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For consumer and small-business users of Windows <strong>10</strong>, the public Windows Store is the primary<br />

means to acquire apps, using a Microsoft account and various payment options. With the new<br />

Windows <strong>10</strong> Store, enterprise options are considerably richer.<br />

Before I get to that story, though, it’s useful to see the new UWP apps in action.<br />

How Universal Windows Platform apps work<br />

UWP apps in Windows <strong>10</strong> have the following characteristics in common with the first generation of<br />

modern apps, written for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1:<br />

■■<br />

■■<br />

■■<br />

■■<br />

Apps are installed on a per-user basis, using a simple installation mechanism that does not<br />

require local administrative rights.<br />

Third-party apps can be removed easily, with the exception of a handful of preinstalled<br />

apps (also called provisioned apps) that can be removed only by using Windows PowerShell<br />

commands.<br />

Every app has an application tile that can be programmed to update dynamically, making it a<br />

live tile. Apps can also trigger notifications and alerts, using standard APIs. Each user controls<br />

the display of information in live tiles and can disable notifications and alerts globally or on a<br />

per-app basis.<br />

Apps must adhere to a strict set of APIs that prevent them from directly accessing system<br />

resources. That limits an app’s ability to perform many functions that are commonplace for<br />

desktop apps. The benefit is those limitations help ensure the security and reliability of the<br />

underlying operating system by blocking the most common attack vectors.<br />

Because UWP apps can run on various screen sizes and orientations, the user experience is adaptive,<br />

with screen layouts and controls that look and work in an appropriate way depending on their size. This<br />

advantage is most obvious on phones and small tablets, but you can see the shift in experience on a<br />

conventional Windows <strong>10</strong> PC just by resizing a window.<br />

The Groove Music app, included with all editions of Windows <strong>10</strong> except the Long-Term Servicing<br />

Branch, offers an excellent illustration. In Figure 11-5, the window is wide enough to display the navigation<br />

bar on the left, with full details about the current album on the right.<br />

CHAPTER 11 Universal apps and the new Windows Store 141

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