Welcome to Windows 8!

Today in New York City, Microsoft launched Windows 8, the next step in computing experiences and truly, Windows Re-Imagined.  It is truly an important day for Microsoft as you might imagine, but it’s actually a really important day for you as well.  Why?  Because you, as a developer, have a huge opportunity with the Windows Store by building Windows Store apps!  Is your app in the Windows Store yet?  If yes, why not leave a comment to tell us what it is!  If not, what are you waiting for? 

Many of you probably recognize the picture on this post.  On July 16, 1969 at 9:32AM ET, a Saturn V rocket launched the Apollo 11 mission carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon.  We all know how important that day and days following that launch were.  It was the first time a human stepped foot on ground that was not of this earth.  That was a moment that the world shared in celebration of all that was human ingenuity personified into a single event.  The world changed the day of that launch and a massive period of technological change was catalyzed from it.

It may not be apparent to you, but in some respects the Windows 8 launch that happened today is very much the same kind of event as that historic Apollo mission.  With the launch of Windows 8, you will see a breadth of new experiences and ways people use PCs.  Truly, we are re-imagining the way we all interact with technology and with that change comes great opportunities.

As a developer, the types of opportunities you will see with Windows 8 are endless.  We have introduced a new kind of experience to Windows – the Windows Store app and this represents an amazing opportunity to have your software reach literally hundreds of millions of people by publishing your app or game to the Windows Store.  The Windows Store will have more apps as of its launch than any other platform on its first day of launch and the momentum is clearly there showing that the app ecosystem in Windows 8 will be very healthy.

So is your app in the store already?  If it is – great! – we’d love for you to submit a comment to this post telling us what the app is!  If not, why not get in on the action now before the Windows Store becomes very crowded (thereby creating opportunity for you as an app publisher)?  Jonathan Rozenblit has a great post on how to get started which I highly recommend.  You may also want to think about adding the right cloud platform to your app – a great post on connected apps with Windows Azure is here (also by Jonathan).

Want some guidance from the pros on how to really make that app stand out?  We have you covered there, too.

We want to see you succeed in the Windows Store.  This represents an amazing opportunity for all of us and we would love to help you succeed in your Windows Store app goals, whatever they may be!