Being able to find the most popular Windows apps in the Store will be a big deal for Microsoft and Windows, and tells users that the platform is still alive. They all have a purpose, and they'll always be available to download in the app store on Windows.įor now, I think the advantages of relaxing store policies outweighs the disadvantages for most users. We'll see if that takes off, but for now, Win32, UWP, PWA, and everything in-between are welcome app types on Windows, with no plans to remove any of them going forward. Project Reunion is supposed to help blur the lines between Win32 and UWP anyway, marrying the app platform ecosystem on Windows under one umbrella. Win32 is sticking around, and it hurts developers and end-users to try force everyone away from it. UWP has its place as another app type on Windows, and it certainly makes sense for specific app scenarios, but it doesn't make sense as the only app platform. I know there are people that really wanted Microsoft to push developers to build UWP apps as replacements to Win32 programs, but that's just never going to happen. But, we'll have to see if something like that ever comes to Windows desktop. That way, even if an app causes bitrot or is able to pull down malware, it'll only ever be the sandboxed environment that it affects. So that benefit is irrelevant for most people.Īlso, it's possible that Microsoft is working on a way to sandbox unpackaged Win32 apps on Windows 10 like it already planned to do on Windows 10X. Again, I don't think this matters as most users are happy to download their apps unpackaged from the web every day.

There's also the whole 'preventing bitrot' idea that falls apart by relaxing store policies. Developers submitting apps to the store, packaged or not, will still have to be approved.Īnd even then, I'm sure Microsoft will have other ways of ensuring security even after the app has been approved, but that's Microsoft's story to tell. I'm in the Store to get an app I know about or have used before, and therefore trust. I don't think I've ever opened the store and browsed by new to find something I've never heard of. Users who open the store usually have the app they want to download already in mind.

There's no guarantee that an app developer that does choose to use its own updating or content delivery system won't abuse that power by pushing down unwanted content or even malware, but how often does that happen today with users downloading apps from the web?

There are certainly disadvantages, especially around security. Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)

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