Microsoft's Windows 8 will bring an app-like interface -- and an app store sales model -- to traditional PCs.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Microsoft is aiming to do something wildly different to beat Apple. At the same time, Microsoft is also trying to copy a very successful business model to be Apple.
When Windows 8 debuts this fall, Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) will launch a curated app store for Windows software. For the first time, the primary way Windows users will get third-party applications will be through Microsoft itself.
It's a model that has paid off for Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and been copied, with varying degrees of success, by many others -- most notably Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Amazon (AMZN,Fortune 500). Apple, which takes a sizable cut on sales in its app store, brought in revenue of $2.1 billion last quarter from third-party apps and music sales on iTunes.
Though lucrative, the app store model can also be restrictive. Apps have to be approved, and cynics point out that app store curators could block competitors' apps. For instance, it took Apple more than a year to allow Google Voice on the iPhone, a move it only made after government regulators started asking very pointed questions.
App stores can also be fragmentary. Certain apps -- and even some content like popular e-books -- are available exclusively on individual app stores. That makes for a frustrating user experience.
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