Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows
Home > Type > News > Windows Marketplace for Mobile Now Available on the Web

Windows Marketplace for Mobile Now Available on the Web

Nov. 12, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

When Microsoft launched its new Windows Marketplace for Mobile alongside Windows Mobile 6.5 in early October, the online store was only available via a custom app on compatible Windows Mobile 6.5-based devices. But now, as promised, you can access the store on the web as well, from any PC-based web browser. It looks pretty good. (Queue tired comparison of Apple's 100,000 apps with Microsoft's ~350. Please. I beg you.)

Discuss this Article 25

Interframe
on Nov 12, 2009
OK, enough with this stupid war on "Company X has more apps than Company Y in their app store". Its just stupid, i mean really. What in the hell ever happened to quality over quantity. I thought Apple was all about quality over quantity as a whole, but i guess not. What Microsoft is trying to accomplish here is build a solid foundation for there upcoming mobile OS Windows Mobile 7. There trying to get developers to focus on the quality of their apps, not just build a bunch of stupid fart apps. So please, lets just stop all this silliness of counting apps, because in the end, it really won't matter. Microsoft and any other company such as Palm will get there eventually; especially when a company like MSFT starts to get completive and aggressive.
chipwinter
on Nov 12, 2009
I've never purchased anything from the Windows Marketplace. Can you purchase with a credit card, or do you need to buy points?
robertsjoe
on Nov 12, 2009
WIndows Mobile is a losing bet. Android and iPhone are the way forward. Look at the companies also dropping WIndows Mobile because it's so bad.
Interframe
on Nov 12, 2009
@robertsjoe Companies aren't giving up on the Windows Mobile platform, this is Microsoft were talking about, not some small start-up company. The only company that has "given up" on Windows Mobile is Palm, for very obvious reasons (webOS and Pre). Motorola has announced they will not make any Windows Mobile 6.5 phones but are waiting for Microsoft on Windows Mobile 7. My point is that Microsoft isn't a company that gives up easily on things like this. Think about: the smartphone market is huge and its only going to grow. Microsoft is just now starting to realize that they must get more aggressive. Windows Mobile 7 will represent a fresh start in everything Microsoft is doing in the mobile space, and you can bet WinMo 7 will be taken as a serious competitor. It should be obvious that mobile OS's (keyword: OS) is something incredibly important to a company like Microsoft, who creates the most popular Desktop OS in the world.
chuckb84
on Nov 12, 2009
(Queue tired comparison of Apple's 100,000 apps with Microsoft's ~350. Please. I beg you.) How about a comparison with the Android number of 10,000 apps? Microsoft is in a distant 3rd place with this. Reminds me of the Zune.
Keleko
on Nov 12, 2009
Sorry, but the number of apps DOES matter, and it matters a lot. Everyone promoting Windows over Mac always point out that Windows has many more applications available for it. So the tables are turned when it comes to comparing number of iPhone apps vs Windows Mobile apps. Should we point out that many of the Windows apps are little utilities that are repeated in all kinds of ways that don't really mean they're that useful? Or games that got really bad reviews that no one is going to buy? Do we include malware in the app count for a platform? Windows Mobile isn't going to go anywhere if no one builds applications for it. Third party developers are needed to make that work. Windows Mobile is LOSING market share, and mostly to Android sales now. Losing market share is not how you attract new developers. Version 7 is going to be the last chance MS has to get any serious market share, and it may be too late in coming already. Now, MS has tons of cash to keep throwing at the mobile market, so I doubt they're going to abandon it anytime soon. But, if their share drops below 5% of the market, it will no longer matter if they're still in the game or not. No one will care anymore except the hard core fans.
robertsjoe
on Nov 12, 2009
Come on now, Windows Mobile is the sad, sad child of all the mobile OSes. It's truly lame mobile OS. They've had what, 6 versions to try and get it right? It takes Apple to show Microsoft, and the world, how to do a great mobile OS. Now, what happens next? Microsoft copy that. Pathetic.
roteague
on Nov 12, 2009
"Windows Mobile isn't going to go anywhere if no one builds applications for it. Third party developers are needed to make that work." I hate to break it to you, there are a LOT more applications for Windows Mobile than you will find on in the Windows Marketplace. You see, unlike the iPhone, Windows Moblile applications can be sold almost anywhere. Try Handango (http://www.handango.com/homepage/Homepage.jsp?storeId=2218). I've been buying software from them for years.
roteague
on Nov 12, 2009
I should also mention, I've been writing Windows Mobile programs for years. The whole infrastructure is much bigger than you realize.
glenroberts
on Nov 12, 2009
