Where is Microsoft’s presence in Metro? If they’re banking so heavily on this being the future of computing, where are their apps?

I see no Microsoft Office Metro edition, no Visual Studio Metro edition. Hell, even a Task Manager Metro edition might be fun. Instead we’re left with a suite of intern developed applications to tweet and share photos. Certainly beautiful applications to match an even more beautiful UI, but again where is the true buy-in from Microsoft themselves?

Apple with the launch of the original iPad in 2010 included iWork, its first set of professionally inspired applications to be used with large screen iOS devices. Then with the iPad 2, developers were introduced to iLife for iOS, showcasing features like measuring force with the accelerometer. Clear examples of just how powerful the software and hardware are.

Really it begs the question: is Metro purely an aesthetic play for Microsoft, or is it designed to help professional developers build better apps? Until we find out, we won’t know just how powerful Metro and Win 8 really are.

Further reading:

• Jensen Harris - 8 traits of great Metro style apps [via John Gruber]

• getwired.com - The landscape tablet landscape [via John Gruber]