Have you ever had difficulty deciding which app to download? I installed Google Chrome on my iMac last week, and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of extensions that were available. Oftentimes the safest bet is to choose extensions that are carry overs from Firefox or popular with the community. But is that the best way to discovery what people are really using today? Internet Explorer still holds a majority of browser market share, and by that metric, it should be the best browser out there. It's not.

However, I'm not here to pick on Microsoft. It's being very innovative - with the help of a partner. Microsoft has teamed up with PreEmptive Solutions to change how applications are rated on the CodePlex forge. PreEmptive ships instrumentation software that takes application analytics and prevents tampering. Microsoft includes a version of its software in Visual Studio.

The CodePlex site will soon show applications usuage and other detailed runtime statistics such as 'most used features' and charts of which operating systems and platforms where the app was run. Usuage can be filtered by binaries and/or versions within the project (projects can have multiple versions and binaries), according to PreEmptive's chief marketing officer Sebastian Holst. That data will include:

·         Incomplete sessions
·         Time in application
·         Absolute unique users
·         Application runs

Having more information about how and application is being used and whether people actually keep it installed could help in the discovery process.