Microsoft quietly reveals exactly how many Windows apps there actually are (and it's more than you think)

The demise of Windows has been predicted for some years now, due to the rise of both phones and tablets, but we know the Windows PC market has been surprisingly resilient, even showing some growth recently, and is certainly doing better than the moribund tablet market.

The reason for this has largely been the need for a productivity and not consumption platform, which benefits from being optimised for sit down work with a good mouse, keyboard and large screen. Another reason, of course, is the availability of productivity applications, some of which just does not make sense on mobile platforms.

The app gap normally places Windows at a disadvantage, with the platform often not having the popular apps consumers use heavily, such as Snapchat or a good version of Instagram.

There is, however, a reverse app gap, where mobile platforms do not have the high power or niche apps that Windows has built up over more than 25 years of existence.

In today’s blog post talking about ensuring these applications remain compatible with the latest version of Windows,  Michael Fortin, Corporate Vice President of Windows, revealed exactly how many unique titles are present on the Windows Platform. He writes:

With Windows 10 alone we work to deliver quality to over 700 million monthly active Windows 10 devices, over 35 million application titles with greater than 175 million application versions, and 16 million unique hardware/driver combinations.

This number, 35 million, dwarfs the estimated 2.6 million apps in the Google Play Store and 2.1 million apps in the iOS App Store.

As noted earlier, the 35 million often do not include popular mobile apps and games,  and most of them are not in the Microsoft Store, but it seems very likely you will be able to find an application to help you complete your work in a timely fashion.

Do our readers think the reverse app gap needs more acknowledgement? Let us know below.