Microsoft introduced massive changes to the Microsoft Store app in the last couple of months, giving a major performance boost and the ability to spot new features easily. The software giant was simultaneously putting effort into improving how you download apps from the Microsoft Store web. The work that went into making it a reality was worth it, as downloading and installing apps from the Microsoft Store website has just become substantially smoother for Windows 11 and 10 users.
Lightweight Microsoft Store installers for the web are here with a new approach to downloading apps
For those unfamiliar with the process of downloading and installing from the Microsoft Store website, the previous method involved too many steps. Upon clicking Install on the Store website, users were required to click Open Microsoft Store in the “deep-link” dialogue box, followed by clicking the Install button again in the Store’s mini window for the download process to start. However, thankfully, gone are those days.
The new Microsoft Store installers for the web, which are essentially “undocked” versions of the Microsoft Store app’s installer logic, have simplified the installation process by reducing the number of steps. Clicking the Install button on the Microsoft Store website now gives you the option to save the app executable on your PC. After doing so, you can open the executable and start installing the app.
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Advantages of the new Microsoft Store installers for the web
Since the new Microsoft Store installers for the web have the same logic and code as the main Microsoft Store app and are packaged in a smaller and standalone executable format, you get several advantages, as highlighted by Rudy Huyn, Principal Architect at Microsoft.
— Only two clicks are needed.
— A lightweight installer launching much faster than the Store.
— Always up-to-date and includes the latest features and supports all products, even if the Store app has not been updated for months.
— Always works, even if the Store was removed.
— Supports multi-installations in parallel.
Huyn also shared on his X (formerly Twitter) handle that this new way of installing the Microsoft Store apps has ‘led to a 12% increase in installations and a 54% increase in the number of applications launched after installation’. For an average user, these numbers may not have much meaning, but the latest change to the way of installing apps from the Store website is a breath of fresh air.