14 DAY TRIAL // Analysts suggested that Windows 8 needs at least 5,000 apps at its launch, but Microsoft has managed to do a lot more than that.
WinAppUpdate writes that Windows 8’s Windows Store now holds a total of 7,873 apps worldwide, with a slight increase likely to occur just ahead of its launch today.
88 percent of the apps are free, but it seems that many more apps are sent every day now that we’re close to getting the final version of the operating system. An average of 459 apps are submitted to the Windows Store every day by the 3,367 developers currently listed in the Store.
There are only two apps available exclusively on Windows RT, while 31 entries only offer support for Windows 8 x64. The number of apps released for the Windows RT however is expected to be increased after the company makes the new OS generally available.
As for the United States Windows Store, there are 4,516 apps listed for download with 83 percent of them available for free.
Even if it’s pretty clear that Windows 8’s Windows Store is growing at a very fast pace, it’s still impossible to reach the 100,000 unit milestone by February.
Keith Lorizio, VP, U.S. Sales & Marketing, said earlier this month that Microsoft plans to see around 100,000 apps available in the Windows Store in less than three months after the public debut of the new operating system.
The efforts Microsoft is making to attract developers should finally pay off, Lorizio explained, so the Windows Store app count is expected to skyrocket after the operating system goes live today.