Microsoft wants to improve the Windows Store. Not only for end users but also for developers. The upcoming changes will improve the way apps land on your device and also how you find them in the first place. Microsoft is also pushing ahead with its Amazon Appstore preview, which will be available outside the US later this year, though only in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK.
Microsoft will be testing new features on the Windows Insider channel (opens in a new tab) early, including automatically restoring previously used apps to a new Windows device. This will only affect apps that have been installed from the Microsoft Store, but it’s still a potentially useful upgrade from the system trying to find specific apps from scratch.
This is like what you get with an Android smartphone, giving you the option to set up your new phone to have all the apps you had on your previous phone, so you don’t have to fiddle around looking for it. Find your favorite person.
The common thread is that this makes the new PC experience more seamless, which I can certainly achieve. The only problem here is that many of us still only install a handful of apps from the Microsoft Store, so it doesn’t save much time. However, anything that makes using the Store easier has help.
Microsoft will also integrate Microsoft Store results into Windows Search. This allows you to quickly install an app you know the name of directly from the Start bar. If you try this in Windows 11 now, you’ll often find yourself ending up at the Microsoft Store after visiting the developer’s site, so this should save some time.
A more fundamental problem for the Microsoft Store is discoverability — there are a lot of apps out there, so how do developers get their brand new great apps in front of potential users? ? Why, of course, advertising. Microsoft is introducing its new sophisticatedly titled Microsoft Store Ads to help developers build ad campaigns to get their apps in front of interested users. Here’s hoping no one abuses it.
Microsoft overhauled the Store to release Windows 11 (opens in a new tab), and while it’s better than before, it’s still not the resource I immediately turn to when trying to find a particular piece of software. There are exceptions, Cinebench R23 is available on the Store, but I usually get most of my software directly from the developer’s website. We’ll have to see if these suggested changes make a difference.
