Microsoft details the Windows Store experience, content becomes primary

In an official blog post, Microsoft details the full Windows Store customer experience including browsing for apps and searching though a catalog of apps. On top of that, Microsoft has made it easy to update apps in Windows 8.

Microsoft set out to ensure people where able to discover and quickly download apps with the new Windows Store. This is the fundamental principle behind the Windows Store. “While this is a somewhat obvious goal for a catalog or marketplace, it’s actually pretty challenging when the size and diversity of the catalog grows as quickly as we expect to happen in the Windows Store,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.

Microsoft designed the Windows Store to have a landing page designed for discovery of important apps and games. “We built Windows 8 around the notion that content should be primary, with chrome taking a back seat. With minimal chrome, the Store landing page brings apps to the forefront, letting the brand and personality of the apps capture your interest.”

Navigating the Windows Store is “simple and consistent with Windows 8 Metro style UI” so users can have a familiar interface for finding items. There are Store Categories such as Spotlight, Games, Entertainment, Photos, Music & Videos, and Productivity (to name a few) in the new Windows Store.

Using the Search option in the Charms Bar, Windows 8 users can search for new apps whether or not the Windows Store app is open or not.

The App listing page will feature a screenshot, description, brand color, and logo as well as user rating and user submitted reviews to offer a better visual description of the app prior to the user purchasing it.

As far as purchases go, Microsoft has made it very simple. “Assuming you are signed in to the Windows Store, one tap on the app listing page is all you’ll need to install free and trial apps. That’s it. For paid apps, we will ask for your password to confirm your purchase. If you don’t want to enter your password for each purchase, we do have a setting to turn off this security step—but we think those of you with kids will appreciate this extra little roadblock to unintentional purchases.”

Updating your installed Apps is also very easy. Windows Store will check for updates once a day and then present you with a number of updates available so one can have a “clear indication that there’s something waiting for you in the Store.” With the tap of a button, your apps will be updated.

The Windows Store is set to change the way we download and manage our Apps. The Store will allow you to install and run all of your Apps on up to a total of five Windows 8 PCs, just in case you need to install the same Apps on another Windows 8 machine. We are expecting to see the Windows Store in the beta build of Windows 8, which is due soon. For a quick overview of the Windows Store, check out the video demonstration below: