Better to Install from Windows Store than EXE?


Recommended Posts

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...
  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.)

  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.

  • Like 3
  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.

Expand  

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

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

 

  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.

Expand  

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

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.

  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.

Expand  

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

  • Like 1
  • 1 month later...

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.

  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  

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.

  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 :/ 

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.

  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.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Really? Do you want it spelled out? Ok: It was a funsies way to say that we can confidently asume that their update servers were shut down years ago already, and no updates have been developed or delivered to any LG phone in years, since, to begin, LG wasn't too well known for their software support.
    • Good afternoon, I have a customer who purchased a Dell laptop last year. One of the latest Inspirons. they are older so it can be a bit hard to see things on the screen. They are using Windows 11 Home 23H2, I have not upgraded them yet to 24H2. What I did was changed the scaling to 150% and that automatically made all the icons on desktop bigger and using in Chrome webpage elements are bigger etc. The thing is I overlooked the Taskbar and the icons most notably hidden within the arrow pointing up. I though by changing to 150% the scaling even the taskbar would get bigger. Again I don't know how I missed seeing that. Is this something that can be fixed? One other thing is I notice in File Explorer things are also small and not larger after the change. Can this be fixed as well?   Thank You.
    • Apple still has two unannounced features for iOS 26 by Hamid Ganji Apple held its WWDC25 event this month to unveil a slew of AI features and its new design for operating systems, known as Liquid Glass. While iOS 26 currently has no shortage of features, the iPhone maker might still have some features under wraps that didn’t make a debut at this month’s WWDC. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple didn’t announce two iOS 26 features at the WWDC event. The first feature is a live translation of conversations via AirPods, and the latter is the ability to sync your wireless network login information across devices at a hotel or gym. Even though these features were already tipped to arrive in iOS 26, Apple held them from the event, presumably because they’re still not ready to ship. Apple appears to have learned from its experience with Apple Intelligence and aims to break the habit of unveiling new features before they are ready for release. The Live Translation on iOS 26 is currently integrated with popular apps like Messages, FaceTime, and Phone to help users break language barriers and communicate in different languages. The feature is now under development for AirPods, allowing users to hear real-time speech translations. Moreover, the WiFi syncing feature allows you to sync your sign-in information across your entire Apple ecosystem, enabling you to connect to a public WiFi network with ease. This would eliminate the need to sign into a WiFi network separately on each device. While these features haven’t arrived in iOS 26 yet, they’re more likely to be released later this year, in October or December.
    • Intel Level L4 cache has been around for a long time, so AMD Zen 3D Cache is a copy of Intel L4 cache that was introduced with Broadwell i7-5775c, which had 128mb of Level L4 cache. Secondly, Zen 6 is not faster in single-threaded performance than 13900k/14900k. 285k is something new Intel is trying, basically showing us that chiplet design does not work for gaming, just like AMD design does not work for gaming. Throwing more cores at it and having L4 cache won't fix the issue, and that is frame dip and stuttering caused by a very stupid design decision to keep the memory controller outside the compute tile. Might as well put a memory controller by bringing back a south bridge chip. lol
  • Recent Achievements

    • Community Regular
      Primey_ went up a rank
      Community Regular
    • Reacting Well
      Gromvar earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • Dedicated
      BreakingBenjamin earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Week One Done
      Hartej earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Year In
      TsunadeMama earned a badge
      One Year In
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      517
    2. 2
      +FloatingFatMan
      183
    3. 3
      ATLien_0
      168
    4. 4
      Skyfrog
      97
    5. 5
      Som
      96
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!