Windows 10 unified store starts to appear for Insiders

Back in September last year, when Windows 10 was first announced, we learned that Microsoft was working on a unified application platform and store for all its platforms; PC, tablet, phone, Xbox, the Internet of Things, and more. Now the corporation has made the first visible steps to providing a unified store where everyone in the Windows ecosystem will go for apps and games. Microsoft says it will be adding digital delights such as music, movies and TV shows which you can share across all your devices too.

Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc has announced via the Microsoft Blog that "In the latest builds of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, you can see our unified Store experience coming together." Now, if you are a Windows Insider with the latest build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, you will start seeing new content in the store.

The Movies & TV page has already started to be fleshed out and "you will now be able to browse and search for videos, rent or purchase movies & TV shows in the Store Beta and play them in the Video Preview app," says LeBlanc. Purchasing and renting of content will be available initially in the US, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Belgium (only movies – no TV content), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

Your existing collection of media, perhaps bought elsewhere, should also appear in the Video Preview app lists of available content. While the UI and experience might be acceptable now, Microsoft is still working on providing more item details such as TV/movie cast and crew information. Streaming is the first function enabled for you to enjoy online shop wares but offline playing of downloaded media is still in the works.

Music will be the next major area of the unified store Beta to receive attention with content expected to flow into its cavities "in the coming weeks". If you are an Insider and have had difficulty with the new store, including crashing, Microsoft would like to direct you to its forums.

There will be more Windows Store news, Windows 10 revelations and discussions at BUILD 2015 at the end of this month.

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… Now the corporation has made the first visible steps to providing a unified store where everyone in the Windows ecosystem will go for apps and games. ….

Hmmm.

I'm liking the direction of travel of the Windows “ecosystem” less and less, and a wholesale switch to Linux is looking ever more appealing.

First, I don't have, or want, an MS account. I've avoided it so far, sticking entirely with local accounts. In much the same way, I neither have, nor want, a Google account.

I'm increasingly worried that MS are forgetting the ‘P’ in PC. It's a personal computer, configured by me to suit MY needs, wants and preferences, not a marketing tool for MS (or Google, or whoever) to leverage into a sales device embedded in my home.

If MS go the way it increasingly looks like they will, and have since the Win8 debacle, then they no longer offer a platform I'm buying into, either philosophically or monetarily. Shame, but …. oh well.

And “thanks for all the fish.” ;)

This has been on the cards ever since we learnt about Windows 8 and the XB1.

This pretty much completes the unification and I would be a lot more excited about it if I had ever found anything on the Windows store worth downloading…….

The annoying thing is that the one unification I want, they will never do. XB1 > PC compatibility on games.

Saracen
I'm liking the direction of travel of the Windows “ecosystem” less and less, and a wholesale switch to Linux is looking ever more appealing.

You wouldn't be the first to come to that conclusion.
Windows 7 will be the last Microsoft operating system for me, i just hope Valve and the Linux community can address some of the problems associated with running it in the next 5 years.

So this is essentially the same approach as itunes (for iOS) and google (play store) in that they have a one stop shop for all their apps, music and movies/tv. Don't see a major issue with this IF it's done well and is likely more for ‘metro’ apps than things like say photoshop.
Yes apple and google have split off desktop and mobile but microsoft is the first major os to fully combine all ecosystems so I'm sure apple and google would be doing the same.

Personally I don't have an issue with an ‘ms account’ linked to my store purchases, I have one for android/play store, I had/have one for itunes and surprisingly I need one for most of my online shopping accounts, Amazon being a perfect example. At the end of the day you don't have to purchase items from the store although I'm sure that is the direction MS (and apple/google) would like it to go, they get a cut in most cases I'm sure… I know that wouldn't work with my software and we still have people with restrictive internet connections.

I also doubt they'll remove the personal accounts just yet, it will likely come along but to be honest it's not a big issue in my experience, I'm not going to put sensitive data on onedrive (or anything else) but I already had a years old hotmail account so using it to log in to the desktop isn't that different, it's also my ‘calendar’ so I can see it on both office 2010 and android (google being pita again).

Last time i checked though a PC is a general-purpose computer, it isn't a Microsoft computer.
If i wanted to be locked into one manufacturer or company i would buy into the Apple or Google walled garden.

Windows 10 unified store starts to appear for Insiders

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