I do not know a single Windows user who is using the Microsoft Store regularly. Microsoft has not revealed how successful the store is, which likely means that it is not successful enough to boast about it.
The company has tried various changes in the past. A recent change, announced at the end of last year, is being removed again already.
Arcade, or Arcade Games, was an attempt to replicate functionality known from mobile stores. It allows customers to play games instantly without installing them first.
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The idea is not bad: give customers an option to try a game for free. This allows them to test the game to see if they like it. If they do, they install the game and can continue playing.
The idea suffered from a lackluster implementation:
- The listing includes about 50 games only.
- It lacked a stream of fresh, new games.
- The games were very basic for the most part.
When you open the Arcade section in the Microsoft Store, you may notice an announcement at the top. It informs you that the section is being removed today from the Store.
It is easy to overlook, as the title “Play free games with no download” makes no mention of the closure of the section.
The games remain available, but you need to download them before you may start playing. This should not be much of a problem, as most of the games appear relatively small in size and functionality.
Closing Words
Arcade seemingly did not have the effect that Microsoft hoped it would have. The same can probably be said for the Microsoft Store, but it is nowadays also used to update apps installed by default on Windows devices.
Now You: have you tried the Microsoft Store in recent time? Maybe even downloaded a game or app? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
With the amout of pervious malware and hacked items that have been in the MS App store in the past. I belive that it is a roll of the dice to use the MS App store. Just search >>> Is the Microsoft App store safe
Perhaps if they didn’t try tricking people into logging into more then just the store they would not be avoided as much.
I reluctantly used it when I switched from Win 10 to 11 to purchase ‘Power Start Menu” so I could not see the search box and ‘suggested’ sections on my start menu.
I still mainatin that it was extortion but for the small price, I just paid the ransom and moved on. It is still working.
I used it once or twice a few years ago to reinstall some Windows 10 app. It did not feel user-friendly then, and it had a very limited list of apps that were by themselves more limited than stand-alone programs, so I have not returned.
I also used it one for my friend to install Skype app (She wanted Skype). In a year after install, she started to have PC alarms on her Windows 11, and it lasted for months every few minutes. I later figured it out, it was Skype’s advertising notifications redirected to Security Center. Regular Skype did not have this problem.
If you are capable to visit the application’s website and figure out where the download page is, you should never use Microsoft Store.
I did make a recent download–Windows Terminal.
The app has this neat drop down menu that allows a user to choose which terminal program should run as default–PowerShell or Windows PowerShell or CMD. I needed it because some scripts won’t run with PowerShell 7.4 set as the default.
It’s a waste of talent.
Whenever I see anything on the windows store it is packed with rubbish and overly bloated and unstable with telemetry and rubbish inside making them no better than the garbage google pushes in apps. Just unnecessary rubbish with overheads. The root function of the app always take a back seat to all the other crap going on and seems to make software development more complex than it needs to be.
Don’t even get me started on WebView2Loader another piece of garbage filled with trash and unnecessary overhead.
It would be a blessing to us all if the entire web store collapsed. At the very least Microsoft could focus on developing a much better OS because as I (and many others) see it the OS is going to the gutter.