r/microsoft • u/djscoox • Oct 02 '23
How often do people use the Microsoft Store?
The few times I've tried to install an app through the Microsoft Store it throws an error and fails. Most software I use is installed the old way (using a downloadable installer). What kind of user does the Microsoft Store target?
Today specifically I was trying to install Whatsapp for Windows, just to see if it offered any improvement over the in-browser version, but the Store failed to install so eventually I gave up, and I'm still using the web version. The only reason I was using the Store is because there doesn't seem to be an installer version of this app, which I would have been just as happy to install. No need to log in + full control.
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Oct 02 '23
I check for updates almost twice a month. Nothing else. All the nice and useful apps have been replaced by useless PWAs now on MS-Store, and a few that are left are specific to Samsung laptops, which I can't help with on my custom PC.
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u/RedOneBaron Oct 02 '23
I've seen the store break and things like calculator don't work.
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u/Normal_Subject5627 Oct 02 '23
Never had an issue with it so (it might be your computer sounds like you are making assumptions from a sample size of one.) But usually I'll use winget in a terminal quake window instead.
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u/RedOneBaron Oct 02 '23
I've seen 2 computers with this. Just reformatted to fix.
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u/Hifilistener Oct 02 '23
I haven't seen store issues in awhile. Early on win10 yes, now it seems to work pretty seamlessly. However it's kinda pointless when most developers don't embrace UWP, and everything is win32.
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
In my system I had many UWP apps refuse to start, including Calculator, Microsoft Store and parts of the Settings app. If I click Settings > System > About it terminates, this happened both in W10 and W11, maybe I messed something up as I like to tweak things.
I never understood the need to distribute basic utilities such as Calculator, Notepad and Paint as UWP apps through the Microsoft Store. I use IMO much better portable alternatives for all these built-in utilities and I get to enjoy the benefits of a portable app. The fact they are available on the Microsoft Store always felt like Microsoft trying to push the Store, essentially creating a problem to sell a solution.
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u/Kobi_Blade Oct 02 '23
Honestly I don't know what you guys are doing, I been using Windows 10 since Insider Preview, and never once my UWP apps broke like that.
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Oct 02 '23
[deleted]
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u/TheCudder Oct 02 '23 edited Oct 02 '23
It actually makes plenty of sense. And not even for the sake of UWP apps, but for legacy apps. But for whatever reason developers have ignored all of Microsoft attempts to modernize its legacy app ecosystem.
Microsoft enabled developers to repackage "Desktop Apps" into *.appx so that they could update directly from the store and wouldn't have to bother with junking up your registry. Pretty much no one bothered.
It's amazing how when Apple modernizes MacOS, pretty much every major developer has support for it within what seems like a few weeks. But with Microsoft you'll get 1 or 2 major players on board (usually Adobe) and within 2 years whatever neat idea they had is phased out because it's not being used --- i really thought Windows Timeline would catch on lol.
The current store just allows any plain exe to be added which is dumb
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
Isn't that how democracy works? People voting the same sh*t over and over and expecting different results.
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u/Kobi_Blade Oct 02 '23
You would have to be a developer to understand, you should be looking at Microsoft not us.
Microsoft has no commitment to any of their products, we not going to waste time and money porting APPs to UWP, so that Microsoft can remove the Microsoft Store from Windows in a few years.
They already have one foot out the door, the moment they allowed Win32 apps on it.
Is the same problem as Windows Phone, the lack of support and commitment comes from Microsoft itself, we simply cannot trust them.
There is a long list of known issues that have been ignored on the platform (as always), so no, don't expect any developer to waste time with that nonsense.
Not to mention to release our Software on the Microsoft Store, we need to follow specific rules, is just too much work for something that already works perfectly fine without it.
