Microsoft just detailed its plans on the Windows App Store coming built-in on its new Windows 8 coming in tablets and desktops possibly by next year.
It is no mystery that Windows holds a giant share in any OS distribution anywhere, ever. With figures amounting to 500 million users, it obliterates Android phones and tablets which only has a combined user of 247 million users.
While Windows Phones is steadily growing in terms of approved and published apps on the Marketplace, it is still currently lagging behind Apple and Google. But unlike Google’s tablet OS, large hardware makers (some with no Android tablets) are throwing their bet on Windows 8 like HP, Dell, HTC, Samsung and other Windows Phone OEM)
The game changer that is are the apps and the developers that will back Microsoft’s push into the tablet space that everyone has been in for more than a year.
Looking at it, Windows 8 tablets might help Windows Phones gain traction as Win8 developers can just easily port their Metro apps to run on Windows Phones. There is also that incentive of lowered Microsoft cut to only 20% from the standard 30% after an app makes $25,000 from sales and in-app purchases.
Looking at how multitasking dual-pane works on Win8, I notice the specs for the snap-on pane takes exactly 320 pixels wide. If you think about it, this is the same resolution that is purported to arrive on lower end Windows Phone Tango coming next year.
Who knows, maybe Microsoft will allow Windows 8 apps to run on Windows Phones. If that happens, you can expect to see more interest on the Windows Phone platform as app scarcity becomes a non-issue for new adopters and switchers.
2012 is looking to be a crucial year for Microsoft as they need to make sure Windows 8 does not repeat the stigma that Vista brought. If people enjoy Windows 8 on the PC, rest assured, they get the tablet counterpart.