The Microsoft Development Network team has released details for Windows 8 software developers highlighting methods and pricing for apps on the new OS.
In an MSDN blog post, Arik Cohen, a Lead Program Manager for Microsoft's Commerce and Licensing Team, digs into the different models that third-party developers will be able to use to distribute their apps once the OS is released. Under the current Windows 8 Release Preview, all apps are free.
Paid apps will range in price from $1.49 to $999 (oddly exclusive of the popular $0.99 app price point), though developers will also be able to offer freemium apps with in-app payments, free apps with ads, and apps utilizing proprietary billing systems.
Naturally, Microsoft will receive 20-30 percent of all app transactions.
Positive aptitude
Using the Colors! app as an example (software for drawing, editing, and uploading art), the MSDN blog goes into detail about the developing trials that feed seamlessly into full purchases. Microsoft will provide developers with the necessary APIs and codes for managing the trail model, probably in an effort to encourage its adoption.
Using Sticker Tales as an example (presumably an app accented by the collection of virtual adhesives), the blog dives deeper into the process of in-app purchase development, for which Microsoft will also provide a fair amount of the code necessary to implement.
Billing gurus with robust server environments and a decent pipe will be able to host payment options internally, so long as the transaction processing meets Microsoft's standards.
Apps are a relatively new concept for Windows, and it looks like the team at Microsoft is embracing the unknown with its flexible Windows Store options. The only thing holding back developers now is Microsoft's certification timeline which, as of yet, hasn't opened for third-party firms.
