Windows Store Grows Quickly With Majority of Free Apps
The Windows Store has grown to 20,610 apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT.
Win App Update reports that Microsoft surpassed 20,000 apps on November 20th. Just before the launch of Windows 8, there were just 3,000 applications, which indicates that developers are showing more interest in Microsoft's new operating system and the opportunity to sell applications via an app store. However, 17,958 Windows 8/RT apps, or 87 percent, of those 20,610 titles were offered as free apps.
Win App Update said that 500 new apps are joining the Windows Store every day, but "only a fraction of these are truly stellar apps" and a true killer app is still missing. Microsoft frequently indicated that it was strongly encouraging some app developers to create versions of their programs specifically for the Windows Store, but the landscape appears to be rather spotty at this time.
In fact, some of the older Windows 8 users may be reminded of the early days of shareware download portals such as download.com and tucows.com, which focused on quantity rather than quality of software. True gems were hard to find and that seems to be no different today.

As for consumers making apps, if you're a programmer you can make apps (for Windows, iOS, Android, whatever). If you're not, you need to learn how to code first. I don't really know what exactly you were envisioning here, but it isn't that simple.
And as far as big download sites go, they've always been that way, it's just that now there is a lot more crap to sift through. The fact that 'official' app stores are no different makes them all the more pointless.
Great, that's why most people hoped onto Android at the beginning, free apps
As for consumers making apps, if you're a programmer you can make apps (for Windows, iOS, Android, whatever). If you're not, you need to learn how to code first. I don't really know what exactly you were envisioning here, but it isn't that simple.
I was gifted an touch enabled ultrabook by intel and a copy of Win8 by microsoft, I don't really hate Win8, at best it is a little more work to get things done in Windows8, especially when coding.
Regarding free apps, MS has gone crazy and is doomed if this is allowed. Have a look,
The link
But since most apps for Android and IOS are garbage anyway, WHO CARES if Microsoft only has a fraction of what they have? As long as they have the app's people use, like Facebook, office, book readers, Angry Birds etc etc it does not matter.
Of course this only relates to the Phone I cannot speak about the tablet or desktop versions.