Microsoft released the new Microsoft Store (web) installer over the weekend to improve app installations from the Microsoft Store.
The feature improves the process of downloading and installing apps from the Microsoft Store website, but it also has one (at least) downside.
Microsoft rolled out a new Microsoft Store website for Windows 10 and 11 starting in 2022, and it seems to be constantly improving it since then.
Right now there are two ways browsing in the Microsoft Store: through the official website or the Microsoft Store app. The new method improves the facilities through the official website.
The old process:
- The user clicks the install button on the Microsoft Store website.
- The browser displays an “Open in Microsoft Store” prompt.
- A click on the Open Microsoft Store button displays the app in the Microsoft Store on your computer.
- A click on the install button starts the download and installation of the app.
The new way is simpler. Clicking the install button on the website downloads an executable file that needs to be run to install the app you're interested in on your device.
Microsoft he describes the advantages of the new Twitter installation routine:
- The installation process now takes two clicks, instead of three.
- The process is faster.
- Downloads work, even if the Store has been removed from the device or is out of date.
- Parallel installations are supported.
Microsoft reports that the new method led to a 12% increase in installs and a 54% increase in app launches after installation.
What Microsoft isn't saying
However, not everyone is happy with the change. Rafael Rivera, developer of the EarTrumpet app, criticized Microsoft's decision on Twitter:
The Microsoft Store team has started quietly wrapping apps, like EarTrumpet, with some malware-looking .NET executable wrapper (with my app's name of course) chock full of telemetry and other code. They also target netfx 4.7.2 when my app targets netfx 4.6.2, wtf? pic.twitter.com/oQFIz0G2lE
- Rafael Rivera (@WithinRafael) April 20, 2024
"OR team of the Microsoft Store has quietly begun to ship apps, like EarTrumpet, with some .NET wrapper executable that looks like malicious software (named my app of course) that is full of telemetry and other code. They also have netfx 4.7.2 when the app gives me netfx 4.6.2, wtf?”
According to Rivera, Microsoft's wrapper (code) uses Netfx 4.7.2, even though the actual application uses a different version of Netfx.
But the real thing problem from the user's side is that Microsoft's wrapper includes telemetry elements.
So users should know that the executable they are downloading is not the actual application they want to download. It is a wrapper that is always the same size of 703 kilobytes. THE implementation of this wrapper starts downloading the actual application and installing it.
On this occasion, I remembered something that I had noticed 3 months ago, in Kodi. On every computer I installed Kodi through the Ms store, some add-ons did not run at all or malfunctioned, while - apparently - all their parameters were correct.
At the same time, the version of Kodi, when downloaded from the main page of the program, worked perfectly without any problems.
I confess that "something had crossed my mind", but I contented myself with deleting the application that had been made through the store and replacing it with "mamisia", without looking for it further.