The Microsoft Store on Windows 10 has been in need of a refresh for some time now, and it looks as though it’s finally going to happen later this year with a number of very welcome changes.
As Windows Central reports, “sources familiar with this matter” are reporting Microsoft is working on a brand new Store that will follow the same user interface refresh planned for Windows 10 this year, which is codenamed “Sun Valley.” The new Store will continue to be a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app and receive monthly updates, but the apps it hosts won’t need to be UWP.
As well as a new look, Microsoft is relaxing the policies that govern the updated Store. Developers will be able to submit unpackaged Win32 apps for sale and without modification (so .exe and .msi is fine). It will also be possible to host these apps on the developer’s own content delivery network and serve updates from there, too. One further relaxation is the ability for developers to select a third-party commerce platform for their apps if they so wish. However, if they do choose Microsoft to handle in-app purchases, apparently Microsoft doesn’t intend to take a cut.
Collectively, it means the Store will be able to host any and all Windows apps, which should make it a much more popular option with developers and publishers. That’s assuming the new user interface proves a hit and Microsoft puts a lot of marketing behind it to ensure Windows users know about and start using the store. Ideally they want the equivalent of the Store currently found on Xbox consoles, but for all categories of Windows apps.
We should expect this new Store experience to arrive in the fall and a number of first-party apps (Office, Visual Studio, Teams) will be available alongside some third-party big hitters such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps if Microsoft gets this right. The Build 2021 virtual conference kicks-off on May 25, which is likely when we’ll hear something more official about this redesign.
