Microsoft reveals more Windows 8 app store details

Microsoft officials revealed more details about how the company plans to design and organize its Windows 8 app store via a blog post on January 20.

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The Windows Store -- which will launch in early form in February as part of the Windows 8 beta -- unsurprisingly shares the Metro look-and-feel with Windows 8. The new post details more about the Store's landing page, editorial topic pages, data-generated lists, app listing pages, and the search, browse, install, and update experiences.

Metro-style apps will be downloadble and purchasable from directly inside the store. Non-Metro-style Desktop apps will be findable, but not directly purchasable or downloadable; via the Store, users will be directed to the sites of the developers of those Desktop apps for purchase.

Microsoft is holding a First Apps contest to encourage developers to start building Windows 8 apps now for inclusion in the Store. The finalists are currently working with a private newer Windows 8 build to tailor their apps for the beta.

In other Windows 8 news today, Microsoft officials also provided more details about some of the tweaks the Windows team is making to the Windows 8 wireless networking stack to optimize it for mobile broadband and Wi-Fi networks.

One more related bit: The JavaScript-based Compat Inspector testing tool is now available for IE10." Use Compat Inspector to quickly identify if Internet Explorer platform changes affect your site. Whether you're preparing for IE10 or still updating for IE9, run Compat Inspector on any page experiencing problems. Then watch for messages explaining potential issues and steps you can take to resolve them," according to a January 20 post on the IEBlog.