Windows 8 Store Crosses the 2000 App Mark: Still A Long Way to Go

With the up-coming release of windows 8, increasing numbers of a wide variety of apps are becoming available to download from the Windows Store; from National Rail Enquires to classic games like checkers.  However, there is much ambiguity surrounding the number of apps actually available; according to McAkins Online, the number of apps in the Windows Store is 1,634, whereas WinAppUpdate.com states there are significantly more apps available, which is currently 2,079. 

Although Wes Miller at WinAppUpdate.com is a Research VP at the third party analyst company Directions on Microsoft, McAkins Online has been keeping a close eye on the numbers of Windows 8 apps for many months, in addition to publishing detailed descriptions of the app categories- suggesting McAkins Online could be the more reliable source.  We can not be 100% certain of the number of apps available, since each source may not have included the desktop apps in their figures due to the fact they can not be directly downloaded from the Windows Store.

Windows 8 users can look forward to choosing from 307 games from the app store; making games the most vibrant category out of all the Windows 8 apps.  In addition to this, it is expected that the majority of these games are free of charge- with 83% of games currently being free, which is down from 89% on September 19th.  Fortunately, the small number of Windows 8 apps published is rapidly increasing over the course of the 33 days before Windows 8 is released on October 26th. 

Now only 248,000 apps to go to match the Apple iPad. Hopefully that 400,000,000 Windows 8 devices expected to be sold in a year will help bridge the gap!

Via Neowin.net