Metro Apps for Windows 8 Only Available through the Windows Store
Microsoft has confirmed that metro apps for Windows 8 will only be available through Microsoft’s Windows Store. Microsoft made the announcement last week at its BUILD Windows Conference.
Microsoft, however, made it quite clear that it would not discuss what percentage of the cost of the apps would go to developers. Some believe that Microsoft will take the same 30 percent cut that Apple takes from its developers.
The announcement means that the only place Metro apps will be available in through the Windows app store. The apps will run in the Windows 8’s Metro interface on the Intel powered devices and they are the only ones that will be allowed on Windows 8 ARM based tablets. According to a Microsoft director, Ted Dworkin, the reason for restricting the distribution of Metro apps is to ensure that the software is appropriate and secure.”
This means that Microsoft is following the app distribution model that Apple uses and not Google’s. Google’s Android apps can be acquired virtually anywhere, but Apple’s iOS app can only be found in the App Store.
Dworkin also told developers at the conference that Microsoft will ensure that every Metro app is free of malware. “We will examine every application that will be submitted to use [and] we will run a virus check and a malware check on every application.” That will set the company apart from Google, which has spent a great deal of time pulling apps that contained malware code.
Dworkin said that details about the business model for the Windows Store will be laid out for everyone at a later date – specifically when the company is ready for submissions. There was a hint of the split between Microsoft and developers for apps in an online document. That document has since been deleted, but it confirmed the split of 70 percent for developers and 30 percent for Microsoft.
