Windows Store is not only feature-rich but also significantly faster under the leadership of Rudy Huyn (some of you might remember him from the Windows Phone saga). While the Store’s performance and features are indeed getting better, some users and developers have criticized a new Store UI. Microsoft is defending the change by citing feedback.

Albacore, one of the popular names in the Windows community, called out Microsoft on X because the new Store UI doesn’t look good. He compared the new layout to the old Windows 10 design, saying it feels like a step back to when pages looked “unfinished at launch.”

The old Windows 11 Store UI, which is getting replaced:

New Windows 11 Store UI, now rolling out:

The buttons have moved around, and there’s more empty space in the Store. The “Open” text is also not aligned correctly, and reviews aren’t exactly visible after the update.

“I think the Microsoft Store team needs to see an optometrist, maybe a therapist, perhaps both. Calling the right layout an improvement over the left is simply insane. We’ve literally gone back to how pages looked in Windows 10 when stuff was unfinished at launch,” Albacore noted in an X post while sharing the two screenshots comparing the versions.

For comparison, here’s the Windows 10 Store version from 2016:

Is the new look of the Windows 11 Store very similar to the one from 2016? It is, but it’s far more modern, and it’s really all about perspective.

The new Microsoft Store does have some advantages over the old design, especially for apps and game developers. The readability of key elements such as the ratings and the “Open” button is indeed better as it seems to present information more neatly.

Microsoft’s Rudy Huyn has also argued that Windows 11’s new Store design is actually better even though it might appear similar to the Windows 10 Store.

“This version of the design has been A/B tested for months this fall, and the overall impact (retention and conversion) is very positive for our publishers,” Rudy Huyn noted in an X post spotted by Windows Latest.

“I invite everyone to open some games, movies and applications with a normal window size and make your own opinion instead of screenshots of an edge case scenario,” he added.

“Many of the changes are related to feedback from the previous design.”

Microsoft makes changes daily, which are rolled out through “dozens of experiments”.

Other layouts are already in the experiment, and Microsoft will keep changing the Windows 11 Store UI to increase engagement (downloads/installs).

Windows Store is a lot better now. Seriously.

Windows Store needs more improvements, and we’re not going to deny that. I understand that Microsoft is also aware of issues with Windows Store on Windows 11, and it’s trying to make it work better.

However, as we previously reported, the Store has gotten much better recently. Downloads are now faster after recent updates, and Microsoft is also integrating Winget into the Store, which could change how you get updates for Win32 apps like Discord.

It will allow you to grab the most recent version instead of waiting for apps like Discord to update themselves.

What do you think about recent Store UI changes? Let us know in the comments below.

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