Onward and UpwardKeith Ward, Editor in Chief, Visual Studio Magazine
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Devs Offered Financial Incentives to Build for Windows 8
Well, if Windows 8 doesn't
take off on tablets, it won't be for lack of effort on Microsoft's part. Redmond is doing everything it can to entice developers to write software for the new OS, set to hit beta
next February.
I've already reported on the Marketplace Test Kit, which will let you know if your app conforms to the Windows Store before you ever submit it. Now, in another effort to one-up Apple and Google (but primarily Apple, I suspect), Microsoft is going right for the throat, offering devs a bigger slice of the income pie. In this blog, the company says that once your app hits $25,000 in revenues, you'll get 80 percent, rather than 70 percent, of the profits from then until eternity.
That could result in a windfall if your Windows 8 app is the next Angry Birds. Of course, it's well known that most apps aren't huge money-makers for shops; I wrote about that a few months ago for a sister site. Still, it's better than what you get from Apple or Google, which offer a flat 70/30 split, and it might convince some developers to at least give it a try.
Microsoft is also holding a "first apps" contest for Metro-style apps. The eight winners will have the first apps in the Windows Store when it goes live, and get some other nice prizes. There's only a month to submit your app, so get cracking if you have an idea.
In short, Microsoft is being really creative in its ways to lure developers to at least consider the benefits of Windows 8. And judging from what I saw at the BUILD conference in September, lots of you will be at least trying it out.
Posted by Keith Ward on 12/08/2011