While it's true that Microsoft has tended to favour 'programs', the term 'applications' and 'apps' has been used generically for years. The earliest reference t

While it's true that Microsoft has tended to favour 'programs', the term 'applications' and 'apps' has been used generically for years. The earliest reference to the term in Gogle News is a paywalled article in the Washington Post from November 1990, which discusses PC Magazine shortening 'applications' to 'apps' because the word is too unweildy. I think "app store" could be seen as analogous to "media player", a generic term Microsoft coined and popularised.