Eventually, Progressive Web Applications will be integrated to the Microsoft Store directly from the web. Either way, the latest batch of 7 apps covers a wide range of interests. The list includes British high-street pharmacy giant Boots, Australian news leader news.co.au, and real estate specialist EstateSales.NET. As you may remember, PWAs are available exclusively on Windows 10 April 2018 Update (Redstone 4). That means you will need to be running Microsoft’s latest Windows version to use the new applications. As we discussed before, PWAs are web-based applications, basically a normal webpage that runs like an app. Microsoft is only working directly with publishers for the time being to ensure the integrations of PWAs runs smoothly. Microsoft has been developing PWA integration alongside Google since last October. With the introduction, the company has partly solved an issue with Windows 10… a lack of apps. In theory, any web service could now run on the platform as an application. Despite this, Microsoft has said Progressive Web Applications are not replacing its Universal Windows Platform (UWP). Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are web-based applications that are enhanced with modern features. They are regular web page that can be used like a traditional or mobile application. “Given the overlap in terms of capabilities, we often get asked about the recommended approach: PWA or UWP. We see this as a false dichotomy! In fact, on Windows 10, the Universal Windows Platform fully embraces Progressive Web Apps, because EdgeHTML is a foundational component of UWP,” the company says.
Leveraging Web Services
In technical terms, PWAs will be in the form of appx packages like all other Microsoft Store apps. They will run in an individual sandboxed container that will allow them to also enter the Start Menu and Cortana. “Over the coming months, we’re laser focused on polishing our initial implementation of the core technologies behind PWAs in EdgeHTML and the Universal Windows Platform—Service Worker, Push, Web App Manifest, and especially Fetch are foundational technologies which have a potentially dramatic impact to compatibility and reliability of existing sites and apps, so real-world testing with our Insider population is paramount,” Microsoft says.
