Windows Developers Can Now Publish Apps To Microsoft's Store Without Fees (theverge.com)
- Reference: 0179170642
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/11/2127258/windows-developers-can-now-publish-apps-to-microsofts-store-without-fees
- Source link: https://www.theverge.com/news/775877/windows-developers-microsoft-store-publishing-free
> Microsoft started cutting its $19 one-time fee to publish apps to its Windows store in June in certain markets, and it's now essentially removing this fee for all developers worldwide. Apple still charges an annual $99 fee to developers, and Google charges a one-time registration fee of $25.
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> "Developers will no longer need a credit card to get started, removing a key point of friction that has affected many creators around the world," explains Chetna Das, senior product manager at Microsoft. "By eliminating these one-time fees, Microsoft is creating a more inclusive and accessible platform that empowers more developers to innovate, share and thrive on the Windows ecosystem." [...]
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> The Microsoft Store is now used by more than 250 million monthly active users, according to Microsoft. Microsoft is now encouraging more developers to make use of the store, where they can publish a variety of Win32, UWP, PWA, .NET, MAUI, or Electron apps. Developers can even use their own in-app commerce system to keep 100 percent of their revenues on non-gaming apps.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/775877/windows-developers-microsoft-store-publishing-free
[2] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2025/09/10/free-developer-registration-for-individual-developers-on-microsoft-store/
S Mode (Score:5, Informative)
Many new computers with Windows 11, such as a Lenovo IdeaPad that my roommate received as a birthday gift, come set to "S Mode" and will not run applications from outside the Store. There is a way to disable S Mode permanently on a particular PC. This shows a sequence of alert boxes whose wording may be scary to particularly nontechnical users such as my roommate.
Re: (Score:2)
My guess is that if they did not allow that some rather large EU fine would be incoming. So they try to make it scary.
Translation of the headling (Score:4, Funny)
Please, please use our crappy copy of the Apple/Android store! Please. Anyone? Hello?
Re: (Score:2)
With possibly a bit of "please don't sue us for monopolistic gatekeeping like people sued apple"
Developer Identification? (Score:2)
Given these changes, how does developer identification work? Is there even dev identification at this point?
My understanding is that Microsoft followed Apple for the same reason: a financial trail allows the stores to better authenticate that a developer is who they say they are, and conversely, it makes it harder for bad actors to get into the store. If Microsoft is no longer charging, do they still have an effective means to ID devs and to screen out fakes?
MS can't lockdown the app store and the sand boxin (Score:5, Insightful)
MS can't lockdown the app store and the sand boxing failed.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, my thoughts as well.