Microsoft backtracks on decision to prohibit sale of free open-source apps in Microsoft Store

Earlier in the month, the community was raging against Microsoft for prohibiting the sale of free open-source apps in the Microsoft Store. The policy changes were to take effect on July 16 and also covered even the sale of legitimate open source applications like Krita, and WinSCP, but Microsoft has now backtracked a bit.

Last month, we shared a few updates to Microsoft Store policies to help protect customers from misleading product listings. We heard your feedback, and today we made a change to policy 10.8.7 and 11.2 https://t.co/fJd50I4J0c 1/3

— Giorgio Sardo (@gisardo) July 18, 2022

Per Giorgio Sardo, who is the general manager of apps, partners, Microsoft Store, there are two specific changes. The changes impact Microsoft Store policy 10.8.7, and 11.2. Microsoft has removed the previous mention to open source pricing. He also points that if there is intellectual property concerns about an app, they can be reported online. This is a clear reference to the original reasoning behind the initial change in policy, which was to target fake apps and scammers.

Microsoft’s clarification and change on the stance took about two weeks, did they do the right thing? Let us know your thoughts on this in the comments below.