Windows 11: the Microsoft Store fills up just before launch – Frandroid

The new Microsoft Store policy on Windows 11 seems to convince publishers. Some giants like Discord and Epic Games are launching their applications on the Windows store.

With Windows 11, Microsoft wants to (re) give an interest to the application store preinstalled on its operating system. Apart from its navigation problems and its bugs, the Microsoft Store of Windows 10 was particularly empty, or rather only filled with malicious applications that Microsoft did not filter to inflate the stats of its store.

For its new system, Microsoft announced a series of measures that are starting to bear fruit. Popular applications join the Microsoft Store just before the launch of Windows 11. We had already noted the addition of WinZip and OBS Studio in recent months.

“Classic” applications in one convenient place

The philosophy of the Microsoft Store with Windows 11 has changed. No more mandatory “UWP” applications, or even packaging systems requiring developers to rework their applications. From now on, it is possible to integrate “stupidly” an application on the Microsoft Store as one would propose its installation file directly on the official site. The operation is the same and the download can even go through the publisher’s network rather than that of Microsoft. The commission then falls to 0%, thus erasing the last criticisms or doubts that publishers may have.

New Microsoft Store promises to work // Source: Microsoft

So, what is the point of downloading from the Microsoft Store if you find the same application as downloading it directly from the official site? Easy access and the long-term possibility of finding all its applications in the same place in a more practical way. The store also has the advantage of being now fluid, efficient and pleasant to use.

A few days before the launch of Windows 11, Microsoft is therefore touring the applications that the firm has managed to integrate into its store on time. There are still some big names.

• Discord
• Zoom Cloud Meetings
• KakaoTalk
• Luminar AI
• Music Maker
• VLC
• TeamViewer
• Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
• LibreOffice
• Microsoft PowerToys
• Microsoft Visual Studio Code
• Microsoft Visual Studio Community
• Reddit
• Wikipedia
• TikTok
• Lyft
• Quizlet
• Tumblr
• Opera
• Yandex Browser

You might be surprised to find applications from Microsoft that have just been added now. Yes, even Microsoft refused to publish some of its applications on the Microsoft Store for Windows 10. This shows the extent of the damage to be repaired.

Another interesting element to note: the presence of Opera and Yandex Browser in the Microsoft Store. The store is now open to alternative browsers, regardless of the rendering engine used. Previously, browsers had to use the Microsoft Edge rendering engine. A rule inspired by iOS that forces browsers to use the Safari engine.

The particular case of Epic Games: shop in the shop

There is a pretty funny case among the apps added to the Microsoft Store: that of the Epic Games Store. The publisher of Fortnite does not indeed offer its flagship game, but the entire video game store it already offers on Windows. It is a direct competitor of Steam and the Microsoft Store, which is found in the Microsoft Store.

This is not the first time that we have learned of the addition of a store from another publisher to the Microsoft Store. During the presentation of Windows 11, Microsoft announced the addition of Android applications through the Amazon App Store. It was then a real integration into the store of Windows 11. There, it is different, it will be necessary to download and install the Epic Games Store which will be launched completely independently of the Microsoft Store.

The Epic Games Store is coming to the Windows Store! Microsoft is again leading the industry forward with Windows, now an open platform with an open store.https://t.co/nFWP9lUGpC

– Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 28, 2021

For Epic Games, too, this is a small victory. Indeed, for Tim Sweeney, boss of Epic Games, it is the demonstration of a platform open to healthy competition. It will obviously not fail to use this example in his lawsuit against Apple and Google regarding mobile platforms.