Last year, Microsoft's Windows Store passed the 100,000 apps mark, and by April this year, that number had climbed to over 400,000 when combining apps from the Windows and Windows Phone stores. Going by these numbers the company's platforms seems to be growing fast and big.

But does big necessarily mean good? The folks at HowToGeek have given the Microsoft's application store a clear thumbs down, saying it's full of "apps that exist only to scam people and take their money".

Searching for a popular app turns up a lot of garbage results on the first page. For example, look up VLC and you'll find many fake paid apps with VLC's trademark icon. While some pretend to be VLC with an actual media player, others charge just to give you a link to download the free application.

In the case of VLC there's an official app named VLC for Windows 8, which appears first in the list, but things get worse when you search for popular apps that are not officially available on Microsoft's app store.

A quick comparison with Google Play Store and Apple's App Store revealed that the problem is nearly exclusive to Microsoft's Store. What's even more shocking is that unlike Google, which has a more relaxed stance on app approval, Microsoft examines each and every submission before making it available to users, suggesting that they are fine with scams in their store.

So, why isn't Microsoft concerned? It looks like the company's priority at the moment is to close the app gap between its own app stores and the ones offered by Google and Apple, with quality taking the back seat.