I think it's unlikely. 1) Apple makes a fraction of its revenue from the app store, about 8%. And they're considered one of the two, if not the most, successfu

I think it's unlikely. 1) Apple makes a fraction of its revenue from the app store, about 8%. And they're considered one of the two, if not the most, successful app store on the planet. 2) PCs, as opposed to mobile platforms, are open systems with a radically different distribution culture. You visit a website, click a button to launch an installer, choose a directory and go. Yes, the customer would prefer an app store, but giving MS a 30% cut when you drive all the traffic and marketing and downloads on your websites anyway? Unlikely. On Mobile there's not much of a choice. It's obvious that a windows store will generate revenues and would be a good move. Mac and Linux have em, and if well executed on the biggest PC/Laptop platform in the world, then it can be a big deal. Just look at Steam, somehow it drives so many eyeballs that publishers are willing to give a cut to Steam to do something they're already doing themselves on their own website easily: distribution. But steam being the favorite by far, still makes between 1 and 2 billion dollars in revenue. In short it's pretty unlikely to see MS really thrive on app store revenue. It'll be a decent product, but it's probably more for improving the customer experience (through a properly curated store) and get people to like Windows again than to make a ton of money. For MS it seems it's still all about selling licenses to vendors, office and enterprise/education. It's kind of funny how extremely non B2C it is, and how B2B focused it really is, for a company that builds products used by billions of people. I think these latest moves have kind of shown MS understands that and is trying to get closer to (dealing with) the customer: build their own hardware, make their software free.