4 ms·

You run the converter on your complied exe installer, not your applications code. That a fairly low barrier. Seems to make the Store very backwards compatible,

You run the converter on your complied exe installer, not your applications code. That a fairly low barrier. Seems to make the Store very backwards compatible, it can even convert VB6 apps: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/PuttingMyVB6WindowsAppsInTheWindows10StoreProjectCentennial.aspx http://www.hanselman.com/blog/PuttingMyVB6WindowsAppsInTheWi... Also if you want to go from exe rather than installer you can use makeappx directly https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop...

flukus 10y ago
What if I'm using something more modern, like chocoaltey? MSI has never played well with CI servers and wix is way too complicated.
- benaadams 10y ago
  Nano server (variant of Server 2016) which has no UI component at all has adopted the appx for Windows Server apps (WSA) so I'd imagine the tooling will improve there. Though you can also build one with a text editor and command line: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/nanoserver/2015/11/19/hands-on-packaging-and-installing-your-first-windows-server-apps-on-nano-server/ https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/nanoserver/2015/11/19/ha...
  - flukus 10y ago
    > Though you can also build one with a text editor and command line That's exactly the sort of thing I'm after, thanks. I hate it when configuration is hidden in favor of tooling.
    - benaadams 10y ago
      Also manual conversion steps without installer: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop...
- Already__Taken 10y ago
  Seems like they want MSI to go away. I'm finding it harder and harder to find published ones.
  - flukus 10y ago
    The kind of tried it years ago by not including setup projects in visual studio (MS Developers think publishing directly from VS is a good idea), the problem was there wasn't a better alternative. I didn't mind NSIS (nullsoft of winamp fame), but it was weird to say the least. Install scripts were a high level, domain specefic variant of assembly...
    - douche 10y ago
      We switched to Advanced Installer when that happened. Now I notice that probably 50% of the MSIs that I run are using the AdvancedInstaller dialog skins.
mschuster91 10y ago
VB6? That's... the awesome kind of crazy. How does the converter deal with the VB6 runtime that had to be distributed? Oh dude, this brings back some memories... but I have to admit, for long time there was nothing except VB6 if you wanted to put together GUI apps with very little code and a WYSIWYG GUI designer.
- Jaruzel 10y ago
  > How does the converter deal with the VB6 runtime that had to be distributed? I've just checked on Windows 10, and yup, MSVBVM60.dll is still part of the OS install - the mind boggles. This is classic MS - providing support for as long as they can, where they can. Of course I'm not sure how the UWP Bridge would work if your VB6 app referenced a bunch of old school .OCXs though, as typically even the self registering ones need to write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the Registry, which the Bridge docs say is a complete no-no.
- Washuu 10y ago
  When I was about 12 my father gave me a copy of VB6. I used form and image controls to made a pixel based tiled fighting game. Not an actual game engine. Just a horrible hack that actually worked and I was proud of it. It was one of those things that helped me get into programming. (I still have a copy of it.)
  - majewsky 10y ago
    I remember implementing a Conway's Game of Life in VB6 with a grid view's cell background colors. Good times.
ifdefdebug 10y ago
My WiX installer prepares the program folder location and installs exactly one downloader executable which pulls the rest of the desktop app from a location in the internet. Is this setup compatible with App Store via Desktop Bridge in principle or should I get problems with sandbox etc.? (No need to elaborate, if the answer is yes I'll work through the details on my own).
- benaadams 10y ago
  Preparing your internet download desktop app as appx might be the way? Rather than converting the installer https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop...
jmkni 10y ago
Wouldn't this make it easy for people to convert other peoples applications and upload them to the store? Especially if you don't need access to the code. I wonder what barriers MS has in place to prevent that sort of piracy?
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  The same barriers that try to keep people from needlessly cloning and profiting off open source projects? Review processes.

flukus 10y ago

What if I'm using something more modern, like chocoaltey? MSI has never played well with CI servers and wix is way too complicated.

benaadams 10y ago
Nano server (variant of Server 2016) which has no UI component at all has adopted the appx for Windows Server apps (WSA) so I'd imagine the tooling will improve there. Though you can also build one with a text editor and command line: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/nanoserver/2015/11/19/hands-on-packaging-and-installing-your-first-windows-server-apps-on-nano-server/ https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/nanoserver/2015/11/19/ha...
- flukus 10y ago
  > Though you can also build one with a text editor and command line That's exactly the sort of thing I'm after, thanks. I hate it when configuration is hidden in favor of tooling.
  - benaadams 10y ago
    Also manual conversion steps without installer: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop...
Already__Taken 10y ago
Seems like they want MSI to go away. I'm finding it harder and harder to find published ones.
- flukus 10y ago
  The kind of tried it years ago by not including setup projects in visual studio (MS Developers think publishing directly from VS is a good idea), the problem was there wasn't a better alternative. I didn't mind NSIS (nullsoft of winamp fame), but it was weird to say the least. Install scripts were a high level, domain specefic variant of assembly...
  - douche 10y ago
    We switched to Advanced Installer when that happened. Now I notice that probably 50% of the MSIs that I run are using the AdvancedInstaller dialog skins.

mschuster91 10y ago

VB6? That's... the awesome kind of crazy. How does the converter deal with the VB6 runtime that had to be distributed? Oh dude, this brings back some memories... but I have to admit, for long time there was nothing except VB6 if you wanted to put together GUI apps with very little code and a WYSIWYG GUI designer.

Jaruzel 10y ago
> How does the converter deal with the VB6 runtime that had to be distributed? I've just checked on Windows 10, and yup, MSVBVM60.dll is still part of the OS install - the mind boggles. This is classic MS - providing support for as long as they can, where they can. Of course I'm not sure how the UWP Bridge would work if your VB6 app referenced a bunch of old school .OCXs though, as typically even the self registering ones need to write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the Registry, which the Bridge docs say is a complete no-no.
Washuu 10y ago
When I was about 12 my father gave me a copy of VB6. I used form and image controls to made a pixel based tiled fighting game. Not an actual game engine. Just a horrible hack that actually worked and I was proud of it. It was one of those things that helped me get into programming. (I still have a copy of it.)
- majewsky 10y ago
  I remember implementing a Conway's Game of Life in VB6 with a grid view's cell background colors. Good times.

ifdefdebug 10y ago

My WiX installer prepares the program folder location and installs exactly one downloader executable which pulls the rest of the desktop app from a location in the internet. Is this setup compatible with App Store via Desktop Bridge in principle or should I get problems with sandbox etc.? (No need to elaborate, if the answer is yes I'll work through the details on my own).

benaadams 10y ago
Preparing your internet download desktop app as appx might be the way? Rather than converting the installer https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-manual-conversion https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop...

jmkni 10y ago

Wouldn't this make it easy for people to convert other peoples applications and upload them to the store? Especially if you don't need access to the code. I wonder what barriers MS has in place to prevent that sort of piracy?

WorldMaker 10y ago
The same barriers that try to keep people from needlessly cloning and profiting off open source projects? Review processes.