Windows 8 is now upon us, and the third-party apps are coming out of the woodwork. Here, we looked at StumbleUpon’s Windows 8-specific experience, for example. Here’s a look at Google’s. Here’s Netflix. And Kindle.

It’s not a third party, but Microsoft has, of course, launched its new Bing Apps for Windows 8, and the company is giving users a tour today. There is the standard Bing app for web and image search, but there is also a Travel app, a Weather app, a News app, a Finance app and a Sports app.

“Searching with the Bing app is fast and fluid, whether you use a touch device to tap and swipe or type and click with a keyboard and mouse,” says Brian MacDonald, Corporate Vice President, Online Service Division for Microsoft. “Finger-friendly results and images are front and center letting you quickly find what you’re looking for, so you can search less and do more. You can still rely on the same great Bing web experience in Internet Explorer 10, but we’ve optimized the Bing app to shine on Windows 8.”

“The Maps app makes it easy to find the places you’re looking for and helps you get there faster,” adds MacDonald. “Quickly pinpoint locations, get directions, see traffic conditions and more— all designed to be easily navigable with touch.”

The Weather app gives you a preview of the current weather and the hourly, daily, and 10-day forecasts. Here’s what it looks like:

For the Finance, News, Travel and Sports apps (collectively referred to as the Bing media apps), Bing has partnered with brands like ABC, AP, Bloomberg, CNBC, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, Reuters and complete daily editions of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Microsoft refers to the experience as a built-in newsstand.

Finally, the Sports app offers headlines, live scores, schedules, standings, stats, etc., and lets you personalize it based on the teams you care about.