We have been following the efforts of Microsoft to promote Windows 8 as a big opportunity for app developers almost as long as Windows 8 has been officially revealed. Microsoft has never commented publicly on how many Windows 8 apps are available to download in the Windows Store, although recent predictions from third parties put the worldwide number at well over 20,000 so far.
Today, Microsoft made yet another pitch to app developers to create software for Windows 8 and its Modern UI. The effort comes in the form of a new YouTube video that shows a number of already released third-party apps in action, including the Kayak travel booking service, the Howstuffworks.com app, the Major League Soccer app and more.
The video also stops at two points to throw out some stats that are interesting. One says, "Over the last 2 years, more Windows licenses have been sold than Android, iOS, and Macs combined." That's certainly true, but those licenses were almost all for Windows 7, not Windows 8, and there's no way to really predict how many of those older Windows 7 PCs will be upgraded to Windows 8.
The second stat that's thrown out is also a bit iffy: "A worldwide app store with over 1 billion potential users!" The word "potential" is the key one. Again, there's no way that all the Windows users in the world will ditch their older OS for Windows 8. In fact, it could take years for Windows 8 to be installed on a majority of PCs.
In any case, Microsoft seems to be on the right track, with more and more quality apps being added to the Windows Store every day. Hopefully that will continue as more Windows PCs are either bought or upgraded.
Source: Windows on YouTube
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