New Ideas For New Generation: Windows 8 Appstore resembles a ghost town

Monday 17 September 2012

Windows 8 Appstore resembles a ghost town

Microsoft is all set to release Windows 8 for public in the coming weeks. Apparently, the biggest change in Windows 8 seems to be the Metro UI (I know it's no more called Metro, but let's keep it like that for simplicity) and apps.

I've been using this OS for a while now and the biggest disappointment seems to be the Appstore – The Windows 8 Appstore. Here's why.

No 0.99$ apps

People love buying 99-cent apps, because that's the cheapest an app can get. Browse the top paid apps on Mac Appstore, you'll see apps like Shortcuts for Mac, Live Wallpaper in the top 10 paid apps – they all cost 0.99$.

Microsoft has officially confirmed that Windows 8′s paid app pricing will start from 1.49$ which is a bad news for people buying cheap apps.

No new apps

I'm not sure if Microsoft is taking more time to approve apps on Windows store, but I don't see any new titles in the Store. It hardly gets updated. The Windows store only allows Metro apps and I don't think developers are OK with this.

I won't be surprised if most of the developers prefer to host the apps on their websites and make them non-metro. If this continues, Windows 8 will get the same criticism Windows Phone got, i.e. less apps.

Apps are less advanced

Metro is great on tablets, but on desktop, it looks like an OS with dumbed down apps. Take Skitch for example, it is an app for taking and editing screenshots and was previously a Mac-only app but recently came to Windows 8. Just compare these two apps and you'll know what I meant.

Here's how Skitch looks in Windows 8:

And now, this is the Mac version of Skitch:

Another example can be Newsmix, an app which will let you read stuff that matters to you – in a Magazine layout. Apparently, this app is a fail for someone like me who subscribe to 50+ blogs.

Sure, it will be great on a Windows slate, but not really on a PC/laptop.

No Games

The 'dumbing down' philosophy can be applied here too. Most of the games are just ported from Smartphones and that's the actual problem.

Fruit Ninja is one of such games, it's great on Android/iOS, but on a 13″ screen of mine and using mouse/trackpad to cut the fruits? No way. Imagine how Doodle Jump would be without a motion sensor and playing with just arrow keys.

I'm not expecting EA or Rockstar Games to suddenly start pushing games on Windows Store, but most of the games which are ported from Smartphones to Windows 8 suck.

Final Note

Here I don't mean to say Mac Appstore is great, it is not, but it's much better than what Windows Appstore is right now. Unless Microsoft fixes this, Windows 8 will not be a complete OS.

What are your thoughts on Windows Appstore and Windows 8 in general? Put that in the comments.

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