Windows 8 leak: an App Store for Windows, IE9 beta in August
 

A new "Windows Store" is perhaps the most ambitious feature described. Microsoft would offer a store service to third-party software developers. The store would allow easy discoverability of applications both from within Windows and from the Web. The store would handle standard features like account management and software updates, as well as providing capabilities such as the ability to replicate applications and settings across different devices. The store would be curated, so only applications that reached a certain quality standard would be permitted. The basic model, then, is a cross between Apple's App Store and Valve's Steam.

Indications are that such a feature would be well-received. The slides are not the first such communication between Microsoft and its OEM partners; they contain feedback from the first "ecosystem forum" at which the Windows Store concept was apparently first discussed. The slides say that Microsoft's partners believe that a Windows Store "can't happen soon enough," and think that an improved application distribution model, including a unified catalog and purchase experience, is a "critical component" to their success.

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...campa ign=rss