Raising the bar: Updates to the Microsoft Store on Windows

[Guest Steve Clarke, Editor]

Your feedback matters – each week, we get thousands of feedback submissions that we triage, categorize and prioritize. We love the enthusiasm our customers and developers show daily for the Store and all its apps and games – and as product makers, we take that energy forward every day into our craft. Our ultimate goal is to build the best product for you. Today, we’re excited to recap some important quality updates to the Microsoft Store on Windows that we’ve rolled out over the last few months.

[HEADING=2]Upping the ante on performance[/HEADING]

New download and install progress indicator – We’ve rebuilt the way we’re communicating download and install progress to you when you’re getting content from a Product Page. This is especially important when you’re downloading larger apps. You also can cancel an operation right from a Product Page if you’ve accidentally clicked download.

[HEADING=2]Improved browse and Product Page experiences[/HEADING]

We’ve revamped a few places where we know customers go to find and acquire content. Immersive Product Pages – We’re introducing a new feature for Product Pages that adds an immersive experience to the top of the page. For apps and games that provide a trailer, you’ll be able to enjoy it as you navigate to their various pages. Meanwhile, products without trailers will use beautiful hero images provided by the developers. There’s also an option in the Store settings page to toggle video autoplay on or off.

[HEADING=2]New Library, Updates and downloads pages[/HEADING]

We know this one’s a crowd favorite – we’ve introduced two new pages, Library, and Updates and downloads, to help you find and manage all your content. New Updates and downloads page – We are also moving the list of updates and downloads from the top section of the Library to its own dedicated page. This new page displays your list of active downloads or pending updates, and it shows the list of recent installs or updates. Version notes will also be displayed for a pending update or active download.

[HEADING=2]But wait…there’s more![/HEADING]

There’s a long list of other improvements we’ve quietly rolled out, such as Win32 apps support for our Store Web Installer on web, design updates, search recommendations, and easier ways to update Win32 apps from the Downloads and Product pages (this last feature is accessible via Windows Insiders starting Dec. 4). Lastly, our catalog continues to grow – we recently welcomed ChatGPT, Fantastical, Battle.net, World of Warcraft, Arc and more! We also recently announced our 2024 Store Awards, and encourage you to check out the winning apps and games to find new AI experiences, gaming content, productivity tools and more! We hope these improvements spark a bit more joy as you’re using the Store on Windows. Please submit your product feedback in Feedback Hub (WIN + F) under Microsoft Store. And we are always publishing new updates, so leverage the “What’s New” page to keep track of the latest. We have a lot more fun in store for you in 2025 – stay tuned! 1 Data based on internal testing and subject to factors such as device, location, Windows and Store app versions.

 

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