Microsoft starts pushing UWP apps ahead of Windows Cloud and OneCore
Widows 10 will soon recommends installing only Store apps
Microsoft will add a new feature to Windows 10 Creators Update that may discourage users to install classic Win32 apps on their PCs. In Settings → Apps & Features → there will be a new section for ‘Installing Apps‘. By default, Windows 10 will give priority to UWP apps from Store, informing users each time they run a classic installer (exe). Of course, users will still be able to install Win32 apps if they want or the program is not in the Store. They could even disable the pop up window. But the majority of the users who need basic functionalities and lightweight programs should benefit from this, as their PCs will be more secure with only Store apps.
This feature may be part of something bigger connected with ARM, OneCore, Andromeda OS and the Composable Shell. The company may soon be announcing a version of Windows for free (codenamed Windows Cloud) that runs only Store apps, along with Composable Shell and Windows 10 for ARM devices
But the current number of quality UWP apps in the Store is not sufficient to meet the needs of the users, and to make future ARM devices including phones a real alternative to classic PCs with Win32 apps. We believe that Microsoft will soon announce that many new Win32 apps will be modernized as UWP using the Project Centennial and then published in the Windows Store. Despite the constant increase of Windows 10 installations, the company should persuade all app developers to create and update their UWP apps, and the customers to use them. Otherwise the whole strategy for the Universal Windows and OneCore will be in danger.
Source: MSPU