Windows 11's new Microsoft Store app is now in testing on Windows 10

By Zac Bowden
published

Test the new Microsoft Store on the old Windows today!

Microsoft Store Windows11 October 2021
Microsoft Store Windows11 October 2021 (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • The new Microsoft Store is now in testing on Windows 10.
  • Insiders can access it via the Release Preview channel.
  • It'll be launching to the public very soon.

Microsoft has started testing the new Windows 11 Microsoft Store app on Windows 10 for Windows Insiders in the Release Preview Channel. Microsoft promised back in June that the new Store would also arrive on Windows 10 at some point in the future, and today's preview is the first time Windows 10 testers can download and install it.

Just like on Windows 11, the new Microsoft Store brings with it support for unpackaged Win32 apps, the ability to discover Disney+ content, as well as the same fluid UI that the Windows 11 version has. There's no Android app support, as that appears to be a Windows 11 exclusive feature for now.

Now that the new Store is in testing with Windows Insiders, it shouldn't be long before the new Microsoft Store app is made availale to all Windows 10 users. This will be a big moment for the new Store, as it'll be a point in which unpackaged Win32 apps become available to all 1.3 billion Windows users.

Windows 11 has only been on the market for a few weeks, so its reach has been limited compared to the more than a billion Windows 10 users. Bringing the new Store to Windows 10 should encourage more developers to get their apps into the storefront, as it'll be getting their app in front of even more potential customers.

To begin testing the new Microsoft Store on Windows 10, just join the Windows Insider Release Preview Channel and check for updates in the Microsoft Store. In the meantime, are you looking forward to the new Microsoft Store on Windows 10? Or are you planning to upgrade to Windows 11 soon anyway? Let us know in the comments.

Zac Bowden
Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter: @zacbowden.

14 Comments
  • The best thing that could happen to Windows 11 now is that these "features" are downported to Windows 10 "forcing" less and less people to switch to Windows 11 while it is half-baked.
  • True, at least this is the true beauty of modularizing the components of Windows. Windows 11 isn't that much too different from current Windows 10 anyways, just some new UI shell.
  • Does mean Win10 is getting design inconsistency from both directions, future and past, now though - brilliant!
  • Nobody would swap their version because of this.
  • I would not be so sure about that, I heard positive comments about it purely because it can offer win32 programs now (and some already have been added to it which were notably missing before).
  • How does the new Store experience including Win32 applications make accessing and using them "better" than what Windows users have already been doing for decades now, and downloading them directly from the internet? A one-time vetting from the Microsoft Store team? Makes great sense for modern apps (PWA, UWP, etc.) but the decades-old Win32? I'm just not seeing it. Now I'm not going to know what to expect when I go to the Store app.
  • Does this mean android apps are coming to Win 10?
  • It's written in the article that it is exclusive for Windows 11 for now.
  • No need of it on Windows 10.
  • Literally says in the article
  • Can't wait to see windows 10x Start menu. Google is updating their apps with Android 12 UI on previous gen phones.
  • What are you talking about? They aren't doing anything to the Start Menu on Windows 10. And this is for the store on Windows 10, not the Start Menu
  • I'm not an Insider at this time, but was offered and installed 21H2 last night. After updating I still had the old store, but it updated itself to the new store when checking for updates in the store. So I think this will basically be part of 21H2.
  • Wow, that would be big news. I hope you're right!