Turns out that Windows Phone Series 7 users can only load apps via the Windows Phone Series 7 marketplace, where developers submit apps for approval and publication. This explains why last week Steve Ballmer did an about face and said “Apple’s done a very nice job” with their App Store.

Lest Microsoft be caught imitating or lauding Apple too much, they claim their store won’t have any of Apple’s approval ambiguity, with all approval/rejection decisions being very straightforward and transparent. Sounds easier than it is in practice, I suspect. Just a few months ago Microsoft was making videos poking fun at the Windows Marketplace approval process: