

Windows 10 Cloud is assumed to be a version of the Windows 10 OS that majorly focused on Store Apps, similar to what Windows RT did in 2012 when it was launched.

Some of the speculation suggests that Windows 10 Cloud may also be offered to OEMs for free.

It is expected that Microsoft may also offer a built-in-upgrade which could allow users of Windows 10 Cloud to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. This would enable Win32 app support, when they pay for the license.

This suggests that the impending Windows 10 Cloud is by no means a ransomware as claimed by Sweeney, but a better way to bring affordable devices in the market by boosting the promotion of UWP apps.

Photo: Steve Clarke | Flickr