Facebook and Flipboard Apps Coming to Windows 8

The most glaring omission in the Windows 8 app catalog is finally getting filled. Facebook will release an app for Windows 8, Microsoft has announced.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the coming app at the company's Build 2013 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. Ballmer also said other big-name apps, including Flipboard and NFL Fantasy Football, would also be coming to Windows 8.

"We aspire to not just create the best Windows applications possible, but the best version of Flipboard possible," Flipboard CEO Mike McCue said in a statement.

Microsoft was an early investor in Facebook, and the two companies have enjoyed a close strategic partnership. Skype, which Microsoft owns, partnered with Facebook to introduce video chats to the social network, and Bing helps power some of Facebook's search functions.