# Windows Store

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Windows Store and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a free source for installing Windows apps directly from Microsoft, and say it opens quickly. Critics call it nearly empty, poorly run and walled off, and many avoid its app versions.

## What people warn about

- Few people use it (3 comments): "and the Store wouldn't have been so empty" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47664232)) "Virtually nobody uses the Windows Store" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48114714)) "Wine doesn't support UWPs/appx just because there's no demand, since no-one uses the Windows Store." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46165505))
- Poorly run, widely called bad (4 comments): "Yet the Windows store is so bad it’s losing despite its considerable advantage as a default." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45822555)) "We've had an App Store in Windows since Windows 8 and it has been a big joke" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48373724)) "There is the windows store, which is terrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150812))
- Walled garden, sandboxed apps (4 comments): "significantly more expensive and restrictive options, such as the Windows Store for Windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48857711)) "The Windows app store is a walled garden, but you don't have to use it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47677844)) "so overly sandboxed that it didn't fit most use cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46497005))
- Users avoid store versions (3 comments): "the impending stench of the Windows Store was what drove me off of Windows" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46049183)) "In practice, I avoid the Windows Store version of applications." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47367955)) "Don't buy games on steam, windows store, apple store, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48746825))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Mac App Store](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-app-store.md): 10 recommend
- [KDE Discover](https://hackerapproved.com/p/discover.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/b/sale)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Windows Store", https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows-store/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).