Two years after Microsoft delivered Windows 8, there are still relatively few Metro-Style custom line-of-business applications available.Microsoft's onerous requirements for sideloading Windows Store/Metro-Style apps is one of the reasons for the dearth. Sideloading is the way companies can
deploy custom business Metro-Style apps to their users without going through the Windows Store.
The costs and licensing terms have deterred a number of businesses from even thinking about building "modern" line-of-business apps for Windows 8. But during Microsoft's Build 2014 conference, company officials addressed some of those limitations.
Magenic Chief Technology Officer Rockford Lhotka and a handful of others have been
vocal critics of Microsoft's Windows 8 app sideloading policies. Some inside Microsoft itself have tired of the lack of progress on the sideloading front and
attempted to circumvent the limitations with their own projects.
It seems Microsoft is ready to address at least some of the complaints. At the Build 2014, Microsoft officials anounced they had
dropped the price the company is charging for developers to unlock their devices for sideloading.
