Windows 8 hits 100K apps after just 8 months of availability

Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system for PCs and tablets has hit the important 100,000-app milestone, the company announced Monday via Twitter.

Windows 8 was released to mixed reviews back in October. One of the new features introduced in the OS alongside the divisive Start screen was the Windows Store, where you could download Windows applications in one centralized place just like you do in Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play store.

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Just last week, Microsoft hosted its big Build 2013 developer conference, where it announced the preview of Windows 8.1, the first major update to the OS. (In a way, you could think of this as the first “service pack” for Windows 8.) Windows 8.1 includes new features like a Start button on the desktop, better search, and 3D printing support.

Microsoft didn’t get to announce the 100,000-app milestone of the Windows Store at Build, but it did reveal a few new things coming to the store. In 8.1, Windows apps will auto-update in the background (like they will in Apple’s iOS 7), the design is cleaner, and it will offer support for gift cards and stored value.

On top of those reveals, Microsoft also said some big-name apps would soon land on Windows 8. These include a Facebook app, which is extremely important considering the social network’s popularity, and apps for social network Foursquare, reviews service Yelp, and music app Songza.