Paid Apps Now Accepted in RTM Windows Store

As soon as Windows 8 was released to manufacturing, Microsoft also opened the gates of Windows Store for the submission of paid applications.

Additionally, Microsoft announced that the software portal had been opened for all qualifying business in all supported markets to submit Metro style applications for Windows 8.

Those who want to upload apps to the Windows Store will have to download the RTM build of Windows 8, which will become available on August 15th for MSDN subscribers. A trial version will be available via TechNet as well.

The Redmond-based software giant already offered a variety of details regarding the implementation of trials, paid apps and in-app purchases.

With the release of Windows 8 to manufacturing, transaction support is now enabled, and all developers can start submitting paid apps to the Store, including in-app purchases.

“The Application Developer Agreement (ADA) has been updated to reflect the financial details we announced back at our Store Preview event,” Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for the Store, notes in a blog post.

He also explains that “the base Store fee is 30% of revenue for any transactions occurring through our transaction platform; we reduce the fee to 20% for any app that achieves $25,000 USD (or equivalent) in total revenue using our transaction platform, and for the lifetime of that app.”

In addition to allowing more types of applications to be included in the portal, Microsoft made the Windows Store available for developers and customers in more markets around the world.

Adding more languages and countries to the list is a move that Microsoft made with each major milestone of Windows 8, namely Consumer Preview and Release Preview.

“With this latest release, this trend continues with more catalogs and app submission languages, as well as increased localization of our developer experience,” Ted Dworkin continues.

“Today, we add 54 new markets to our list of distinct catalog offerings, giving developers more specific market opportunities and more chances to provide truly relevant apps to customers.”

Additionally, Microsoft added 24 new app certification languages. Thus, developers can take advantage of no less than 38 submission languages today, while also being able to release apps in other languages beside those used for certification.

“The developer dashboard is now available in an additional 11 languages, allowing you to choose the language you want for submitting apps, checking the certification process, and viewing analytics. And, as we noted at previous milestones, we will keep expanding,” the blog post continues.

Various other enhancements were also added to the Windows Store when compared to the Release Preview version, for a better experience for both developers and consumers.