Microsoft is pushing the kill switch on app downloads through the Zune PC software. Instead, from now on if you want to download Windows Phone apps you’ll need to do it on your device or using the web-based Windows Phone Marketplace.
The move makes sense, because the Zune PC software wasn’t really designed to be an app store or app management service. It was originally a media management service for Zune media players, and those extra features were tacked on.
Microsoft says most people weren’t using the Zune PC software to buy or download apps anyway.
There’s another major change on the horizon — Microsoft will soon disable app downloads for devices running Windows Phone 7.0. That’s not as scary as it sounds, because every phone that shipped with Windows Phone 7 can be upgraded to run Windows Phone 7.5.
But if you haven’t updated your software yet, you’ll want to do it soon because within the next few weeks you won’t be able to download apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace unless you do.