The consumer preview of Windows 8 is coming soon, and at the same time, the Windows Store is going to open. Microsoft has been reaching out to developers ahead of time to tell them to look at the store submission process now, and they even recommend “reserving” a unique name for any upcoming app. It’s not clear how hard Microsoft will clamp down on app names, but it is clear that confusing names have been a problem for end-users as some developers use logos and names of other brands. Just search for a famous brand in an app store, and you’ll see what I mean.In any case, Microsoft intends to learn from mistakes and shortfalls of others before it launches its own Windows Store. Part of this, says Microsoft, is to make the process more transparent and it will try to provide more feedback to developers when something doesn’t pass the qualification. This is really the continuation of what Microsoft has done with the Windows Phone store, and it will be interesting to see if “reserving” the names will address both developer and end-user concerns. Let’s not that this doesn’t turn into a big “land-grabbing” contest.
