Microsoft Launches New Web App Store for Windows 21
Microsoft has launched a new web version of its app store for Windows. From a report: It's designed as a replacement for the existing way to find Windows apps on the web, with links from the site opening in the Microsoft Store client on Windows 10 or Windows 11. The software giant has ditched its old React codebase from its previous web version of the Microsoft Store and replaced it with a modern web version that uses Shoelace, Lit, Vite, and a C# ASPNET backend. "The old site was a React codebase built on an obsoleted UI framework," explains Microsoft engineer Judah Gabriel in a post on X (formerly Twitter). "We created a fresh user experience with a thoughtfully designed interface, easier ways to discover new apps, modern web tech stack. I hope folks will find it useful."
Who actually uses this rubbish? (Score:2)
Back in a distant age when I was a windows user, I do seem to recall there wasn't actually a need for an "app store" on windows.
The platform was so dominant, the amount of software so large and varied and available from a multitude of sources.
Windows was actually pretty damn decent in win2k/xp/7 days - no need for any pesky "app store".
The term "app store" wasn't even a thing back then.
That was a long time ago - and my feelings haven't changed much since, except for "f#ck the app store", regardless of OS.
I
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Mostly agreed
I hate the trendy "make everything look like a phone" design philosophy
There may be some tiny value in a trusted source for simple stuff
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I have no idea. The only things I use Windows for is games and Office, and the latter only where I am forced to. For my own lectures (not shared ones), I do my slides with LibreOffice and not only because it runs fine on Linux, but also because it is massively less annoying than PowerPoint.
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I swear, when this first started happening I said something like, "If I wanted a Mac I'd already have one" and got down-modded to oblivion. I think /. had Apple love as part of the whole "anything but M$" mentality and might have seen it as an antidote to the latter's infamously poor security.
Re:Who actually uses this rubbish? (Score:5, Interesting)
The fact that Windows has an "app store" at all isn't even the worst part.
The way these UWP apps are designed and installed defies every established convention that Windows software has followed for nearly 30 years. Install to C:\Program Files? Nope, gonna use a hidden path you're not allowed to see. Good old-fashioned Win32 UI? Out the window. MSI installation packages or standardized installation parameters? Hahaha. Globally install one app for all users of the workstation? Bite me. [microsoft.com] Enterprise-friendly central management? You can shove that one up your ass, IT guy.
There are enterprise controls for this thing but they are not effective and have boulder-scale granularity. I can disable the store and I can disable the apps en masse but then that breaks the numerous built-in ones which try to auto-launch with Windows. They leave very nondescript error messages which require spelunking the very dated, very unintuitive Event Viewer.
"Hey IT, where's my calculator and sticky notes?" Microsoft was kind enough to toss out the EXE versions of these widely used utilities found in previous versions of Windows. Gotta use the UWP app store versions. My software deployment solution (PDQ) can execute a script which pulls in the package as long as the user is logged in. It has to run different scripts as administrative and as the non-administrative users just to get the job done.
So instead we rely on third party software to do what we need to do. Microsoft did... just awful things to the pooch with this one.
Lipstick on a pig (Score:5, Insightful)
We created a fresh user experience with a thoughtfully designed interface, easier ways to discover new apps, modern web tech stack
It might be a thoughtful new design, but the apps are still crap. Are the VPN apps (necessary for an ARM Windows) updated? Nope.
P.H.B. make-work program? (Score:3, Insightful)
Whenever MS reworks UI's and UI frameworks, they too often make it worse. They have that designed by committee feel.
Rather than throw-out-and-start-over, fix the pain points in the existing one. It's the devil we know. Don't make a different devil; it's still a devil, just an unfamiliar one. You don't know how to let us out of Hell, so stop rebuilding it.
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Too much junk (Score:2)
They should take the games and put the in the Xbox app, the media can go into there own special apps, and the apps need more vetting for quality beyond scanning for malware and Microsofts version of political correctness.
Re:Too much junk (Score:4, Interesting)
And it will always be that way. Microsoft once again late to the party with an offering that underwhelms. Bing, Zune, Cortana ... this list goes on. At least you couldn't be forced to use a Zune but things tied to the OS are much more intrusive and abusive. Queue the Windows popups advertising the new storefront.
Great, more crap from MS (Score:2)
I wait in breathless anticipation how they will have managed to fundamentally fuck up this one.
How many Windows apps stores has MS launched? (Score:1)
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Maybe they are applying a simplified genetic algorithm:
Still looping...
No, they won't (Score:3)
I hope folks will find it useful.
As I have repeatedly stated, with every iteration Microsoft makes their product less useful. In this case I can guarantee it will be more difficult to find something, will be more shiny for the sake of shiny, and even more likely, an unending stream of harassment when finding something with a multitude of pop-ups, slide overs, and who knows what else to try and get people to "interact". People want to get in and get out, not be bombarded with shit.
Sigh. (Score:2)
Of course! That's what I've been missing from Windows all this time!
Another app store!
And yet and yet and yet another web framework... (Score:2)
Honestly, I admire how well web developers are keeping themselves busy and self employed by having to constantly rewrite web sites because Javascript frameworks have the shelf-line of a tomato in the sun.
Honestly, Microsoft, just make the Store desktop application work better. Argh.
Link to the new store (Score:2)
google envy (Score:2)
Microsoft has google envy. They can't believe they were not the ones to invent this way of controlling their users.