So what? 2000 is a huge number. I can't even imagine scratching the surface of those, in terms of actually using them. I know they fill different niches, but on my desktop I use maybe about 2 dozen applications on a regular basis. Those 2000 apps could be far better on average than the half-million-or-so in the App Store or Google Play.
Or they could all be junk, and Windows Store is doomed.
Things don't really work like that. You don't want your platform to only have 1000-2000 apps. Why? Because you'll never get the "top 1000" apps in there. Plus, people have different needs for apps. On the real Windows you can find a program for just about anything. You won't be able to say that for the Windows store and Windows RT.
It's not about having the "top 10 apps". It's about having "all the apps you could ever need". And if there are 2000 apps, it most likely doesn't mean that it contains "all the apps you'll ever need". And which platform would you go with? One that has and will have all the apps you'll need or one that has "2000 apps"?
Disagree. First, the hypothesis that the quality distribution within the 2000 is substantially better than within the half-million-or-so is unlikely to be true, at least there's no evidence why it should be so.
Second, the 2000 is absolutely certain not to cover the long tail. The 2 dozen applications you use are not the half a dozen applications I use. Those car engine bluetooth+OBD monitors and bike repair apps are definitely not in the 2000 pool. Not to mention the variety of games out there.
Yeah, it's not the quantity, it's the quality. If there is a large subset of quality Windows 8 applications that's good.
Not everyone is going to put their applications on there straight away - how many put it onto the MacOS Store straight away (though there was A LOT of hype around the mac store).
Mobile application numbers don't really compare to desktop apps, noone really needs a fart app on their PC.
Or they could all be junk, and Windows Store is doomed.
The numbers don't mean much.