According to Microsoft’s documentation, some Win32 apps offered through the Windows 11 store will not be updated through the store.<\/b>
\nEver since we\u2019ve become accustomed to using curated stores to get apps on our smartphones, the benefits have been obvious. The apps are more secure, since they\u2019ve been vetted by the platform vendor. They\u2019re also seamlessly updated in the background, and usually easier to remove. With Windows 11, Microsoft is redesigning its app store and frankly, it\u2019s removing all of these benefits. You see, with the new Microsoft Store on Windows 11, developers can add any app that they want. Sure, we\u2019ll still have UWP apps and packaged desktop apps, but if you don\u2019t want to package your Win32 app, you can install it as-is. It\u2019s all Microsoft\u2019s plan to turn the store into a livelier commerce platform. According to Microsoft\u2019s own documentation, those unpackaged apps won\u2019t be updated through the Windows 11 store either. Now for the first time, it\u2019s up to a user to decide if the app-maker is to be trusted, rather than trusting the platform-maker to have made sure the app can be trusted. After all, now that app updates can come from outside sources, they can\u2019t be checked by Microsoft. The company\u2019s Rudy Huyn pointed out that Microsoft tried to be very transparent about who is updating the app. Unfortunately, even Huyn\u2019s tweet isn\u2019t entirely transparent. His screenshot came from last week\u2019s discovery of Microsoft\u2019s Edge Browser showing up in the Windows 11 store. However, the screenshot is cropped. If you look up the listing in the Microsoft Store, it actually says that it\u2019s \u201cProvided and updated by Microsoft Corporation II\u201d, rather than just saying it\u2019s from Microsoft Corporation. If you\u2019re the type to try and spot phishing scams, the subtle name change would set off some red flags. That app, however, is one of the first that you\u2019ll notice to have a separate installer from the Windows 11 store. Clicking the install button there is the same experience that you\u2019d get as if you downloaded the installer from the web and opened it. It\u2019s no surprise that the app also updates itself without using the Microsoft Store. None of this should come as a surprise. As soon as Microsoft said that it\u2019s opening up the Windows 11 store to unpackaged apps, it was clear what we were in for. These apps won\u2019t have the same one-click easy installation that we get from proper store apps, and Microsoft won\u2019t be able to vet the content. Moving forward the Microsoft Store is just a central place to find apps.<\/p>\n