Microsoft is working on a brand-new Store app for Windows 10 that will introduce a modern and fluid user interface, as well as bring changes to the policies that govern what kind of apps can be submitted to the store by developers. According to sources familiar with the matter, this new Store will pave the way to a revitalized storefront that’s more open to both end users and developers.
The biggest change is that Microsoft will supposedly allow developers to host unpackaged, unaltered, bog-standard Win32 applications in the Store. Right now, even Win32 applications need to be packaged as MSIX, but this requirement is going away. The Microsoft Store definitely needs a lot of love, but I feel like the problem isn’t the Store itself – it’s just how messy and fragmented managing applications on Windows really is.
It’s not like Microsoft is working on PocketPC Windows CE (CAB) since, says, 2000. Windows Phone. Windows 8 (MSI) with Metro UI.
It’s not like Google Android (APK) exists since 2008, iPhone since 2007, etc.
It’s not like Linux packages (DEB, RPM) their applications since… well…
It’s not like they have something to be inspired from.
Who’s in charge at Microsoft again ?
Kochise,
A relative of Stephen Elop?
j/k
Good one 🙂
FTFY
Sure, Linux isn’t fragmented. It’s atomized.
It definitely really needs some love, it has always been and sadly is still a mess in terms of user experience. But I seriously doubt making things easier for developers to publish is going to suddenly change their tune about putting their apps on the app store. The really popular apps like Adobe’s get by just fine without giving MS a cut of their sales, and I’d wager the majority of existing apps aren’t going to suddenly become that much more popular just because they’re available on the Windows store.
I thought the MSIX requirement was actually a step in the right direction. Ideally it should make installing/uninstalling apps more predictable. From the user’s point of view, this particular aspect of the “new” store is actually a downgrade IMHO.
So my initial impression from a user’s point of view is, hooray for the new store app, but not so much for the more permissive publishing requirements.
You make it sound like the only problem Microsoft is aiming to fix here is their inability to monetize the current mess of Windows app delivery mechanisms.
Well, whatever else they’re trying to fix, it doesn’t really matter without developer buy-in…