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by EwanToo 5082 days ago
Windows 8 aims to fix that with a built-in app store, it's a bit simplistic so far but works.

Apps can either be hosted on the Windows app store, or it can be hosted by the developer with just a link from the app store to a download page.
1 comments
jmcqk6 5082 days ago
It's important to note that "Desktop Apps" in the windows 8 world are only going to be links from the app store. The developer / company will need to provide their own billing, hosting, deploying, updates, etc. Also, only companies will be able to get desktop apps listed in the app store.

For "metro style apps" i.e. apps that are full screen and run on the Metro version of the .NET framework, those get the full app store experience, and will be able to be submitted by individual developers (i.e. not full companies)

More information here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsstore/archive/2012/06/08/list...

Also, it's important to note that for "metro style apps" you existing libraries will likely have to be rewritten. If you've architected your application well, and only need to change the UI of your app for a different platform, this isn't possible with Metro-style, as far as I can tell. Your libraries have to be of a special type - a "metro class library" - in order for them to be referenced by your metro-style app. So far, I've been very frustrated by this experience and may just bite the bullet and go with the other hosting option.

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