Windows 8 Apps are finally coming into their own…

Are they? According to Microsoft there are now  six times more apps in the Windows Store as there were when Windows 8 launched in October 2012. While 60,000 is a fraction of the 800,00 plus found in either the Apple App Store or in Google Play, it is still a lot of apps.

It seems that they Apps are becoming more stable and more capable as the developers are revising them. Feedback from users are also helping developers to figure out what user really want from their apps and are making the changes to suit these requests.

Most of us are still drawn to the traditional “Programs/Software” that we use from the desktop. While the differences are subtle what really defines the difference between and APP and a Software program? Aren’t Apps just smaller snippets of code that differ mainly from their software/program counterparts by having fewer features and capabilities? Apps are great for devices that have limited resources like phones and tablets but do they really have a place on fully capable notebooks and desktop computers?

Apps provide a different delivery method of these smaller snippets of code to perform simplified functions that may be all you need from that program. One of the reasons some of us are drawn to the lure of the Windows 8 tablet design is the promise that we can use our favorite Windows programs alongside of these new Apps that are appearing side by side of the old standbys.

The Redmond Channel Partner Magazine collaborated on an article “40 Killer Windows Store Apps for Microsoft Partners” that discussed this very fact:

…even those helping deploy Windows 8, have focused on traditional Windows applications. After all, one of the main selling points of Windows 8 is that customers and partners don't have to reinvent computer software. If it ran on Windows 7, it will generally run on Windows 8. Unlike iPads and Galaxy Tabs, the Windows 8 ecosystem doesn't have to start from scratch.

This is just it. I have both IOS and Android devices and when I am using them for the workplace I am constantly looking for Apps that make more productive like what I have on my desktops or notebooks. In fact many times when using one of my tablets I am using them as a terminal to access one of my machines to do functions that I can’t do directly with the tablet apps.  In fact the usefulness of the tablet for me is primarily as an entertainment device or as something I use to give me access to my other systems to do the things that I need or want to do.