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Comment by barista | Hacker News Reader

Asking genuinely... What benefit does yet another marketplace have to offer?

I can see that by being a cross platform marketplace, If I buy something from them on my iPad, I can also use that same software on my PC (assuming both the platforms allow this) But the big question is will they?

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One thing to consider is that the Windows app store will be Metro (not sure what to call it now) only. So Steam might be a pretty attractive option for filling the niche of distributing traditional desktop applications.

Being able to keep all my Windows desktop applications updated easily through Steam would be a lot better than having them all try and do it themselves.

The other cross-publisher software managers/marketplaces for Windows apps that I know about are all game-oriented, would-be-Steam-alikes. Is there a comparable marketplace for applications?

That's how game purchases work currently. If the game works on PC and Mac, you can install either or both.

User-base. Millions of people already have Steam but don't regularly use any other marketplace.

Steam already has great community options built in to connect their massive user base (2.9 million currently online) , and sales prices that absolutely cannot be beaten. Not to mention a much better reputation then other online software vendors.

The Windows app store will be Windows 8 only on the desktop so Steam can serve the hundreds of millions of users on the older versions. Also, what marketplace comparable to this offering exists for Windows?

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