Analysts think Continuum for desktop will boost Windows universal app market.

Microsoft promise Windows 10 will boost the Windows phone store  via its Universal app platform.

We have been somewhat sceptical due to the relative failure of the Windows 8 store, but some Microsoft partners and analysts share Microsoft’s high hopes.

Stephen Monteros, vice president of business development and strategic initiatives at Sigmanet — an Ontario, Calif.-based Microsoft partner specializing in app development — said that with all Microsoft devices running on the same OS as the PCs, it will be easier for developers to build for them, and it will give developers more incentive to do so as they’d be tapping into the larger Windows PC market in addition to its growing mobile presence.

“I view what they are doing here as a positive for app development. It’s going to open up the market,” Monteros said. “Tying the devices together opens up the app development community to the platforms they are going to be using. In tying mobility together with Windows 10, it shows they are in tuned to what’s really going on, and that means the developers will come.”

Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy — a leading tech analyst firm based in Austin, Texas — said that Continuum on Windows 10 could lead to Microsoft bolstering its third-party mobile app presence in a profound way.

“Continuum is a really good value proposition. I love the vision of it,” Moorhead said. “This is truly the first time that modularity has ever been executed well. Developers are driven by money, so they have to believe in the vision and believe people want to buy an app. Microsoft has made it so easy to have cross-platform applications across phone, tablet, 2-in-1, desktop and even Xbox. They made it really easy to do that. That attracts a developer, even if they don’t completely buy into Microsoft. … Now is the time for developers to get excited about this.”

Moorhead hoped the much larger installed base of Windows 10 will finally attract developers.

“Microsoft owns business as much as Apple owns consumer,” Moorehead said. “There is a promise with Apple in the enterprise, but Microsoft has been there for 25 years. They own it. If you want to get access to a new market you don’t have access to, writing for Windows 10 is a smart move. It’s the strength of power that Microsoft has in desktop. With Windows 10, developers can move from one platform to the next and have a very, very similar experience. It’s a single binary that runs across all the devices, just modified to a smaller display.”

Moorehead says adding Continuum as a feature “makes Windows 10 a much more viable platform to invest in. … As developers see the success of Windows 10, they will be motivated to update the apps on a more frequent basis.”

Are our readers convinced? Let us know below.

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