If Microsoft wants the Windows Store to succeed, why don't they invest $500 million into it

[macmee]

Why doesn't Microsoft pay developers to create high quality official Microsoft applications, or give this money away to independent devs as grants if they support the Windows Store?

1. Microsoft was years late to the app store idea, well behind Apple and Google
2. App growth and quality might be slowly increasing or dwindling in the windows store right now
3. WebOS, Amazon and BBOS had excellent hardware and/or OS features and functionality, but all ultimately suffered dearly due to impoverished or lacking app stores (as well as other issues too, mind you)
4. You have the money, you have the need, use the money as a catalyst to jumpstart store growth

If Microsoft spent $500 million dollars, they could pay 2,500 different devs 100k a year for 2 years to create high quality apps and buff up the Windows Store.

1. strategy: look in iOS and Android app store, find most successful app categories, make apps for them
2. That's 2,500 high quality Microsoft supported apps, that work well for
3. They don't even have to be free, sell some of them for a few bucks.

OR

1. Create a contest and give devs app categories to create an app in
2. The most downloaded and highest rated apps in each category get grants of $1,000,000 after the contest ends (say after 6 months to a year)

OR

1. Find some CS undergrads who're doing a COOP degree
2. Hire them to write apps

If Microsoft did any of the above or a combination, I think they'd experience a decent growth in the store.

 

[GreyFox7]

Totally agree and id say double that to a billion dollars. seriously Desktop apps are DEAD so identify the top desktop apps and pay their devs to create Modern versions. This investment will bring returns for years while spending the same amount on hardware has a very limited lifetime even if it succeeds and if it fails its got no life.

 

[goodintentions]

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that.

 

[Telstar1948]

I can't look into the future (at least every time I try it I lose money), but I fail to see how desktop programs are dead. There is a continuing strong use of desktop systems in the business world. Many use desktops still at home. I fully realize there are fewer desktop users than there used to be, but I don't see "apps" replacing desktop software anytime in the next umpteen years.

Granted there's been an upsurge in tablet and smartphone use, but it seems those who have left desktop style machines and desktop style programs never actually needed a desktop or real programs to begin with. Those folks have finally gotten what they needed even though they didn't know that 10 years ago.

Nope, at this stage in the "app" wave I simply can't see them taking over power programs that all businesses need whether home based or office based.

 

[GreyFox7]

I can't look into the future (at least every time I try it I lose money), but I fail to see how desktop programs are dead. There is a continuing strong use of desktop systems in the business world. Many use desktops still at home. I fully realize there are fewer desktop users than there used to be, but I don't see "apps" replacing desktop software anytime in the next umpteen years.

Granted there's been an upsurge in tablet and smartphone use, but it seems those who have left desktop style machines and desktop style programs never actually needed a desktop or real programs to begin with. Those folks have finally gotten what they needed even though they didn't know that 10 years ago.

Nope, at this stage in the "app" wave I simply can't see them taking over power programs that all businesses need whether home based or office based.

Your Desktop apps are fine on 1366 x 768 or maybe a little higher but they don't scale on modern 2k screens. Don't see anybody fixing it, apparently nobody is even interested in fixing it with 4k & 8k screens on the horizon its only getting worse (they will be completely unreadable) unless someone comes up with a way to display each window/app in it's own resolution independently rescaled.

 

[Telstar1948]

Granted...scaling is an issue that needs addressing, perhaps in the OS if program developers don't want to address it directly.

 

[Nuspieds]

...seriously Desktop apps are DEAD...

Have you seen Windows 10?! The Desktop is front and center in Windows again--and certainly not without reason. If anything, MS has moved to "Desktop-izing" the Modern apps.

I'm a big fan of the Modern apps and continue to migrate away from the Desktop apps whenever I can; however, Windows 10 or no Windows 10, Desktop apps are very far from dead.

 

[goodintentions]

Wait a minute. MS already tried this approach. Remember the $100 per app for a while back when? MS ended up with thousands of scam and crap apps.

 

[GreyFox7]

Wait a minute. MS already tried this approach. Remember the $100 per app for a while back when? MS ended up with thousands of scam and crap apps.

I guess you get what you pay for.
I don't see how you could interpret this suggestion as anywhere close to,the same thing.

 

[tat3406]

My suggestion is choose the most popular apps from iOS and Android app store, buy from these developer and use in Windows phone.

 

[EldoInTheWeeds]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I read where a few companies are coming out with programs that will port your app to other platforms. So if you have a successful app in IOS, you run it through this thing and then it will work in Android and/or Windows.

 

[goodintentions]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I read where a few companies are coming out with programs that will port your app to other platforms. So if you have a successful app in IOS, you run it through this thing and then it will work in Android and/or Windows.

Well... I don't see how such a program could work with apps that are more complicated than giving the 12 year old user fart noises. For starter, the api's are set up differently between the platforms.