An introduction to the Microsoft Business Store

The Business Store itself is an administrator portal with two primary functions, the acquisition and deployment of applications for your organisation. There are some limitations, the most obvious of which is that the Business Store only supports deployment to Windows 10 and higher – including Windows 10 Mobile - and that the applications which it manages must be Windows 8 Store apps or Windows 10 Universal apps.

Microsoft is aware of how limiting it is not to support Win32/ Win64 desktop applications, so there is a workaround in preparation. Codenamed Project Centennial, this will enable desktop applications to be virtualised, using technology from App-V, Microsoft’s application virtualisation product, and packaged in the .appx format used by Store apps and Universal apps. Once packaged, these applications will be deployable via both the Windows Store and the Business Store. This technology is in preview. Another possibility is to package an Android application and run it on a compatibility layer in preview for Windows 10 Mobile. These applications will also be supported in the Business Store.