Advice Request We need to talk about the Microsoft Store on Windows 10

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Gandalf_The_Grey

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Microsoft, we need to talk about the Microsoft Store on Windows 10
It's not good enough for an app that's integral to the Windows 10 experience.

The Microsoft Store on Windows 10 remains an integral part of the OS. It's how users can safely and securely pay for, download, and install their favorite third-party applications. But more importantly, it's how in-box system apps get updates to keep the OS current with new features. It's an integral part of the Windows as a Service experience, which is why I'm shocked at how bad the Microsoft Store as an app really is.

The Microsoft Store has several issues, the main one being a lack of apps. This is not helped by the fact that even Microsoft doesn't put all its apps in the store. Microsoft Teams, for example, isn't in there. Neither is Visual Studio Code, or Microsoft Office. This doesn't paint a positive picture to other developers looking to distribute their apps in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft has said that the Store is still an active monetization channel for app developers on Windows 10, but Microsoft has done extraordinarily little to convince developers it's worth investing in. The Microsoft Store itself hasn't been updated with new features or changes in over two years, and the last major update actually made the store experience even worse by making native product pages web pages, slowing down the Store experience significantly.

Internally, Microsoft has more or less abandoned the Microsoft Store as an app. It now basically runs on its own, with a little maintenance here and there to make sure basic functionality still works. The problem with this is that as mentioned above, the Microsoft Store is still an integral part of the Windows as a Service experience. Without it, Microsoft couldn't issue updates to in-box app experiences on the fly.

I think this is the main reason why the Microsoft Store as an app marketplace is still around. Microsoft can't remove it, because it plays that integral of a part in the overall OS experience. So Microsoft's "abandonment" of the Microsoft Store app is unforgivable for this very reason. Here's some examples of why the Microsoft Store app is so bad.

 

PotentialUser

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May 28, 2020
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I completely agree, MS needs to give the Store more attention if they want it to improve and gain traction. Half of the time, the store doesn’t even work.

Case in point: Last month I attempted to upgrade one of my Win10 Home machines to Win10 Pro via the ~$99 “Upgrade” in the Microsoft Store. The Store kept throwing errors and timing out. I tried using multiple MS accounts, two different WiFi networks (both worked fine for everything else but I tried checking anyway), ethernet connection, and even a mobile hotspot connection.

Nothing worked. It was definitely an issue on Microsoft’s end. I ended up using an old unused Win 10 Pro key, provided graciously by a friend, and called it a day.
 

SeriousHoax

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Mar 16, 2019
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Microsoft Store sucks. I have enabled developer mode and manually download and install apps from this site when required because usually the store doesn't work, downloads slowly, gets stuck, etc.
 

TairikuOkami

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It seems like a bright future, WindowsApps will supposedly be able to update themselves just like in linux.
 

blackice

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Microsoft has the tendency to drop projects with potencial, due to not being instant successes, someone at the company needs to learn success comes with time (and obviously support).

If Microsoft doesn't support their own projects, how can third-parties support them? Like the Windows Phone which had huge potencial, and Microsoft completely ignored it and let it die.

I see same trend at Microsoft Store, there's barely any improvements, and there's a lot that could be done to make it a success.

In the consumer market Microsoft is pretty much living in the shadow of their past successes, most of their money, effort and support is on the Enterprise.
 

TairikuOkami

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someone at the company needs to learn success comes with time
Fresh from the university and being placed in top positions, they want everything NOW and keep trying new ideas, but not sticking to either one for long.
 

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Ink

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Wishlist for Microsoft Store:
  • Re-write the app
  • Re-design layout of App and Information page
  • Force changelogs
  • Add an Update page on the main interface (currently in the settings).
  • Display the changelog on the Update page
 

amirr

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I love this comment I read years ago:
IMO, app store = USELESS on a PC (there is already the whole internet, why would one want to restrict himself to an app store.....) I'd find it more restricting than anything.

Desktop users do not need to have modern apps in Desktop environment. Please consider an option to disable or remove having modern UI apps or Windows Store apps in Desktop environment.
 

mlnevese

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I bought Age of Empires and Paint.net from the store. Also donated to the Dynamic Themes author. There is the useful compatibility layer you can download for old OpenGL games as well. Besides these, I really don't use anything from the store.

It is also presenting a strange bug in two of my computers where it says it will update something that is already updated then stops the download.
 
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ForgottenSeer 85179

I love this comment I read years ago:
IMO, app store = USELESS on a PC (there is already the whole internet, why would one want to restrict himself to an app store.....) I'd find it more restricting than anything.
Don't agree.
Apps from Store are auto updating itself, are more secure (AppContainer, different folder permissions), easier to install, use Windows permission system, more I forget
 

mlnevese

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Microsoft hasn't dropped the Microsoft Store whasoever, they been migrating most of the Windows 10 applications to the Store, including the more known Notepad, Calculator and even CMD, in order to get constant updates without relying on Windows Feature updates.
Apple gets 30%, 15% if you're a small developer...

Apple halves app store fee for smaller developers - MarketWatch
That why the take from Microsoft is bizarre, Spawn took it out of context thinking Microsoft values were unfair. The majorly of stores take a 30% cut, is pretty much industry standard, and Microsoft taking only 5~15% is a shocker.
Don't agree.
Apps from Store are auto updating itself, are more secure (AppContainer, different folder permissions), easier to install, use Windows permission system, more I forget
Agreed, is why I also bought Paint.NET on the Microsoft Store.
 

Gandalf_The_Grey

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Microsoft hasn't dropped the Microsoft Store whasoever, they been migrating most of the Windows 10 applications to the Store, including the more known Notepad, Calculator and even CMD, in order to get constant updates without relying on Windows Feature updates.

That why the take from Microsoft is bizarre, Spawn took it out of context thinking Microsoft values were unfair. The majorly of stores take a 30% cut, is pretty much industry standard, and Microsoft taking only 5~15% is a shocker.

Agreed, is why I also bought Paint.NET on the Microsoft Store.
I miss Microsoft 365 in the store. It was there before but now it just directs you to office.com. It was great and easy to update all store apps including your office apps.
 

Ink

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That why the take from Microsoft is bizarre, Spawn took it out of context thinking Microsoft values were unfair. The majorly of stores take a 30% cut, is pretty much industry standard, and Microsoft taking only 5~15% is a shocker.

Agreed, is why I also bought Paint.NET on the Microsoft Store.
You're talking BS. I never took it out of context, I was referring to the cut Microsoft takes from Your Donation. PayPal links on their Donation pages may take less, around 2.9% plus 30 cent fee.

There are better ways to support developers, by cutting out the middleman. No Microsoft, No PayPal.
 

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