App stores are hot topics lately because the large boys are allegedly using their position to monopolize the mobile app market. To some extent, Microsoft has another problem. It can’t even be accused of getting a monopoly because its Microsoft Store app marketplace isn’t exactly teeming with exclusives, and developers can always take their apps elsewhere. For Windows 11, Microsoft is functioning to entice even its rivals to place their wares on its Store, albeit it means hosting third-party app stores that it won’t be ready to tax.
Microsoft has been announcing changes to its Microsoft Store platform to encourage anyone and everybody to populate the town, maybe even to the purpose of getting little or no internal control. From lowering the revenue move allowing third-party payment systems, Microsoft is doing all it can to prove that it isn’t like Apple or Google in this regard. And what better thanks to showing that off than by naming big rivals that now call the Microsoft Store their alternate home.
Epic Games Store is coming to the Microsoft Store and can be discoverable through search, which just about seems like a jab at Apple. Not only does this prove that Microsoft is hospitable having other storefronts on its Store, but it’s also how of reaffirming its openness to third-party commerce platforms, a.k.a. payment systems. That’s just about the most important complaint that Epic Games had with Apple that led to the high-profile lawsuit, and its presence on the Microsoft Store speaks volumes.
Microsoft is additionally welcoming Opera and Yandex Browser, which may be a more subtle strike against Apple and even Google. The latter two’s mobile platforms allow competing web browsers on their app stores as long as they use their sanctioned browsing engine. Curiously, Google Chrome remains absent after being far away from the shop in 2017 under the “old” Microsoft Store policies.
Microsoft gives a laundry list of the latest apps now residing in its Store, both desktop apps like LibreOffice and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) like TikTok. It also reminds Windows users that Amazon’s Android Appstore will be landing there soon also, though there are still tons of open questions on its implementation and performance.
