[Update 12/20/2017: It has now been removed. Microsoft states that the installer violates the store’s policies. ]
Big and somewhat surprising news this morning for Windows 10 users. Google Chrome is now available for download in the Microsoft Windows Store. It means that users can now install Chrome on their Windows 10 PCs (except Windows 10S users) without having to side-load it. This is something that many administrators lock down for security reasons.
Essentially this new app, which is published by Google, is an installer which acts as a shell to go get the browser installed on your PC. In other words, it is an official channel to go out to the web and download the browser as you would if you were side-loading.
Once you have Google Chrome installed, there is no functional difference between this install and if you had installed it outside of the store. It is identical because it is the exact same download.
Seeing Chrome in the Microsoft Windows Store is a great thing to see and could be a sign of better cooperation between Google and Microsoft. The companies have been at loggerheads for years with Google offering virtually no support on Windows while Microsoft has all-but made Android their go-to mobile platform for their apps. It has been a one-sided conversation for many years now with consumers paying the bigger price.