@roteague - you're exactly right. There are approximately 50,000 Windows Mobile applications "out there" its just that they're not on the Microsoft marketplace. We all know Microsoft has been late to the party with improving WM, releasing a marketplace, etc... this is old news and its a tired bandwagon.
rr0de74@live.com
on Nov 12, 2009
Windows Mobile 7 better be a total and I mean total rebuild. Android is coming on fast. iPhone will always be a big player. RIM because of its security being the best will be around for a long time. WinMO is flat out HORRIBLE right now. Microsofts biggest problem........Microsoft. They need to collapse like products into one, and make them all work together. The best question in this thread, do you use money or those STUPID Microsoft points? If its money and not those lame points....my point is made because why would some products (Zune/360) use points and others use money????
rr0de74@live.com
on Nov 12, 2009
Windows Mobile 7 better be a total and I mean total rebuild. Android is coming on fast. iPhone will always be a big player. RIM because of its security being the best will be around for a long time. WinMO is flat out HORRIBLE right now. Microsofts biggest problem........Microsoft. They need to collapse like products into one, and make them all work together. The best question in this thread, do you use money or those STUPID Microsoft points? If its money and not those lame points....my point is made because why would some products (Zune/360) use points and others use money????
anonymous
on Nov 12, 2009
This post was mentioned on Twitter by thurrott: Windows Marketplace for Mobile Now Available on the Web: When Microsoft launched its new Windows Marketplace fo.. http://bit.ly/2tzlYG
gfryesc1
on Nov 12, 2009
gee, I dunno, Paul, you always make it a point to draw comparisons with apple in news stories, even when none is called for whatsoever... usually for a quick jab. You don't complain so much when the opportunity goes in your favor. We coulda used a story about how microsoft marketshare in the mobile space has slipped 4 points this year to 9%. Or about the microsoft mobile marketplace's anti-piracy measure already compromised. Or even a quirky blurb about microsoft patenting the sudo command [in gui form, natch].
roteague
on Nov 12, 2009
"rr0de74@live.com said: Windows Mobile 7 better be a total and I mean total rebuild." Uhh, not really.There is a lot more to any operating system than it's graphical user interface. The Windows Mobile platform itself is very powerful; neither the iPhone, nor the Android has anything on it. Unfortunately, the problem is that many people, like you, only see the exterior graphical user interface, which is way behind both the the iPhone and Android, and conclude the platform is somehow inferior. There is no question, Microsoft must revamp that portion of the platform in order to stay competitive. At present, Microsoft has lost the "mindshare" battle because of this perceived weakness, but the GUI doesn't have anything to do with the real strengths of Windows Mobile. However, Microsoft's biggest strenght here is its developer base. Anyone with a copy of VisualStudio (and some versions are free) can download the SDK, develop applications, in multiple languages (like C, C++, C#, VB - I believe you can only develop iPhone apps using Objective C) and sell them. You don't need approval from anyone to sell them.
rr0de74@live.com
on Nov 12, 2009
@roteague spoke like a true technical geek. WinMo is losing market share because the experience sucks. I dont care if its the GUI, or the fact that is on slow hardware or the fact that I have an many others suffer through daily battery pulls because the OS when off to la la land. The average user that finds a Android or Apple phone easier to use, and has less problems could really give a rats arssse about how easy it is to program for the OS. There are 14 year kids making iPhone apps, so that tells me its not that hard. All of the development tools for Android are totally free. Right now WinMo is a disaster.
Dude1313
on Nov 13, 2009
Interesting take by Paul. I'm sure if the tables were turned in terms of number of Apps it would be a major point. As I pointed out elsewhere the number of apps comes up is yeah but "99,999 are fart aps, flashlights and tip calculators." So the funny part is create a strawman because MS isn't competing with number of apps. Such a lame argument it doesn't even merit a rebuttal. If WinMo gets (more) developers, great for it. I think their prospects are very dim. Roteague points out the developer environment that surrounds WinMo. Great. The problem isnt the development environment. The problem is that WinMo 6.5 is a stop gap, MS has said as much and 7 is not out until late 2010 by all accounts. A lot can happen in a year and by that time not only Apple, but RIM and possibly even Palm will be that father along. On top of this Nokia is unshackling Symbian. This has all the hallmarks of playing out just like the iPod, especially short term. Bottom line is that this isnt the desktop and no one is interested in handing MS anything this time around. Much like the PMP areana where MS has been crushed along with everyone else this is eerily similar to that market. Will it play out the same? Who knows. I will say that for those that haven't been watching MS has be trying Mobile since the 90's and hasn't even come close to vanquishing everyone. Meanwhile Apple has come from no where to creditable player in 2 1/2 years.
