The Microsoft Windows App Store, the Microsoft Store, is finally getting improved under Windows 11. An overhaul of the user interface and some speed improvements are noticeable but not the focus. The main change is to allow more apps to enter the Store.In the past week alone, some popular apps have started appearing in the Windows 11 Microsoft Store, making them even more useful than before.

Last week, OBS Studio, Zoom, Canva, WinZip, and Adobe Acrobat Reader entered the Microsoft Store, along with Microsoft Edge browser extensions.windows In the beta period of 11 years, these well-known apps added early are a promising start.

Microsoft Store is changing Windows 11 and eventually the release on Windows 10 to offer traditional Win32 desktop apps. Microsoft previously restricted developers for its universal Windows apps, and later allowed some bundled desktop apps to use its Store for updates. Now, any app can become part of the Store, which corresponds to the Windows Package Manager that Microsoft released last year.

Microsoft’s Windows Package Manager quickly became better than the Windows Store in less than 24 hours, saving apps like Zoom and WinRAR missing from the main store. In the past year, the number of package management apps has steadily increased, and they now include Discord, Google Chrome, Firefox, and many other popular apps.

The Microsoft Store is now primarily a front-end to the Windows Package Manager and WinGet command, which are used to install applications from Microsoft’s software library. This should mean we’ll see more apps appear in the Store in the coming weeks. For example, Mozilla has hinted that the Firefox browser will be available soon.

We may end up seeing competing app stores in the Microsoft Store, like Steam or the Epic Game Store. Windows CEO Panos Panay said the company is open to adding Steam or Epic game stores to the Microsoft Store, and may play a role as a way to link to apps and games elsewhere.

Part of the new Store’s attraction for developers is allowing apps to have their own update system, but there’s also a change from Microsoft that if developers use alternative payment platforms they can keep 100% of the app’s revenue. However, this change does not apply to games, but we have seen Microsoft reduce the share of the game store from 30% to 12% starting August 1.

Although these newly added apps are very useful, there is still a lot of work to be done. The current Windows App Store is full of unwanted apps, and many fake unwanted apps, directories and programs are still displayed in the search results. Microsoft will need some time to clean up this part of the Store, especially because developers have abandoned the Microsoft Store for so long that many of these unwanted apps are now ridiculously on top.

In any case, the Microsoft Store is moving in the right direction after a decade of largely neglected circumstances. If it can access a list of every useful and popular application, this is a great improvement for Windows users, they no longer need to search the Internet, but can easily find their favorite applications find a reliable installer.