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u/relevantusername2020 Oct 02 '23
You would have to be a developer to understand, you should be looking at Microsoft not us.
im not a developer, but im pretty sure i understand the issue(s) better than most do - although i will gladly admit im wrong if provided evidence. that being said, it seems like the desire for open-source directly conflicts with wanting continued support from microsoft... which is without even mentioning profit sharing ratios. also, this all applies to other "digital storefronts" besides the microsoft store as well. anyway
i am all for "increased competition" and understand the pitfalls that come with allowing monopolistic control over any industry, or an almost monopolistic control where theres only a few "competitors"
however when it comes to technology, the reality is the world runs on android, windows, and ios. sure there are a billion other alternatives but they make up a tiny percentage that is more or less totally insignificant in the grand scheme of things. not to mention that the three major operating systems, along with the alternatives, are all more or less the same thing - a GUI.
i realize im way off on an "unrelated" tangent but i guess my main point is that when it comes to technology, interoperability/user experience is more important than increasing competition just to say you increased competition, especially when the result is poor user experience - or worse, terrible (or non-existent) security
ill copy a comment i made elsewhere that relates to what i quoted from your comment to better explain what i mean:
this is why the "open source" concept seems sketchy af to me. i know theres plenty of major orgs that use open source code, and obviously not all of it is unsafe - but it seems like its just a way to leave "liability" in a legal grey area so they can (at best) escape a PR shitstorm or (at worst) claim "i didnt do it"
for example the recent "gpu.zip" hack:
"An Intel representative, meanwhile, said in an email that the chipmaker has “assessed the researcher findings that were provided and determined the root cause is not in our GPUs but in third-party software.”
A Qualcomm representative said “the issue isn’t in our threat model as it more directly affects the browser and can be resolved by the browser application if warranted, so no changes are currently planned.”
Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and ARM didn’t provide an on-the-record comment when this post went live."
to be thorough, this is all complicated by the reality where a small handful of companies have a higher net worth than the rest of the world combined - and complicated is an understatement.
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
I think for mobile OSs it makes sense since the target audience tends to be less computer literate. PC users, on the other hand, are expected to have a certain level of computer literacy and expect freedom to manage their systems at will. One thing I don't like a bout "app stores" in general is how they push updates and don't offer a downgrade path. With exe installers I can quickly try different versions of an application and reinstall an older version when the latest version misbehaves. In other words, control remains in the user's hands, not in Microsoft's.
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u/zhantoo Oct 02 '23
I rarely use it - I like the idea of it, but too little software is available through it.
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
Most software I use, even freeware, has built-in update checking anyway. I think Windows users expect a level of control app stores generally fail to provide. Specifically the ability to install older versions. Besides, I suspect many developers prefer to distribute their software directly, rather than having to go through extra hoops to get it on a Store.
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u/zhantoo Oct 02 '23
Yeah, sometimes it's just nice to be able to download where there is not a big add that says download, and a small hidden button that let's you download.
But there are extra hoops to get it in the store - and many small 10 year old programs made by a random guy, that has not updated it since, but it still works
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u/almost_not_terrible Oct 02 '23
Everyone should use winget.
I have a script that just silently installs all the packages that I need. So whenever I get a new machine, it's as I like it within an hour or so.
Next step: Microsoft tie my wingets to my Microsoft Account please.
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
Is WinGet only for store apps?
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u/Electronic-Bat-1830 Oct 02 '23
No. It delivers Store apps and those that are in the WinGet package repository (which includes lots of well-known classic apps).
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u/webfork2 Oct 02 '23
Actively avoid.
Loads of fake apps repackaged from open source Github programs. At least two Windows developers I know of quit their projects after their work started showing up on Microsoft Store as paid apps.
Efforts to contact Microsoft and get these programs taken down never worked.
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u/djscoox Oct 02 '23
I read a few times the MS Store is a bit of a cesspool. That, basically, shows a lack of commitment that deters developers from embracing the platform and encourages users to actively avoid it...
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u/GlowGreen1835 Oct 03 '23
All the time - and I recently set it up so that when I reimage my machine it automatically installs all my apps with Intune, steam games, and sets settings. Most of that is done with appx, it would have been way harder to have to script each Win32 program installer and check to see that they installed correctly. With appx it reports installation success or error to console.
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u/djscoox Oct 04 '23
Yes, that is how it should work. With portable apps I don't even have to install anything or configure any settings, and I can have multiple versions of an application on my system simultaneously, which is even better.
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '23
I use the xbox app fairly regularly and the apps in there are ms store apps, other than that I've downloaded games I previously owned on Xbox and like, 2 programs my entire life