Microsoft’s Window 8 AppX technology outed

Yes, Microsoft is making great strides with Windows 8. Yes, Microsoft is making a document reader. Yes, it is a document reader… but there is a reason why this is noteworthy. Why? It’s called AppX.

This Windows 8 document reader is the first known application for Windows 8 that will utilize AppX technology. AppX is a new packaging technology that will make applications act more Windows Phone 7 apps. They will be self-contained packages that can be used to run and install applications to the operating system. And if it sounds a lot like what Mac OS X already does… well… yeah…:

Of even more interest, perhaps, Modern Reader is the first actual AppX application we’ve uncovered. AppX is a new type of packaged application model in Windows 8, and it very closely resembles Windows Phone 7 application packages. For this reason, we surmise that the AppX application type could be common to both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 (codenamed “Apollo”), providing developers with a way to write applications that target and can transition between a variety of devices, including traditional PCs, tablets, and phones.

But it will be interesting to see how all this turns out; it seems certain that Microsoft is learning from its competition. Now all we need from Microsoft is an App Store (or Appstore, if Apple has any say in the matter), but I bet that it is coming soon.