Microsoft Promises Quick App Approvals

After a public face plant regarding the release of its operating system update to developers, Microsoft announced that applications built for Windows 8.1 will be approved no more than five days following their submission, once the new build of Windows becomes generally available.

That means that come October 18, when Windows 8.1 becomes downloadable by all, apps submitted to take advantage of its improvements won’t be tied up by a long line, harming developers who want to stay ahead of the curve. It’s an interesting gambit. The Windows Store on Windows 8, as Microsoft will tell you, has more than 100,000 applications. The real number, though, is north of 115,000. Whatever the case, if even a decent slice of that app set were to submit an update at once, it would flood Microsoft’s approval staff.