New Windows Kindle app announced; Current Kindle app unavailable after 30/06/2026

[nana77]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I know of no features unique to Windows 11 that would help create a more difficult to break DRM scheme. Someone needs to start bringing up technical data about Windows 11 that could achieve this instead of just vague "but Windows 11 might" statements.

And the new app will most definitely use APIs. Not that that will have any bearing on how apps can be installed. If it's available in the Microsoft Store, it can be installed with winget. Period.

I saw this on HN:

This is one of the more interesting questions about the Windows 11 release that is not being discussed often enough. TPM 2.0, which is required for Windows 11, is the newest standard of a technology that was developed almost 20 years ago as a means for establishing "Trusted Computing" and enhancing DRM measures (see: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/rec...52&dswid=-5253).

Pushing users to enable TPM by default will make it much easier to start marketing something like the Microsoft Store of being capable of TC-enhanced DRM. For example, a year or two after launch, an update could require you to be running Microsoft's hypothetical new DRM software in order to run any apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store - enforced using the TPM. The option to disable Trusted Computing might still exist, in this hypothetical, but would prevent you from using most / all licensed software. The TPM could also be used to force the devices owner to run certain software desired by the manufacturer or required by government regulation.

This would definitely help Windows market the Microsoft Store to 3rd parties, and is in direct alignment with their originally stated goals for Trusted Computing and DRM, and the original purpose of the TPM.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27637115

Short for Trusted Platform Module, a TPM stores encryption keys and performs other cryptographic functions, and Windows uses it to seamlessly decrypt your PC’s disk at boot, among other things. A TPM 2.0 module is a “non-negotiable” requirement for boosting Windows 11’s security baseline, says Microsoft, and that apparently won’t be changing.

[DiapDealer]

But that hypothetical would all be Microsoft pulling the strings and not Amazon. Unless you think that Microsoft is going to sell their hypothetical future app DRM to Amazon (and that Amazon would be interested in buying it)? That's a lot of hypotheticals to come together.

[DNSB]

Perhaps Amazon is using the existing Microsoft APIs to store cryptographic keys, certificates, and secrets in the TPM chip just to make it a bit harder to extract and use the information.

[PeterT]

For what it's worth, winget offers far more than just Windows Store apps. For some time now I've been using it as my main app updating tool for most programs including Sigil and calibre, and those updates get pulled from their official sites.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps Amazon is using the existing Microsoft APIs to store cryptographic keys, certificates, and secrets in the TPM chip just to make it a bit harder to extract and use the information.

I've not seen anything mentioned about any kind storage being made available to anyone on TPM chips. Not saying it's not possible, but I'd need to see some compelling evidence.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I've not seen anything mentioned about any kind storage being made available to anyone on TPM chips. Not saying it's not possible, but I'd need to see some compelling evidence.

Perhalps I may not understand, but iirc Windows 11 already requires some minimum chipsets, as on olders ones won't work.
To me it looks like it stores those keys on boot, btw:

The new Microsoft Store will also enable users to install Android apps onto their devices via the Amazon Appstore. This feature will require a Microsoft account, an Amazon account, and a one-time install for Windows Amazon Appstore client

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featur..._to_Windows_11

As part of the minimum system requirements, Windows 11 only officially supports devices with a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 security coprocessor.

Users could install Android apps through any source using the APK file format.[109] An Amazon Appstore client for Microsoft Store was also available. The Windows Subsystem for Android and Amazon Appstore became available to Release channel users in the United States on February 15, 2022, in Windows 11 Release build 22000.527. On March 5, 2024, Microsoft announced deprecation of WSA with support ending on March 5, 2025.

WSA was based on the Intel Bridge runtime compiler; Intel stated that the technology was not dependent on its CPUs, and would also be supported on x86-64 and ARM CPUs from other vendors

On August 20, 2025, the Amazon Appstore became inaccessible on third party Android devices and apps bought from the Amazon Appstore no longer work on those devices, but will continue for Fire Tablets

Idk.

The companies immediately restricted new installations of Amazon Appstore and other apps on Windows 11, but pledged to continue serving updates for existing installations until March, 5 2025.

