The moment Windows 8 debuted, the naysayers came out in full force. One of the biggest complaints was the lack of immediate app support. As it turns out, there are plenty of apps to choose from. On Sunday, MetroStoreScanner.com released a compiled list of app numbers, which includes 50,000 apps for the Windows 8 and Windows RT platforms.
MetroStoreScanner aggregated Windows applications from the Windows Store to compile its official tally.
The app aggregator now claims 50,304 applications available for Windows 8. However, the company notes that app uploads have “rapidly slowed” since November, just one week after Microsoft released Windows 8.
While Microsoft is witnessing a slow down in its developer app uploads, the company still holds a clear lead over Apple in its race for cloud application distribution via desktop operating systems. The Mac App Store, launched in 2010, currently lists 14,000 apps among its offering. The Windows 8 store offers more apps, but those programs also support Windows 8 based tablets which run the company’s full Windows 8 OS.
Microsoft Windows 8 apps are not just a bunch of quickly thrown together third party applications. Windows 8 users can download Netflix , Plex, Twitter, and even Xbox SmartGlass. On the other hand, many of the Windows 8 available applications are horrendous ports from iOS applications. If you find a poorly functioning app on the Windows App Store, do a quick iOS search and you’ll quickly find the badly ported options.
50,000 applications released on any platform in just four months in not a bad level of adoption. On the other hand, Apple still gets to claim app dominance with 376,144 iPad apps.
The biggest challenge for Microsoft is still its attempt to attract new and competent developers to the platform. Better incentives, more access to its platform, and better advertising could work wonders for the Windows 8 App store in the months and years ahead.
Are you impressed with Microsoft’s current level of app creation by third party developers?
