Half the apps removed from the German Windows Store and no-one noticed

We reported earlier than nearly 100,000 apps has been removed from the Italian Windows Store after developers failed to update their apps with age ratings.

Now respected German site Dr Windows reports that the German Windows Store has seen an even crueller cut, losing 174,203 apps since the 5th October, leaving only 164,436 applications from the earlier 5th October total of 328,639 .

Dr Windows however makes the interesting point that most Windows users did not notice this decimation, since very few to no high-profile apps were affected, suggesting once again that it was really orphaned apps with little use and support which were removed.

In general Windows and Windows Phone users are responding positively to the news, with reports that store search now works much better, and are less clogged with spam apps.

It is certainly true however that we still need to see proof that Microsoft’s UWP strategy will make the Windows Store a contender with other leading app stores, or if the future of Windows will remain inextricably linked to Win32 x86 apps.