We now know that Microsoft will be introducing an app store with Windows 8 and will indeed be the last of the major operating system companies to offer this, with Apple having joined the party earlier this year and GNU/Linux having had an app store since the time Stonehenge was built. What will it be like though and will companies actually want to use it? Here I thought I’d chew over some of the pros and cons of having an app store built into Windows at a time when you can still install software the traditional way, you know, from discs and things.
On the face of things, the inclusion of an app store in Windows is, not only long overdue, but also a fantastic new way for people to find and distribute software. For over a decade now the primary software website has been downloads.com from Cnet. This is a tried and trusted resource that millions of people have learned to trust. This is very important because the Internet is now so big, and malware is so prevalent that people need trustworthy websites through which they can distribute their software.
If you look at games patches and even software from the major companies, Adobe, Microsoft and the like, you’ll find it all hosted on Cnet. Part of this will be Cnet wanting to bring in more advertising revenue from the site, fair enough on that score, but there will be an element of software houses placing the software there themselves.
They know that people trust Cnet and even smaller software companies with their own merchant services on their own website will be aware that visiting an unknown website may in itself, be enough to put off a download or a software purchase.
Then there’s accessibility. One of the reasons downloads.com, and other similar websites, have been so successful in the past is because of their ability to aggregate millions of software packages in a helpful way. There are reviews, star ratings and these websites can make it considerably easier for you to find the software you need, that does the job you want, at the price you need.
Both of these are what an app store will bring to Windows. They will give users of not just Windows 8, but Windows 7 and Vista as well, quick and easy access to a trusted location where malware is filtered out and where the right software can be found, downloaded and installed. For consumers this is a huge plus and for software houses, especially smaller software houses, this will be a huge bonus for them in trying to get the word out that their software even exists.
It’s not all good news though and much of the success of the new Windows app store will depend on how Microsoft choose to manage it. The standard app store model was created by Apple, who are frequently criticised for creaming a whopping 30% off the top of a sale. This criticism has stopped them from doing so however and neither has it stopped Microsoft from doing the same with the Windows Phone store. It’s just accepted now that this practice, no matter how irritating and seemingly greedy it may be, is the accepted way of doing things and the price we have to pay.
This will inevitably mean that the big companies stay away. Sure, all of Microsoft’s software will be sold through it and the fact that every other company can submit software if they want to will protect the company from anti-competition lawsuits. We can be sure though that Apple, Adobe, Autodesk and companies who’s names begin with other letters of the alphabet, will all shun this app store for everything but their free basic software. Why would they want to give up 30% of their revenue on a package they sell for $600?
On the downside the smaller software houses will have less of a choice. There’s much less money for them to make and they need to exposure. This means that smaller software houses will have little choice but to pay any fee. This could mean that they have to increase the cost of their software to cover their costs or, more likely, they will be yet further squeezed in order to remain competitive. This could force some software houses out of business if their apps don’t sell in sufficient quantities.
All in all a Windows app store is clearly six of one and half a dozen of the other. It remains to be seen what the uptake will be, exactly what terms and conditions Microsoft apply and whether the big players also jump on board. What do you think about a Windows app store? Would you use it and do you even think it’s a good idea?
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