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Ninety-sixth in a series.  Welcome to this week's installment of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system.

Microsoft  removed 1500 apps from the store this week that did not meet quality guidelines and resulted in a bad user experience as a consequence. Users who purchased these apps are eligible for a refund according to Microsoft's announcement.

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Ninety-fifth in a series. Welcome to this week's episode of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system.

This week has been rather uneventful. Microsoft did release an update for its OneNote application that adds options to print notebooks and pages to the app among other things.

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Ninety-fourth in a series. Welcome to this week's episode of the best new apps and games for Microsoft's Windows 8.x operating system.

Microsoft released the August Update for Windows 8.1 this week which offered minor improvements and fixes only.

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Ninth in a series. User experience is an ongoing series of surprises -- discovery of something unexpected and useful when positive and discovery of annoying glitches when negative. Both evoke emotional responses. The latter is devastating as little frustrations build to crescendo. That's the state I near with my "Microsoft All-In" experiment. Dissatisfaction grows.

I started this journey on July 1, after buying Surface Pro 3. The tablet-hybrid promised so much, and my overall experience with the hardware is excellent. I can't say the same about the operating system, web browser, or supporting services. Clunky is good word. Think old car that runs well on the highway but sometimes stutters and stalls at stoplights. The overall UX is nowhere as smooth as Chrome OS or OS X.

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Ninety-third in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best new applications and games for the Windows 8.x operating system.

This week has not seen many new releases which is why the list of apps below is rather short when compared to other weeks.

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Ninety-second in a series. Windows Store saw some great releases this week, including three Runtastic fitness applications and the official NFL preseason application.

Several core applications such as the Xbox Video application have received updates this week. The app features a full redesign which, according to Microsoft, should make it easier for users to find and play contents using it.

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Ninety-first in a series. Windows Store saw some great releases this week, including a fantastic looking shooter from Gameloft, a cute racing game in the style of Micro Machines, and an excellent action RPG optimized for touch-input.

In other news, the notebook app Bamboo Paper has been released for Windows 8. To celebrate this, all premium writing and drawing tools are free of charge for the time being. Make sure you download them while they are free if you like the application.

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Eighth in a series. What goes around comes around. It's cliché but describes my return to Nokia after abandoning the brand five years ago. I never expected to come back, and the app experience, while a backwater compared to Android or iOS, is little different than when I left. Cameras are great and app selection limited, but it's hugely improved because of Microsoft.

Nokia was in 2009 still the world's mobile handset leader, except for one major market: The United States. As such, Symbian dominated mobile app development, even as iOS rose in prominence. (Remember: Apple opened its app store in July 2008, and the first Android phone shipped a few months later.) But the majority of apps and supporting services, developed by Nokia and third-parties, best suited the rest of the world. Americans had limited choices on the company's handsets.

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Ninetieth in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best apps and games that have been released in the past seven days for Windows 8.

Several important applications were updated this week. The official Skype application for Windows 8 supports free group calls in the latest version while the popular Twitter client Tweetium better filtering of blocked users and discounts if you subscribe for a year.

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Eighty-ninth in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best apps and games that have been released in the past seven days for Windows 8.

Things slowed down a bit this week in terms of new apps and games. Microsoft did release a Jigsaw game which got the app of the week title as it is fun to play.

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Seventh in a series. I ask because the user experience can't be this bad. Can it?

My "Microsoft All-In" experiment continues, and on Day 10 I must finally gripe about Xbox Music, which experience on Windows Phone 8 is pretty good, while the desktop app really sucks. I've got Pass, which should be as much about music discovery as streaming. I see some of both, but nowhere as much as core competing services, on Nokia Lumia Icon, while Surface Pro 3 disappoints. If I'm missing something, please correct my perception and also assist anyone considering Xbox Music.

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Sixth in a series. On July 1, I officially started my "Microsoft All-In" summer sojourn. Surface Pro 3 is my PC and Nokia Lumia Icon my smartphone for the next couple of months. Google gets the boot -- at least for awhile. I now largely use Microsoft products and services and third-party apps available for the company's platforms. Many commenters wonder why, so let me explain.

I last used Windows as my primary platform in 2010 -- never for Windows Phone. Like other BetaNews reporters, I tend to write about products used regularly. Writing is more authoritative from experience, and often only long-time use reveals hidden problems or benefits. The reality, and it's something obviously seen in comments: Microsoft platform users largely make up BetaNews readership.

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Fifth in a series. Two years ago today, I stepped away from Apple, following a boycott later abandoned. My problems were philosophical, regarding the company's aggressive patent litigation that thwarts innovation. This July Fourth I seek freedom from Google, and not for the first time. I don't oppose the search and information giant, nor like fanboy rally for it. I declare independence as a practical exercise; an experiment. Can you -- OK, I -- do without Big G's expansive portfolio of products and services? I want to know.

In many regards, Google is the Internet gatekeeper U.S. trustbusters asserted Microsoft would be, in their late-1990s court case. Big G is unquestionably a monopoly that integrates features and products for competitive gain. In the United States, Google's search share is about 67 percent (3.5 times greater than second-ranked Microsoft), according to ComScore, and as much as 90 percent in some countries. Android's worldwide smartphone share is about 80 percent, according to IDC.

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Eighty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's selection of the best applications for Windows 8.

Another excellent week in terms of app and game releases. Gameloft has released the superb Rival Knights jousting game which offers such stunning visuals and gameplay that we had to make it app of the week.

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Twenty-fifth in a series. The App Store saw some excellent releases this week, including two expensive games (by App Store standards) which are well worth the asking price, a powerful email client, a fun, modern day take on an old arcade classic, a superb journaling tool, and an app which can help you take back control of your digital identity.

In other news, all three Infinity Blade games are on sale this holiday weekend. The original Infinity Blade is now $0.99, Infinity Blade 2 is $1.99 and Infinity Blade 3 is priced at $2.99. If you don’t have any or all of these games, now is your chance to right that wrong.

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