Microsoft Store gets a new web interface similar to the one on Windows 10 and 11
A new design for the web version of the Microsoft Store is live. It has the Preview tag at the top, which indicates it is still an experimental design.
Microsoft overhauled its Store app on PC, when Windows 11 was released last year. It was a much-needed change. I find myself using the Store app a lot more on Windows 11, than I used to on Windows 10. The new design is quite good, easier to navigate, and snappier in terms of performance compared to its predecessor. It is not perfect, there is always room for improvement.
New design for Microsoft Store on the web
The redesigned web interface of the Microsoft Store, was first spotted by FireCubeStudios. It resembles the design of the Store app on Windows 11. The sidebar on the left offers a better way to sift through the various categories of apps.
The website can be accessed from this URL. It has the same card-like interface for apps, screenshots in app listings, descriptions, etc. There is also a new section for user reviews, and you can sort the comments by recency or helpfulness.
The Microsoft Store on the web isn't particularly useful, it still redirects you to its desktop program to download the apps that you want. So it takes an extra click, but since the Store app's interface isn't particularly mouse-friendly, the web version turns out to be better. The latter makes it easier to share links to apps, since there are no restrictions that prevent us from using the browser's right-click menu (except the sidebar).
An article on Thurrot's blog points out that the web version displays the date when an app was update. In contrast, the Microsoft Store app does not give us this data. It is still missing other useful information such as release notes, version numbers, and the system requirements for apps. Another important absentee on the reworked web version, is the Store's games section, perhaps that will be added in the future.
Microsoft needs to curate its Store app
All these improvements are nice and welcome to have. But, let us not forget the elephant in the room, the content available on the Store. I'm not talking about the quality of the apps, but the existence of the numerous fake apps available on the Microsoft Store. This is not the first time we have seen devious apps on the storefront. Does Microsoft even care about this problem?
Not only do these deceptive apps violate the license, copyright of the programs that they imitate, they could be potentially dangerous, aka malware. Some of these apps appear right on the first page of the search results. This will not only confuse the average user, but a person who is unaware may end up installing a fake app instead of the original one, because they could not distinguish the difference between the two. Why? Because the name and/or icon of the apps were similar.
A few of these fake apps aren't free either, you have to pay for these illegal programs. It's embarrassing really, Microsoft needs to curate its Store responsibly, by checking each app before they are allowed to be published, in order to keep its consumer base safe.
Imagine Windows locked down worse than iOS, with no 3rd party app installs and mandatory hourly online check-ins.
Eventually the only Home/Pro Windows offered will be Windows 365. It’s coming.
Looks the same as the Edge extension store for a few years now.
I agree completely @Ashwin words: Microsoft needs to curate its Store app, and imho as fast as possible because it’s a completely mess of mixed apps. Thanks @Ashwin for this article! :]
It doesn’t make it any more useful. It’s by far one of the most useless App Stores out there. And Microsoft are bending backwards trying to force it down people’s throats.
I don’t really pay attention to it and I have never found anything useful on it that I can’t find elsewhere, I last struggled with it in 2020 when Phantasy Star Online 2 released on it and it was a nightmare for 95% of the people trying to play it. Back then the store did not offer an option to choose install path and the problem was that the store would randomly corrupt the game’s files and that game was 70GB if I recall correctly so having to redownload that on a daily basis was a huge scandal at the time, so much so that months later they were forced to release the game on Steam just so people can play it.
Unless the store can work like that on most Linux distros, where it comes pre-configured with repositories of popular software that everyone uses, it’s useless to me. Even if that happens, I would still prefer to go to the website and download and install the software like I’ve always done. Here the saying “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” seems to fit quite well.
Finding the free panteneflower.png via your link and adjusting hue and distort-dent with paint.net gives me an image I like.
Yes, Microsoft needs to do a better job at curating their store, but then so does Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet/Google. They all have problems with malware, copycat software, and taking advantage of end users and their devices. Part of that is the simple fact that the “Stores” are their to make money for the company and they “Let the Buyer Beware.”
Microsoft is the worse as there is no curating.
Not only that, the store is spreading malware :
https://research.checkpoint.com/2022/new-malware-capable-of-controlling-social-media-accounts-infects-5000-machines-and-is-actively-being-distributed-via-gaming-applications-on-microsofts-official-store/