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New SkyDrive app appears in Windows 8 Store, offers Win32 app through the store

Jul 12, 2012 9:55 am by Kip Kniskern | 6 comments

skydrive apps Sharp eyes over at WPCentral noticed this morning that a new SkyDrive Windows 8 Metro Style app has appeared in the Windows 8 Store, one that turns out to be just a link to download the SkyDrive desktop app. Joining the current SkyDrive Metro Style app, which runs on the Metro side of Windows 8 and offers access to your SkyDrive files, but not sync setup, this new app appears not to install a Metro style app on your machine at all, but just offers a link to install the SkyDrive desktop app on your Windows 8 PC. As commenter Bruno H notes on WP Central, “This is also the first time we see Win32 apps being sold through the marketplace”. Offering Win32 apps, such as Photoshop and others, through the Windows Store could open up lots of new possibilities:

While it’s a bit confusing why there should be a separate app just to install the desktop, sync enabled version, it may be that Microsoft is just readying the store to be able to make it easy to install SkyDrive on new Windows 8 PCs. Anyway, you can get the download from the Windows Store on your Windows 8 PC (search for SkyDrive), or of course you can visit the SkyDrive website and download the SkyDrive desktop app directly on your Windows 8 or Windows 7 PC, if you haven’t already.

If you do have SkyDrive desktop installed on your Windows 8 PC (and you should!) there doesn’t appear to be any need to get this app, as it only provides a download link from the Store.

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http://twitter.com/Georgesab George Sabourin
Not the first time a Win32 app has appeared in the store. Though you notice it does feature the new SkyDrive logo, looks nice!
http://www.jeffkibuule.com Jeff Kibuule
Ummm… Microsoft Office, Age of Empires Onlibe, and WinZip are desktop apps that have been on the store for weeks.
http://www.LiveSide.net Kip Kniskern – LiveSide.net
Oops took the commenter for his word, should’ve checked up on that! Still, interesting that SkyDrive is joining them :)
tN0
I don’t get it. Where is the new Metro app? Or is the first sentence of the article just wrong?
What I see: the “old” Metro app, and a new link to the “old” desktop app.
The only new thing is the new logo and I’m sure that many people will not like this change (including me). It does look like a weather app.
- olibourgeoisie
  that ribbon before looked tacky. besides, what made the previous one so un-weather-app-like?
  - tN0
    The ribbon obviously. I saw the ribbon as representing the “Internet” in the logos for Internet Explorer, Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger.
    And I believe there was no need to change it. This seems to be change for the sake of change.
    They are messing around way too much with icons and logos. If you look close enough to their Windows Phone 8 mockup videos, you can see that they are using the old IE6 icon on the new Start screen…