Microsoft’s strategy to bring more apps in the Windows Store now includes a new solution that allows to port Win32 and .NET applications and bring them right in the store.



The so-called desktop app converter will actually take an existing Windows installer and convert it to a modern desktop application that you can download in the store.
This is huge for developers of Win32 apps, Microsoft says, as it allows them to tackle the growing audience of users who are searching the store for new apps. There have been 5 billion visits to the store, Redmond reminded, and this is why it’s so important to bring apps in the Windows Store.
The desktop app converter automatically ports most of the code to create a Windows universal app and Microsoft guarantees that only small changes would be needed. Project Centennial is thus becoming reality and the new solution works very similarly to the way the now-dead Project Astoria and still-alive Project Islandwood were designed to function.
The app will work with .exe and .msi installers, Microsoft says, but there’s clearly more information to share as the live demo was pretty fast-paced and short because there are a lot of announcements this morning at Build.
The upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update is Microsoft’s target for Win32 apps in the store, so documentation for devs will be published soon online.