What you need to know
- Microsoft announces new app store for Windows 11.
- It supports more app types, including unpackaged Win32 .exe and .MSI programs.
- Apps can now use their own CDN and commerce platforms, and Microsoft won't take a cut.
Microsoft has unveiled a brand new app store that it plans to launch alongside the release of Windows 11 later this year. The new app store features a fluid new design, as well as relaxed policies around what kind of apps can be submitted to the storefront by developers.
The new Microsoft Store will go into preview alongside Windows 11 next week, but the store won't roll out officially until this fall. The new store features policy changes that allows app developers to submit unpackaged Win32 apps, such as raw .exe and MSI applications.
Microsoft is also allowing app developers to use their own content delivery networks for app hosting and updates, meaning app updates no longer have to come directly from the Microsoft Store.
Finally, the company has announced that app developers can now use third-party commerce platforms, and Microsoft won't take a revenue cut from apps that do. Microsoft will continue to take a cut from app developers who use Microsoft's own commerce platform, however.
Even with these policy changes, Microsoft says that the new app store on Windows 11 will be a trusted location for finding the best apps on Windows. These relaxed policies mean end users will be able to find more of the apps they use, without having to open a web browser to download them.
Microsoft will be adding Teams, Office, Edge, and Visual Studio to the new Microsoft Store as a result of these new policy changes. Microsoft wants the app store on Windows to be an open platform that highlights the best of Windows.
Microsoft also just announced Amazon would bring Android apps to the Microsoft Store and let you run them in a dedicated container seamlessly as if they were native apps. While Amazon apps do not support Google Play, the long-term plan is to get even more Android stores into the Microsoft one. That could mean Samsung and even Google Play down the road as Amazon alone is not the end goal.
Microsoft says that its goal with this new app store is to be an open storefront that showcases the very best of Windows. The new Microsoft Store will ship this fall as part of Windows 11, but will also be made available on Windows 10.
What are your thoughts on the new Microsoft Store app? Let us know in the comments, and check out the rest of our Windows 11 coverage too!
