#The Windows 11 App Store Will Soon Host Good Content—From Other Sources – Review Geek

When Windows 11 was first announced in June, we were surprised by Microsoft’s enthusiasm for its new app store. The company insisted that its new and improved Microsoft Store would include tons of 3rd party content without forcing developers to rewrite apps. And now, a month ahead of Windows 11’s launch, Microsoft is making good on its promise.

The Windows 11 Microsoft Store now includes a ton of 3rd party apps, such as Discord, Zoom, VLC, and the LibreOffice productivity suite. It even contains some Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), such as Reddit, Tumblr, TikTok, and Wikipedia. These PWAs let you treat a website like an app—you can even pin them to your desktop or taskbar for easy access.

Not only that, but Microsoft now confirms that it’ll integrate the Epic Games storefront in its Microsoft Store over the next few months. The company previously expressed interest in adding Steam and Epic Games to its Microsoft Store, a move that Windows leader Panos Panay says will let users “go to the store” and “get the app you want” without any hassle. (Steam hasn’t expressed interest in this arrangement.)

Unfortunately, 3rd party storefronts won’t be available in Microsoft Store when Windows 11 launches. The Amazon app store was supposed to debut with Windows 11 to provide users with Android apps, of all things, but it won’t arrive until 2022.

Windows 11 launches October 5th as a free update for Windows 10 users. While the Windows 11 Microsoft Store won’t feature Epic Games or Amazon storefronts at launch, these features will arrive in future updates (and Insiders will get a peek at the Amazon storefront later this year). Microsoft also says that the Windows Store will arrive on Windows 10 at some point in the future.

Source: Microsoft via Ars Technica, The Verge