The Arch Wiki and Gentoo have a page explaining TPM:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Tru...latform_Module
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module

Also I wonder how might Amazon keep two versions of its app (one for pre-Windows 11, and another for it), within two format versions of the books files: in fact it doesn't.

[DiapDealer]

That's not saying anything about third-party apps having the ability to store ANYTHING directly onto the TPM motherboard chip.

I understand how TPM works. I'm looking for evidence that it is going to be used differently in the future. And what, if any, of TPM features would be outsourced by Microsoft to third-parties in the ways that are being suggested/imagined.

[nana77]

TLDR

The video argues that Windows 11 quietly uses TPM 2.0 as more than just a “security requirement”—it enables automatic device attestation that authenticates your hardware to Microsoft and third-party services in ways most users are unaware of.

Key points: • TPM 2.0 isn’t just a key vault. It includes remote attestation capabilities. A TPM can cryptographically prove the identity and state of the hardware to an external party. • Windows 11 ties system identity to the TPM. When you sign in with a Microsoft Account (the default), the OS automatically uses attestation APIs behind the scenes. • Developers can verify your hardware identity using Microsoft’s Device Health Attestation and related services—even if you never explicitly grant permission. • This provides a persistent, hardware-rooted tracking vector. Unlike cookies or IP-based identifiers, TPM-based attestation survives reinstallations, resets, and network changes. • Enterprise features have quietly migrated into consumer Windows. Tools originally meant for corporate compliance (BitLocker integrity checks, Secure Boot measurements, etc.) are now always-on in Windows 11. • User control is minimal. The transcript describes how attestation occurs automatically when using standard Windows APIs, with little transparency and no clear “opt-out” path. • The concern isn’t “spyware” but architectural direction. The critique is that Windows 11 normalizes a hardware-anchored identity layer, giving OS vendors and cloud services more leverage to: • enforce DRM and application controls, • block unapproved software, • and build persistent user profiles tied to device hardware. • The TPM requirement for Windows 11 was not only about security hardening, but about enabling this identity infrastructure at scale.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45916825

Spoiler:

Idk if the video is fine for the forum's rules, thought he's great:

@9:20 speciffically the video explains the applications' "Remote Attestation".

[DiapDealer]

At least that video mentions DRM. I'll give you that. But they kind of threw that baby in with the the bathwater with no real explanation (unlike the decent explanations they gave for other fearmongering). But I'm never really moved very much by the fearmongering of rando Youtube posters.

[DiapDealer]

My main point here is that not every decision made by Amazon is intended to screw their customers. Not every decision they make is about DRM. The decision to limit the new app to Windows 11 doesn't have to be about a diabolic plot to further alienate and piss off their customers. It could simply be about not wanting the hassle of supporting an app on an unsupported platform.

[nana77]

... forcing to sell newest devices doesn't hurts I guess lol.
Pardon.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by nana77

... forcing to sell newest devices doesn't hurts I guess lol.
Pardon.

Not every Windows 11 computer is a new device. My laptop is almost 6 years old and my Surface tablet is nearly 8. Both run Windows 11 (updated from Windows 10 last year).

[DiapDealer]

I can't imagine that access to the new Kindle App would tip that many users toward updating, or investing in a new Windows 11 machine (especially if nothing has tipped them that way yet). Besides, that's Microsoft forcing the buying of new hardware where the new app is concerned. Not Amazon. Unless you think all the new hardware will be purchased from Amazon.

[lkmiller]

They had a Windows store app years ago in addition to Kindle for PC. But they dropped it in order to only have to maintain one PC app. Now they're going the other way.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Not every Windows 11 computer is a new device. My laptop is almost 6 years old and my Surface tablet is nearly 8. Both run Windows 11 (updated from Windows 10 last year).

I only racall that Windows 11 is possible to use by updating from the 10, but the "24H2" updates would be blocked if not using the cpus listed (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...tel-processors), which, yes those are (for intel based) 11th generation, e.g:

Rocket Lake is Intel's codename for its 11th generation Core-branded microprocessors. Released on March 30, 2021,

and intel Comet Lake (10th gen), from 2020.