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Editors Note: I am excited to welcome Denny as a contributor here on the site. I have been following his work for a while now relating to the Windows Store and the Apps that are being added daily. I was very pleased when he agreed to add that perspective to WindowsObserver.com. Welcome Aboard Denny!

Hello WindowsObservers!

I am Denny McAkins, my full name is Winston Denny McAkins, but I chose to answer to the middle name because people from my neck of the woods mostly don’t know how to properly pronounce Winston due to dialectical affectation. Maybe some of you would know me under my Internet handle:  McAkins Online. I have been geeking out on my blog McAkins Online and I have had the pleasure of Richard’s acquaintance on Twitter, maybe I have even spoken to some of you via Twitter. It’s small world like they say.

When Richard invited me to start contributing about the Windows Store on WindowsObserver.com, of course I could not turn him down. His activities have greatly enriched the community by informing about everything going on the big universe of Microsoft. I am encouraged about his positive attitude towards MS, you don’t find many objective sites anymore about Microsoft, so you can imagine my enthusiasm to contribute to the positive news coming out over MS these days.

I could start telling you about my love for Technology, but I’ll be wasting your time as anyone coming to this site is either Crazy about technology or he is escaping a boring date with his girlfriend Smile.

Of course I am passionate about technology. It is what flows in my blood and I am passionate about gadgets to a fault like most of you I think. Anyway for any of you that really really want to know more about me, please read more on my blog.

Unfortunately, I will only be contributing to WindowsObserver.com as a Guest Blogger as I have a very demanding day job, and sometimes I just wish there were more hours in a day.

Loving Tech, and keeping a family of a wife and 4 kids can be very demanding. I will be focusing on Windows, the Windows Store and Apps in general. Please feel free to shoot me a line if you have any suggestion, questions or comments.  Preferably via Twitter (@McAkins) or via this blog of course.

So why don’t we start about what you want to hear:

Conquering the Windows Store.

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Windows Store, like any other App Store, needs to be tamed to bring out the best out of it. Most of you probably know what I am talking about here, but for the few of you that are not aware, there are ways around the Windows Store to come to your best and preferred apps.

First are the Categories. There are 20 Categories in total in the Store, and each of these has Sub-Categories.  Every App in the Store falls into one of these Categories. Each of these Categories name has a chevron in front of it to indicate it opens a list of the whole category:
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Most people are not aware of the fact that you can just click on the Title to list all Apps in the Category. Selecting the Category also shows you the total number of Apps in that category. Listing the Category also gives you filters to refine your selection as shown here below.

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Now, I know that most of you coming to this site are from the US, you will not have issues with the Windows Store, but for those of our visitors from foreign countries, you have to deal with what we call Localization in the Store. This is the ability of the Store to show you Apps only meant for your region. This means you are only seeing a subset of the Store. Like me, you want to see everything in the Store, so I have blogged a short guide to show all Apps in the Store and not be limited. There is no point repeating it all here.

Pre-Fetching Updates:
The last thing I want to show you is how to fetch your Apps Updates before they are available for the public at large. Mostly App Vendors deliver app updates to Microsoft for publication, but sometimes publications are delayed for whatever reason. Also, after publication, due to Cloud propagation of the Store, it may take time before the bits propagate to your area. Therefore, not to wait till the update is visible on your Store Tile, follow these simple steps:

Open the Store, and while in the Store bring up the Windows Charms

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Click the Settings Gear

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Click the App Updates

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Well, long post for the introduction, I promise to try to limit my posts length forthwith. Let me know what you think. In the meantime have fun in this new Bold Microsoft Universe.

– McAkins