Doors Closing at the Windows Mobile App Store

Way back in 2009, Microsoft opened the Windows Market Place for Mobile, an online store that allowed Windows Mobile users to buy software. As this operating system has been discontinued, this app store is also going away.

Apple introduced its iTunes App Store in 2008, and it was a huge success almost immediately. This company's rivals quickly moved to emulate it, and so the Windows Market Place for Mobile was born the next year.

However, in 2011 Microsoft switched from Windows Mobile 6.x to Windows Phone 7.x, which has a similar but different software store. With no new Windows Mobile-based smartphones being produced, the need for an app store for this operating system has been eliminated.

This service will be discontinued on May 9, so users of legacy models won't be able to access it on their smartphones after that date. Microsoft recommends those who have one of these devices to be sure that all of their third-party software has been updated to the latest versions before that date.