In a most bizarre turn of events, Maxon has rescinded the Microsoft Store exclusivity of its latest Cinebench R20 benchmark. Releasing earlier this month, Maxon ensured that the latest version of its popular CPU rendering test was only available via the UWP (Microsoft Store). When some enthusiasts pulled the download, and converted it into a standalone portable variant instead, Maxon began to send legal threats to those websites hosting Cinebench R20, forcing users back to the store if they wanted to use its new benchmark.
It does some quite bizarre given how just a month ago Maxon was requesting that standalone variants be taken down from a variety of tech-enthusiast sites, only for them to do a complete u-turn weeks later.
Maxon hasn’t commented or released a statement on the decision to rescind its Microsoft exclusivity, nor has there been any word since from those sites affected by the legal take-down notices, however one has to wonder whether the community’s boycott of the Microsoft Store and Cinebench R20 has something to do with it. Either way, this is a good decision, and we’re glad to see the benchmark make its way back into the public domain, free from the proprietary shackles of Microsoft’s cumbersome store.
You can download both Windows and MacOS versions from the official site here.
