At present, Windows is a very small development platform. According to Microsoft, there are just over 200 million active Windows 10 devices, comprised of around 20–30 million Xbox Ones, 1–5 million phones, and the rest being PCs. Compare that to Android, with around 2 billion devices (although God knows how many are active) and iOS, with a rather wealthy user base of around 700 million, and Windows looks like a rather small drop in the bucket. So why would Windows be a good platform to develop for?

Well for starters, the number of apps. Both Android and iOS sport over 1.4 million apps each, whereas Windows lags behind at what Microsoft tells us is around 700 thousand. It might seem like a general disadvantage to Windows to have less apps, but for developers, this is actually benficial. I would wager 60–70% of the apps hidden in various corners of the Play and Apps Stores are entirely redundant, with only one or two major, popular apps used for a specific function. This means any small developer looking to make a living in these ecosystems will have a difficult time doing so without splurging on advertising.

On the flip side, the Windows Store has much less competition in it’s marketplace. I find myself opening the Store almost daily to see if any new, interesting apps have been added, and I’m sure many Windows Phone users act the same. Windows users, especially phone owners, are app-starved. If there’s a new and interesting app out there, it’s going on my phone. And advertising for the Windows Store is much, much cheaper than it is for Google’s or Apple’s ecosystem. Heck, sometimes I see featured apps that haven’t been updated in years, just thrown up there by Microsoft. Windows users want apps, badly, and any new app that spurs their interest will be used, and most likely, well received.

Add this to the long list of reasons Windows is a great budding platform, a list that already includes dramatically increased user engagement, Project Islandwood and Astoria bridging tools, and the constantly growing user base, and Windows is becoming a star place to develop.

So if there are any devs out there, big or small, please, I encourage you, consider developing for Windows. The small ecosystem is a benefit to you; if you try, you can push to the top and easily become popular on one of the fastest-growing platforms in the world.