Windows Store goes past 20,000 apps

The Windows Store in Windows 8 has gone past 20,000 apps after almost a month since its launch. The Windows 8 store added 7,000 apps in the last two weeks. Though it's not known when it hit the landmark, but Win App Update, which keeps tracks of the totals, claims the Windows Store hit the milestone on Tuesday this week.

According to Win App Update, about 17,958 of the apps (87 percent) are free. It's notable not all apps are available in all regions and languages. Almost 13,000 of those are available in the U.S., 14,000 in Canada and 11,000 in the U.K.

Earlier this month, the Windows 8 store had about 12,895 apps. This means the store went on to add about 7,715 apps in the last 17 days, averaging more than 453 apps per day. The milestone means the Windows store's growth has once again accelerated, as it initially averaged 500 apps additions daily and then dipped to 300 apps per day recently.

At this rate, the Windows 8 store is estimated to go past 30,000 mark by end of this year or may close in on 40,000 apps. The coming holiday season may see developers adding more apps to Windows 8. Developers would be looking to cash in on 'massive' sales of the Windows 8-ready devices around the world.

The Windows 8 store is likely to see 'new-style' apps, which are optimised for the Metro UI. Check out The 10 best new-style Windows 8 apps.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Apps/Windows-Store-goes-past-20000-apps_11481.html

Minecraft creator slams Windows 8

Microsoft's Windows 8 has prompted the ire of certain game makers, and Minecraft creator Markus Persson is the latest to voice his concern. He posted two Twitter messages on Thursday that panned Redmond's upcoming OS, as the BBC originally noted.

"Got an email from Microsoft, wanting to help 'certify' minecraft for win 8," the first message said. "I told them to stop trying to ruin the pc as an open platform."


Four minutes later, he wrote that he would "rather have minecraft not run on win 8 at all than to play along. Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to win 8 that way."

The PC building-block game became a viral sensation upon its launch, and surpassed 3 million Xbox 360 sales in less than three months. But it looks like Persson won't have the same success with Windows 8.

The certification requirement Persson referenced is a way for Microsoft to prove it has reviewed a program to confirm its code is "completely finished" and reliable to run on a Windows 8-powered PC – which excludes games rated PEGI 18 for ages 18 and up.

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell and Blizzard's executive vice president of game design, Rob Pardo, took shots at Windows 8 this summer.

"I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," Newell said during a Seattle video game conference in July. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

Meanwhile, Pardo also took to Twitter to mirror Newell's statements, adding that the OS is "not awesome for Blizzard either."


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Software/Minecraft-creator-slams-Windows-8_10922.html

Microsoft dropping 'Metro' name in Windows 8

Since Microsoft first showed off Windows 8 last year, the company has consistently referenced the operating system's dual interfaces - the standard, Windows desktop with which we're all familiar and the more mobile-friendly Metro-style option that replaces icons with apps.

Now it appears that we will bid adieu to the phrase "Metro style" before Windows 8 makes its official debut in October.

"We have used Metro style as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in a statement today.

News of the switch was first reported yesterday by The Verge, which said Microsoft was notifying its developers not to use the word "Metro" within their apps and swap that term for "New User Interface."

Despite the insistence from Redmond that Metro is simply a code name that it always planned to phase out, there are reports that the move was prompted by a trademark challenge from Germany-based Metro AG.

Metro AG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Verge later pointed to an internal memo from Microsoft to its employees, which said that "discussions with an important European partner" prompted it to ditch the Metro moniker.

At the Windows 8 Consumer Preview launch in Barcelona earlier this year, Microsoft handed out a product guide that included a brief section on Metro style app principles.

"More than just an app platform, Metro style is a design philosophy that helps you build attractive, easy-to-use apps that will delight your customers with their intuitive and common interaction model," the guide said.

Common principles associated with Metro-type apps, according to Microsoft, include: fast and fluid; support for multiple states; support for the right contracts; live tiles; and settings and data that roam through the cloud.

The news comes several days after Microsoft released Windows 8 to manufacturers. It will roll out to several other groups in the coming weeks before its general availability on Oct. 26.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Software/Microsoft-dropping-Metro-name-in-Windows-8_10363.html

Windows Marketplace Breaches 100,000 App Mark

Windows Marketplace, the application store for Windows Phone devices, now hosts more than 100,000 apps. The task took 20 months to achieve since its inception, but the growth has seen a tremendous acceleration in the past six months. Windows Marketplace had 50,000 apps in December 2011 and the number has since doubled. That being said, it still lags far behind Apple's App Store and Google Play hosting over 600,000 and 500,000 apps, respectively.


One of the reasons for the sudden surge can be attributed to active encouragement from Microsoft towards app developers in the form of an 18 million Euro investment in the Mobile Application Development Program at Aalto University. Moreover, the launch of several new Windows Phone devices such as the Nokia Lumia 900 could also be a reason for the spike. Nevertheless, Windows Marketplace has still got a lot of catching up to do with the competition, but if it can maintain the current momentum, it just might make it.



Source: http://www.techtree.com/content/news/1331/windows-marketplace-breaches-100000-app-mark.html