Microsoft puts first classic Win32 programs in the Windows Store

Microsoft has added a number of Win32 apps to the Windows Store. These apps were converted via the Centennial tool, which makes it possible to bring, for example, classic exe and msi files to the Universal Windows Platform,

Among the apps are well-known applications such as WordPad, XPS Viewer and Character Map, Windows Central reports. The popular Notepad, for example, would still be missing. According to Windows Central, the apps are currently only suitable for the PC version of Windows 10, because they use a 32-bit architecture.

A more obvious explanation is that it means x86. That would explain why the apps don’t run on mobile devices, because they use the ARM processor structure. Centennial only takes care of converting, for example, msi files to an appx package.

It is not yet possible to download the apps, it is unclear when this will be possible. The most obvious moment is the Anniversary Update coming out this summer. Recently, Microsoft released a preview of the Project Centennial tool, which allows developers to convert apps themselves. This makes them suitable for any Windows 10 device.

Microsoft assumes that approximately 16 million classic applications can be converted in this way. The tool was announced at the Build conference at the end of March.