Better to Install from Windows Store than EXE?

By Sir Topham Hatt
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

Posted
Posted

Is it better to install a Windows Store version of an app compared with the full exe from the website?

VLC for example.

 

Just not sure of the point in the Windows Store at the moment but wonder if this is now the tipping point from exe installers to apps.

  • 1 month later...
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted
  On 15/11/2021 at 07:58, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Is it better to install a Windows Store version of an app compared with the full exe from the website?

VLC for example.

 

Just not sure of the point in the Windows Store at the moment but wonder if this is now the tipping point from exe installers to apps.

Expand  

Irrelevant - I've installed applications both ways.  The difference is that it typically takes fewer steps to install from the Store than from an executable.  The ONLY case where it will take less is an already-downloaded executable (I have a few of those) - otherwise, the Store will beat it.  (This applies to ANY application store - it's not unique to the Microsoft Store - it applies to the Amazon AppStore (or the Google Play Store, for that matter) - I'm not being diasingenuous in the least.)

Grand Master

devHead

Posted
Posted
  On 15/11/2021 at 07:58, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Is it better to install a Windows Store version of an app compared with the full exe from the website?

VLC for example.

 

Just not sure of the point in the Windows Store at the moment but wonder if this is now the tipping point from exe installers to apps.

Expand  

I think the one advantage of installing from the Windows Store is that you will get updates for the app automatically.

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Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted
  On 17/12/2021 at 02:35, devHead said:

I think the one advantage of installing from the Windows Store is that you will get updates for the app automatically.

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Some applications (Firefox, for example) have internal updating mechanisms - making it a wash - and Firefox is in the Microsoft Store.

Grand Master

goretsky Supervisor

Posted
  • Supervisor
Posted

Hello,

 

If you are using a universal Windows app (what were previously called modern or metro apps), it will have the advantage of running in the sandbox for those applications, which means it will be more tightly secured by the operating system than a Win32 app that you download and install manually. 

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
  • Administrators
Posted
  On 17/12/2021 at 02:35, devHead said:

I think the one advantage of installing from the Windows Store is that you will get updates for the app automatically.

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This is definitely a reason for me, apps no longer prompt to be updated.. it's done automatically via Microsoft Store.

Grand Master

+InsaneNutter MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

The main advantage is apps auto update as others have mentioned.

 

A potential disadvantage is the Windows Store is also full of junk, which is a lot easier to find compared to app stores on Android / iOS.

 

Search "Audacity" for example, pretty sure none of those are the legit program people might be searching for. Certainly with open source stuff it can be harder to identify if you are downloading the genuine version / vs a fork someone is trying to profit from.

 

I mainly use the store for apps not available elsewhere such as Netflix for example.

Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
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Posted
  On 17/12/2021 at 08:45, InsaneNutter said:

The main advantage is apps auto update as others have mentioned.

 

A potential disadvantage is the Windows Store is also full of junk, which is a lot easier to find compared to app stores on Android / iOS.

 

Search "Audacity" for example, pretty sure none of those are the legit program people might be searching for. Certainly with open source stuff it can be harder to identify if you are downloading the genuine version / vs a fork someone is trying to profit from.

 

I mainly use the store for apps not available elsewhere such as Netflix for example.

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You can get around that by following the store link from the official Audacity website, just like with VLC :) 

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  • 1 month later...
Grand Master

Brandon H Supervisor

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There's a couple big advantages to installing through the store when available.

 

1. it installs as a completely sandboxed package so if you do decide to uninstall later nothing gets left behind unlike traditional installer/uninstaller processes. iTunes is a great example of this.

2. If the dev chooses to then the app can update through the store as well.

3. great for non-technical users so they don't have to navigate to individual sites.

Grand Master

cork1958

Posted
Posted
  On 03/02/2022 at 18:55, OldGuru said:

It is not cause it will keep updating your software and more than often I do not my software to get updated, there is a good reason why I am running certain version. Windows Store is terrible idea for PC.

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Totally agree. I simply hate things updating without me knowing about it, especially when first turning computer on and waiting for hard drive to quit thrashing around while everything gets checked for updates and installing.

Grand Master

Steven P. Administrators

Posted
  • Administrators
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  On 03/02/2022 at 18:55, OldGuru said:

It is not cause it will keep updating your software and more than often I do not my software to get updated, there is a good reason why I am running certain version. Windows Store is terrible idea for PC.

Expand  

I somewhat agree with this now.. Paint.NET (paint dotnet) has been crashing when I open the program from an image right click context menu (Open with...) I even contacted the developer but he can't reproduce it and I suppose no-one else is having that trouble.

 

I've used Paint.NET for years from the Windows 7 days and this is the first time it has been randomly doing this behavior :/ 

Grand Master

Sir Topham Hatt

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  • Author
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But then I also won't get VLC Player telling me there's an update.

Didn't think about the effort it takes to go to the website, download, wait, then install.

 

Maybe certain things I will use Windows Sotre, others not so much.

Grand Master

spaceelf

Posted
Posted
  On 03/02/2022 at 19:34, cork1958 said:

Totally agree. I simply hate things updating without me knowing about it, especially when first turning computer on and waiting for hard drive to quit thrashing around while everything gets checked for updates and installing.

Expand  

people still use hard drives for an OS drive?  damn.  I'm sorry.  :/

 

I use the Store for whatever apps are available on it just to limit the number of updaters I have on my system.  It's still somewhat subpar for games of course, but not as bad as it used to be.

 

Seriously hoping MSIX gains traction also.  I've seen it around more than I used to but not really outside of MS.

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