It’s a move powered by Project Centennial, which lets developers take older Windows apps (known in Microsoft parlance as Win32 apps), port them to the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and then sell them on the Windows Store.
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The company’s Insider program is created to give users and companies a chance to test new builds of the Windows 10 operating system before they become available on the stable channel, and to provide Microsoft with data that it can use to fix or modify features. They do, however, have access to certain “nice” features, like Live Tiles, Cortana, and the Action Center. This means if you uninstall any of the apps included in Windows 10 such as the Mail app or Maps app, they will not get reinstalled after you update to a newer build going forward. Foley, who has a pretty solid track record with her reports, also said that the development team that was planning to bring Windows 10 into the Band devices has already been disbanded.
Make no mistake, these are still the same desktop apps and, as far as the end user is concerned, nothing has changed other than the fact that they can now be found on and installed from the Windows Store.
Microsoft didn’t give an estimate about the total number of app submissions, or those apps coming to the Windows Store, but instead said that it will unveil a full collection of these apps “in the next few days”. By converting to an app model (aka an AppX package), Win32 programs will benefit from a “clean” one-package install and “seamless” updates provided by the Windows Store. These apps will be searchable and available under the “Desktop Bridge App” collection in the Windows Store. Unlike past iterations of the operating system, future updates to Windows 10 will be rolled out automatically via the cloud, rather than as discrete and separate versions. “InstallShield is the only product that enables developers to test their apps for compatibility with the Desktop Bridge and WSAs – saving countless hours of time, effort and investigative work”. Builds Windows Installer and UWP app packages to support all deployment scenarios.
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All software made for Windows XP, Vista and seven are considered a Win32 app and boast all the advantages of running in the native system.
