The Windows Store sailed past the 20,000 app mark the other day, according to a Microsoft watcher. Bloggers are trying to spin this news to match their Microsoft biases, but I don’t think this milestone changes much: The Windows Store continues to grow quickly, but it still lacks even a single killer app. So, good news and bad news.
The Windows Store provides Metro-style apps that run on Windows 8 and RT.
News of the 20,000 figure came via a tweet by Wes Miller. He runs the Win App Update web site, which ironically hasn’t been updated in over a month.
Miller says that 87 percent of Windows Store apps are free. The problem, as with all app stores, is that about 97 percent of them are worthless.
PC World reports that the 20,000 app figure is worldwide and that individual markets will see far fewer apps. The US has 12,675 apps, for example, compared to 14,000 for Canada. It’s not clear where they found those numbers. But since I’m blogging here, I am required by law to mention that Apple has over 700,000 apps in its own app store, with 300,000 for the iPad. And Google Play has over 600,000 apps. Remember: No success cannot be countered effectively with information about a far more established alternative.
But wait. What about the Mac App Store? Go figure, but Windows Store has already surpassed the one online store Apple never talks about: The Mac App Store has only 12,638 apps, according to App Shopper. And that’s been around since the beginning of 2011, almost two long years ago. Yikes!
Anyway, back to my original premise: App take-up good, lack of quality apps bad. I’m hesitant to even look at the top 10 or 20 iPad or Android apps because I know that comparison would be a bloodbath. It took Windows Phone two years to even make that comparison a conversation. How long will it take Windows Store?
