Barnes & Noble to drop its Nook app for Windows in revised Microsoft deal

We hope you weren't too attached to the Nook app for Windows, because it's going away -- well, sort of. Barnes & Noble's Nook Media subsidiary and Microsoft have amended their partnership with terms that let Nook Media stop distributing its Windows e-book software. The company won't leave bookworms completely stranded, though. Instead, it will steer them toward "Microsoft Consumer Reader;" ZDNet believes this is a previously rumored e-reading app that will support both Nook content as well as generic text. The updated pact also lets Nook Media scrap progress on a Windows Phone app, although that's not as big a loss when the client hasn't reached the public. We don't yet know how the revised deal will affect Windows-bound Nook fans, but let's hope that Microsoft does a good job of picking up any slack.