Microsoft has released the new program Microsoft installation Store (web) over the weekend to improve app installations from the Microsoft Store.
The feature improves the procedure to download and install apps from the Microsoft Store website, but it also has one (at least) downside.
Microsoft has released a new Microsoft Store website for the Windows 10 and 11 of 2022 and since then he seems to be constantly improving it.
Right now there are two ways browsing in the Microsoft Store: through the official website or the Microsoft Store app. The new method improves facilities through formal by clicking heres.
The old process:
- Ο 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 its Microsoft Store computer you.
- 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 must be run to install the application of interest to your device you.
Microsoft he describes the advantages of the new installation routine in the Twitter:
- 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- Downloads work, even if the Store has been removed from the device or is out of date.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
“The Microsoft Store team started quietly releasing apps like EarTrumpet with some malware-like .NET wrapper (with the name of my app, of course) 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 problem from the user side is that Microsoft's wrapper includes telemetry stuff.
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. Running this wrapper starts downloading the actual app 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.