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Why download Visual Studio/VS Code from Microsoft Store?
Microsoft’s Scott Hanselman announced that Visual Studio Community 2019 and Visual Studio Code are now available in the Microsoft Store on Windows 11.
The news came in an Aug. 24 tweet, in which Hanselman said the IDE and code editor are available in the store for Windows Insiders members, who get early access to preview builds.
Hi everyone! Welcome @Visual Studio Community 2019 *and* Visual Studio @coded to the new Windows Store! Both FREE and available to Windows Insiders now! Interested in publishing your Win32 application? To verify https://t.co/HUDLwIJzY1 pic.twitter.com/MifCbd6hzt
—Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) August 25, 2021
Microsoft has announced a redesign of the shop in June when he introduced Windows 11. The company committed at the time to a more open store ecosystem, saying, “We enable developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) to bring their apps, whether they’re whether or not designed as a Win32 Progressive Web App (PWA), or Universal Windows App (UWP) or any other application framework, creating an opportunity to reach and interact with more people.”
Of course, VS Code updates semi-automatically for most users who already have it, and is readily available for To downloadjust like the flagship Visual Studio IDEquestioning the benefits of a Microsoft Store download.
One reader commented that the Store approach might be easier, at least for the Windows IDE: “While Visual Studio Code is generally a seamless and user-friendly/silent update, Visual Studio is not, it takes multiple clicks Next, Next, Next in Visual Studio Online Installer.”
Another reader also welcomed the news: “I’m not going to lie, when I saw my Windows 11 machine, I went to the Windows Store to download VSCode and I was sad that it was missing.”
Other ideas came in several comments responding to a reader who asked “Is there an advantage to installing them via the Windows Store rather than normally?“:
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- If there ever is a Windows 11 in S mode (I doubt that will happen), then you will be able to use them.
- Some IT departments want to use MS Store only
- Microsoft Store would finally thrive + if all the required apps came to store, it would be a security advantage.
- Microsoft can claim that Store is the safest place to get ANY app. Application makers can provide a direct link from their application to the store, which is safer than downloading a random exe from the web. If successful, Mode S will finally make sense for general users
- Convenience and Discovery
- Probably faster auto-update in the background too, right?
the S mode in Windows 10 is a simplified version of Windows 10 for security and performance, only allowing apps from the Microsoft Store and requiring Microsoft Edge for safe browsing. Microsoft Documentation indicates that S mode is only supported on the Home edition of Windows 11.
Other readers of the tweet had unanswered questions at the time of this writing:
- Will updates be handled through the store do we need the Visual Studio installer to update?
- Will they come to the #MacAppStore?
- Is there a significant/substantial difference between the two installation approaches?
As of this writing – a day after Hanselman’s tweet – the ad has garnered 633 likes, 148 retweets and 21 comments.
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