What you need to know
- Starting April 14, people will no longer be able to acquire paid apps from the Microsoft Store for Business and Education.
- Existing apps can still be updated and free apps will still be available.
- This may be the first step towards closing the Microsoft Store for Business and Education.
Microsoft may have just taken a major step towards closing its Microsoft Store for Business and Education. A notification is going out to customers that outlines that paid apps will no longer be available for acquisition through the Microsoft Store for Business and Education. According to ZDNet, this could be a step towards getting rid of these versions of the Microsoft Store altogether.
"Starting April 14, 2021 all apps made available for a base price above "free" will no longer be available for acquisition in the Microsoft Store for Business and Education," says the notification to customers. Apps already obtained through these stores can continue to receive updates, but people won't be able to get new paid apps from the Microsoft Store for Business and Education.
Microsoft also notes that free apps are not impacted by this change and that the change doesn't affect the Microsoft Store for consumers.
Twitter users "Hoyty" shared the entire notification on Twitter:
Well the Microsoft Store for Business and Education are dead. If this doesn't show the death of UWP not sure what does. No way to purchase new apps for distribution in a month. @maryjofoley pic.twitter.com/ONoHHFSgMLWell the Microsoft Store for Business and Education are dead. If this doesn't show the death of UWP not sure what does. No way to purchase new apps for distribution in a month. @maryjofoley pic.twitter.com/ONoHHFSgML— Hoyty (@hoyty) March 11, 2021March 11, 2021
ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reached out to Microsoft to see if this is a step towards closing the Microsoft Store for Business and Education. The company has not responded at this point.
Despite no word back from Microsoft, it does appear that this change is a move in that direction. Foley states, "It does sound as though the team that owns the digital stores decided that the Store for Business and Store for Education definitely would be deprecated. There was talk that June 2020 was the target, but that was pre-pandemic. "
Foley first reported that the stores could be on the way out last January. The timeline appears to have been delayed due to the global pandemic, though nothing is confirmed at this point.
