Leaked Microsoft Screenshots Show “Windows App Store”

Leaked screenshots allegedly from Microsoft show what is clearly labeled “Windows App Store.” The screenshots, posted by WindowsRumors, are reportedly from an early build of some sort from Microsoft, and the site stipulated that they haven’t been verified as being legitimately Microsoft in origin (TechCrunch noted that cnBeta.com posted a similar screenshot in Chinese that are also reportedly from Microsoft).

Windows App Store Screenshot

Windows App Store screenshot, as posted by WindowsRumors

Microsoft has a long track record of boldly going where Apple has shown the way. In this case, of course, Apple added a Mac App Store as a Mac OS X application in 2010, an idea modeled on the original App Store for iPhone and iPad apps. Microsoft eventually launched the Windows Phone Apps Marketplace, which to many may appear to be the bastard child of Apple’s App Store and Google’s own me-too store, Android Marketplace.

For this newest endeavor for peddling Windows software, Microsoft appears to have cut out the bastard middleman and went straight for plagiarism by naming it “Windows App Store.” While we’ll iterate the fact that even if this screenshot is truly from Microsoft, it’s an early build that was not intended for public release, but this could show why Microsoft is doing all it can to prevent Apple from getting a trademark on the name “App Store.”

For our last cheap shot, we’ll simply point out how ugly that screenshot is. It appears to be running in Windows 7, but came in a batch of screenshots that WindowsRumors was told is from early builds of Windows 8.