What Windows 11’s New Store Looks Like

Windows 11 has a new Microsoft Shop. It to start with appeared on June 28, 2021, alongside with the first Windows 11 Insider Preview release. The new Shop is a major improvement—here’s what is new.

How to Consider the New Store Yourself

As of late June 2021, the only way to see the new Microsoft Retail outlet Preview is by downloading the Windows 11 Insider Preview launch. The new Microsoft Shop will very likely ship with Windows 11 when it launches in the drop. Microsoft has also said that the new Microsoft Retail outlet style will also look on Home windows 10 at some issue, so it could appear to Windows 10 just before Home windows 11 launches.

A single enormous modify: Microsoft will be permitting common Win32 desktop applications in the Microsoft Shop for the initial time. Microsoft is also welcoming application makers to use their individual alternate payment strategies without supplying a minimize to Microsoft (despite the fact that they can continue to acknowledge payments via the app retailer itself if they so pick).

Relevant: How to Get the Home windows 11 Preview on Your Personal computer

The Preliminary Expertise

On very first launching the new Microsoft Retail outlet preview, the retail outlet window will look on the display as typical, but you’ll observe a various design and structure.

1 matter really stands out at first: The new retail store layout lists key groups these kinds of as “Apps,” “Gaming,” and “Entertainment” in a sidebar with easy icons. (The more mature variation of the Microsoft Shop lists these categories without icons together the top rated of the window.)

Also, you can accessibility your library right from a useful icon (that looks like a number of books) in the lessen-remaining corner of the window. Formerly, your Library hid guiding an ellipses menu in the previous variation of the retailer.

Also, the lookup bar has obtained a prominent position in the center of the title bar and is now expanded. In the old retail outlet, you experienced to simply click the “Search” button initial to reveal the research bar.

In the new keep, your Microsoft account data remains easily available at all periods. Use the helpful little button up on the title bar to entry possibilities like signing in or out, shifting your payment strategy, or redeeming a present card.

Now that you’ve seen the fundamentals, let us click on on a number of of these and just take a nearer glance.

Linked: Obtaining to Know the Windows 10 Store

Exploring the Sidebar Types

If you click on a person of the categories in the sidebar, you will see a list of correct applications or media for the class. Beneath the splash display screen, you will see various characteristic spots that screen curated information chosen by Microsoft. Let’s briefly glimpse at each individual, a person by a single.

Here’s the “Apps” page. This is where by you get applications that aren’t game titles, basically. You are going to find productivity applications, utilities, media player, and extra. Quite thoroughly clean and easy.

Here’s the “Gaming” group: a colorful combination of attribute packing containers and title artwork for numerous diverse online games that you can engage in on your Computer system.

And eventually, here’s the “Entertainment” section. On this display screen, you are going to uncover videos and Tv set demonstrates that you can buy, streaming online video and new music companies, and far more. (At the second, you will also discover Liam Neeson looking extremely anxious.)

If you scroll down on any classification webpages, you will uncover lists of apps sorted by subcategory, just about every with its individual title artwork thumbnail. For case in point, on the Game titles web page, you are going to locate app subcategories this sort of as “Best Providing Games,” “Top Cost-free Game titles,” and “New & Noteworthy Computer system Games.” For any classification, you can simply click “See All” to see a longer record of apps.

These categories essentially have the similar articles as the aged Microsoft Retailer, but with a new structure. The sidebar group icons will likely be a welcome aspect to many when the new retail store goes into large release.

Library and Look for

If you click on the “Library” icon in the Microsoft Shop preview sidebar, you will see an overview of all the apps you’ve downloaded or purchased from the store. Compared to the more mature edition of the store, the interface appears to be simplified. You can however apply filters at the top rated of the window, but the sidebar that permit you form by “Owned,” “Installed,” “Download,” and other types is missing.

On the vivid side, it is quick to kind your apps by categories this sort of as “Apps,” “Games,” and “Movies & TV” by clicking the rounded buttons just over the application record. Or, you can utilize a filter to slim points down with the “Filters” button.

And eventually, let’s consider a seem at research. When you research for a little something in the new Microsoft Keep, you are going to see a checklist of success that frequently resembles the benefits website page of the aged keep, but simplified.

To slender down your look for, you can click the “Filters” button and refine by category, age, and sort (“Free,” “Paid,” or “On Sale”). It’s awesome that you can specify compensated apps only in the research (some thing that Apple doesn’t currently enable you do) due to the fact that may even support you steer clear of applications full of adverts and microtransactions. That’s a sign of development, and the Microsoft Keep is only likely to go on to increase prior to its comprehensive release. Here’s to hoping!

Related: The Home windows Retailer is a Cesspool of Ripoffs — Why Would not Microsoft Care?