Steve Ballmer famously reiterated the importance of "developers, developers, developers, developers" to the press when referring to program support for Windows, inspiring this popular YouTube remix. The mantra seems to have carried over to Windows 8, with Microsoft organising a large, virtual app "Hackathon" to populate the Windows Store.

Registration is open now, Microsoft revealed on its MSDN blog, and the online event runs from August 17-August 26, 2012. Previously, similar events took place in a physical location, requiring developers to travel in order to attent. The online event removes the barrier of distance, so Microsoft expects an increase in the number of apps submitted.

"Standard hackathons attract mostly developers who live near major big cities and have no problem spending a weekend hacking on a project in a single location," Code Charters CEO Agnes Lam said to Business Insider. Code Charters is co-organising the event with Microsoft.

Lam added that the virtual event allows a wider range of demographics, and accommodates users who cannot develop solidly during a weekend period. "And we believe there are lots of them out there," he stated. Microsoft is offering developers' sessions for both new and experienced developers and has recently made numerous blog posts on developing apps.

Three categories are available for developers: Utility, including productivity and tools; Lifestyle, for social, music and video, and news and weather; and Entertainment apps, covering games, sports, and entertainment. Javascript, HTML5, C#, VB.NET or C++ can be used by developers. Teams can be created to build apps.

A forum, Facebook group, and two Twitter hastags - #win8apphack and #windows8 - are available.

Traditional events require participants to present their apps, but Microsoft's "Hackathon" eliminates that requirement in favor of a public voting system which accounts for half of the score for potential winners. Microsoft's own assessment accounts for the other half. With Windows 8 released to manufacturing, "Hackathon" apps could be what users see at launch. Microsoft has not stated whether all submitted apps will appear in the Windows Store, or only the winners.

Windows 8 launches October 26.