roteague
on Nov 13, 2009
"rr0de74@live.com said: @roteague spoke like a true technical geek. WinMo is losing market share because the experience sucks. I dont care if its the GUI, or the fact that is on slow hardware or the fact that I have an many others suffer through daily battery pulls because the OS when off to la la land." Well, guess what? I am a geek; I've been a Windows programmer since Windows 3.1, and have programmed for every flavor of Windows there is. I own and use a number of Windows Mobile devices; I've never run into any major battery issues, and I'm fine with the existing GUI. I think my next one will be an HTC Imagio. The internals of the Windows Mobile are fine, yes, the GUI is old and dated. Windows Mobile was originally designed for a market that no longer exists, Microsoft failed to pay attention to the market, and is suffering a loss of market share as a result. I suspect that once Microsoft gets its act together with a state of the art GUI, you will see a lot more applications, and greater market share as a result. I can't comment on how difficult Objective C is, from what I've seen it's an offshoot of the C++ language, which is complex and difficult to learn. But, I can't tell you if Objective C has eliminated any of the complexity, since I have no reason to learn to program using it. Regardless, there are LOT more .NET programmers around than there are Objective C programmers.
Waethorn
on Nov 13, 2009
Word is that Windows Mobile 7 will be Microsoft's introduction of a customized version of the current desktop client version of Windows - Windows 7 - to the ARM platform. ;)
roteague
on Nov 13, 2009
"Waethorn said: Word is that Windows Mobile 7 will be Microsoft's introduction of a customized version of the current desktop client version of Windows - Windows 7 - to the ARM platform." I've heard rumors of XAML being ported to the Windows Mobile platform, which may be what you are referring to. BTW, there is a guy who ported the iPhone "look and feel" to Windows Mobile, written in C#. Only goes to show that an advanced GUI is not out of the possibilities for Windows Mobile. http://www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/IPhoneUI.aspx
gadfly10
on Nov 13, 2009
Looks pretty lame. What are there, less than 400 apps total? Most are shite and are even listed twice (Monopoly, SIMS...). Pathetic attempt at playing catchup. Hey Microsoft, why not spend your time and money engineering XBox hardware that doesn't fail?
roteague
on Nov 13, 2009
"gadfly10 said: Looks pretty lame. What are there, less than 400 apps total? Most are shite and are even listed twice (Monopoly, SIMS...). Pathetic attempt at playing catchup." And it looks like you don't pay attention. The Windows Marketplace, unlike the Apple Store, is not the only place you can buy software for Windows Mobile.
Waethorn
on Nov 13, 2009
"I've heard rumors of XAML being ported to the Windows Mobile platform, which may be what you are referring to." No, it wasn't. XAML support will be included in the Silverlight runtimes which will be part of the larger development focus for WM7, but it's not specifically a core component of the OS. Silverlight and .NET will be unifying development features that encompass the overall development platform which includes Windows on the desktop as well as on the mobile. By having a codebase that is linked between both types of hardware, development will be easy, but won't be exclusive.
RunTimeError
on Nov 13, 2009
I just browsed that site. Nice to see Microsoft offering flashlight and fart apps now.
RunTimeError
on Nov 13, 2009
"BTW, there is a guy who ported the iPhone "look and feel" to Windows Mobile, written in C#. Only goes to show that an advanced GUI is not out of the possibilities for Windows Mobile." That's pretty neat but begs the question: if the iPhone is so irrelevant, then why spend all that time making a carbon copy of it's UI to run on WinMo? Why not make your own "advanced GUI"?

Please or Register to post comments.

Related Articles

IT/Dev Connections

Las Vegas
September 30th - October 4th

Paul ThurottYou'll have the opportunity to experience:
• 120 Technical
Sessions
• Networking with Peers
• Expert Speakers


Come See Paul Thurrott & Mary Jo Foley in Person!

Register Now

Office 365 InfoCenter

Get the latest insight and info from Paul

Read Now!

What I Use
Apr. 18, 2013
Article

What I Use: On the Road 21

Every so often, I publish an updated version of my “What I Use” document, which details the technology products and services I actually use day-to-day. Since I’m currently on my third business trip in five weeks, this is perhaps an ideal time to discuss the technology products I rely on when I travel and a few related points....More
Mar. 6, 2013
Article

What I Use: March 2013 33

Lots of changes since November, including a new PC-based home server running Windows 8, several new smart phones, new PCs and tablets, new cloud backup, Office 365 Home Premium and a nice doubling of my Internet speeds courtesy of Verizon FIOS....More
WinSuperSite.com
Related Penton Sites
Copyright © 2013 Penton Media, Inc