Last month, Microsoft decided to unify its store experience and said it would rebrand the Windows Store for Windows 10 as the Microsoft Store. After running the new branding through the Insider program, the company has made it official for all users.
The company has started rolling out the Microsoft Store name to Windows 10 users. This will start officially with tomorrow’s full release of the Fall Creators Update. The new version of Windows 10 is rolling out in stages, so not everyone will get the new store experience right now.
As I wrote at the time, it is easy to be confused by the rebranding. Of course, Microsoft Store is already a thing, mainly a storefront for hardware and subscription services. The Windows Store was specifically for apps and software services, while the Microsoft Store was for hardware and physical products.
When Microsoft announced the rebranding, the company did not say how the stores would be different. It turns out, the mostly won’t be. Microsoft returned to clarify that the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 will now also sell hardware.
On Windows 10, Microsoft’s own products will be available, like the Surface line of devices. If you browse the existing Microsoft Store, you will find plenty of third-party offerings running Windows 10. These too will be available.
Microsoft always requires Windows Hello authentication to buy Surface products, and that barrier will remain with the unified experience.
Xbox Store Rebrand
At the end of September, it became clear the Microsoft Store was becoming a universal experience. Microsoft also pushed the rebrand to the Xbox Store.
This makes sense as Microsoft has been merging the Xbox and Windows 10 stores through the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Xbox content has been available on the Windows 10 store for some time. So, it makes sense that Microsoft is making the rebranding across the board.
