Microsoft clearly wants to make sure that Windows 8 is the best operating system they have ever released, by making an unprecedented announcement that all apps in the Windows 8 App Store will be free to download during the consumer preview.
Speaking at the launch at Mobile World Congress today, Antoine Leblond, corporate VP of Windows Web Services, made the surprise announcement that all apps will be free for anyone who road-tests the new tablet-friendly operating system.
“A number of essential apps will ship with the Consumer Preview but they’re all subject to change,” he added. “And we’re adding apps all the time so you’ll want to keep checking back into the store.”
“Apps bring the OS to life – it’s alive at a glance. We wanted to scale these apps across many dimensions, screen sizes, usage scenarios etc,” added Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft’s President of the Windows division.
“We want apps in that environment to work together. Currently you get a lot of islands of apps and that’s not the right way.
“So in Windows 8 you have control over apps. Apps work together and everything is cloud connected, which is a very important part of how we thought about Windows 8 from the very beginning.”
Microsoft launched the Windows 8 Consumer Preview at MWC and it is available to anyone who wants to get a sneak peak before it officially launches later this year.
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