Skip to main content

You can install desktop apps on Windows 10 Cloud if you try hard enough

how to reinstall windows 10 cloud hands on v2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Microsoft’s Windows 10 is a robust operating system that can do just about anything. Usually that’s a strength, but while Windows 10 competes well against Google’s Chrome OS platform on features and overall power, it’s at a disadvantage in terms of cost and manageability.

That’s why Microsoft is releasing the Windows 10 Cloud edition, which essentially enables locking down the OS to allow apps to be installed only from the Windows 10 Store. At least, that’s how it works in theory and with the current preview build, but there’s a way to bypass that limitation for the technically astute, as Windows Central reports.

By limiting Windows 10 Cloud to only Windows Store apps, Microsoft could accomplish a few things. First, it would make non-cloud editions of Windows 10 more valuable by allowing any Windows desktop app to be installed. Second, it would make the OS more secure, by limiting apps to only those that meet the Windows Store criteria. Microsoft’s Project Centennial lets developers publish their desktop applications in the Windows Store, meaning that Windows 10 Cloud isn’t limited to just Windows Universal Apps.

It appears that, at least at the moment, Windows 10 Cloud’s limit on installing desktop apps outside of the Windows Store isn’t set in stone. As Twitter user Longhorn has discovered, you can launch a desktop application from the PowerShell utility and bypass the Windows Store limitation.

Here is Chrome, and the Desktop App Converter(a Centennial app) running on Windows Cloud. pic.twitter.com/NPWkNVTeXo

— Longhorn (@never_released) February 8, 2017

Longhorn hasn’t outlined his methodology for bypassing the Windows 10 Cloud lockdown, and it’s entirely possible that Microsoft will remove the hack and keep things secured. At the same time, some evidence exists that Microsoft might allow the installation of non-Windows Store apps if a system setting is changed.

There’s still some time before Windows 10 Cloud hits the market, and so we don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like. In the meantime, there’s some hope that no matter what, Windows 10 Cloud isn’t quite as locked down as it appears to be.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Top 10 Windows shortcuts everyone should know
An individual using a laptop's keyboard.

Windows shortcuts are a constantly-used feature by practically all PC users. Apart from saving you time from carrying out the specific command without having to perform a few extra clicks on your mouse, it’s simply more convenient to refer back to shortcuts via your keyboard.

Although you may be satisfied with the Windows shortcuts you already know about and utilize on a daily basis, you can enhance your general Windows experience in a big way with these 10 shortcuts everyone should know.
Ctrl + Z
Tired of always having to use your mouse to find and click the Undo button on a program like Microsoft Word or, say, entering details on a website or editing images? Ctrl + Z will basically undo whatever your last action was, providing you a convenient way to reverse edits and changes within a second. From personal experience, this shortcut proved to be especially useful for productivity applications.
Ctrl + Shift + T
We’ve all been there. Nowadays, our browsers are inundated with multiple tabs, and as such, it’s hard to keep track of at times. Eventually, you’re going to close a tab on accident when trying to select it. Instead of trying to remember what it was or spending a few seconds accessing it and reopening it via the Recently Closed feature (on Chrome), simply hit Ctrl + Shift + T to restore the last closed tab. Similarly, Ctrl + N will open a new tab.
Alt + Tab

Read more
After 10 years of headaches, I’m finally a believer in Windows on ARM
The Microsoft Surface 3 with its blue keyboard.

Almost two years in, Apple is on the verge of completing its transition to ARM. It might surprise you to know, then, that Microsoft started its own journey to ARM chips long before Apple.

But Windows' support for ARM has been far less smooth. There aren't many more Windows devices with ARM chips than there were five years ago -- and I can attest to having personally used every failed attempt along the way.

Read more
I tried to ditch Windows for MacOS, but I keep coming back
Person sitting and using a Windows Surface computer with Windows 11.

It’s fair to say that I’m an Apple guy. I love my M1 Mac Mini and you’ll have to pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands. Yet despite that, I’m no turtleneck-wearing fanboy, and I still stick with Windows as my main PC. Sorry Tim Cook, I just can’t bring myself to go all-in on Apple just yet.

That might sound odd considering I write almost exclusively about Apple products, but there are plenty of reasons for my reluctance. At the end of the day, Apple just hasn’t convinced me that it’s worth it to make the switch.
Gaming the system

Read more