Finally! My other astronomy software passion, ASCOM, is about to make a big announcement. I have been working hard behind the scenes on this. Starting last November I've been pushing for ASCOM Remote to take the last steps and become a true cross-platform internet standard. My work has included starting discussions, reviews, demo videos, finalization of the standards, testing, and updating the ASCOM Initiative web site. Peter Simpson has done all of the heavy lifting on the ASCOM Remote tools and the documentation of the standards themselves, along with also participating in the reviews and discussions.
This will not impact you on Windows at all, nor will the ASCOM Platform change.
See the Alpaca FAQ on the Ascom web site
Here's the intro video, one of two on the Alpaca page at the ASCOM-Initiative web site: