Author Topic: MultiCommander SE v6.9.1 (BETA) (Store Edition)  (Read 19345 times)

Mathias (Author)

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MultiCommander SE v6.9.1 (BETA) (Store Edition)
« on: February 23, 2017, 09:02:29 »
MultiCommander SE v6.9.1 (BETA)

What is SE?
SE stands for Store Edition.
It is a version of MultiCommander that is available from Microsoft's AppStore on Windows 10
The SE edition is in BETA, It does not say so in the App (since the AppStore did not allow for that).
And it is really beta because the technology in Windows that allow for this to work also is beta.
You actually need to the Cumulative Update for Windows 10 1607 that was release in January 2017 install, or there will be issues when browsing the network.

The difference from the normal version of the SE is that there are a few limitations with the SE version
and, some advantages.

Limitation in SE edition
One guarantee Microsoft have for Desktop apps that are install from the app store is that when they are uninstalled,
Everything they have written to the registry and its apps folder and data is removed.
So, to be able to guarantee this all registry writes a program makes will be virtualized per app.
This also make it that registry changes one app makes is not seen by another app/program, AppStore app or normal.

This affect the Virtual FileSystem plugin FS-Reg in MultiCommander, this plugin allows you to handle the registry as a file system.
But since all writes that are done are not seen by any other program, it limits with FS-Reg can do.
There the FS-Reg plugin will in the SE edition be read-only. You will not be able to change the registry, since all the changes will only be visible for MultiCommander.
Not for another program.

Also Microsoft is virtualizing some path for the same reason. And that is the app data folder. ( C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\ )
Anything a app writes to that folders is removed at uninstall.
Right now, MultiCommander do not prevent you from changing files here.
But In the future, it might because the changes that MultiCommander is doing there is only seen by MultiCommander SE (Store Edition) and
will be removed when MultiCommander SE (Store Edition) is uninstalled

However, this can bug out a bit sometimes. Microsoft still got some bugs around this.
The UWP Bridge (the technology in Windows that makes Desktop app works in a Store context is still in beta )

So do not use MultiCommander SE (Store Edition) if you need to modify the registry from within MultiCommander
or if you are Removing/Adding files in C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\


Advantages

  Right now there is not many :)

 * You can download it from the store. So even if my own website goes down you can still get it , also better security since MS test the app for viruses and bad behavior
 * Automatic update from the store. And the Windows AppStore got more bandwidth and can deliver updates betters.
 * MultiCommander SE can in the future use feature in Windows to make its settings sync to the cloud so if you run it on multiple machines they sync settings.
 * MultiCommander SE can in the future use features Windows that now only the appstore app have access to.
 * Can in the future version use Action center, Notification, and such. But no real plan for that yet
 * Better security, if something bad should happen to MultiCommander (If I get hacked and they insert bad code into MC), Microsoft can then revoke the app and it is uninstall from everybody.
     


Why ?

  Well Why not. I wanted to see if it was possible and it only cost my very little time.
  (This was done in October 2016, but because of bugs in Windows with the UWP Bridge I decided not to publish it yet)
  There is not real code changes from the normal version, Mostly it is that the SE edition code some code disabled
  Like the Registry plugin is read-only, and Self Update is turned off, and configuration is saved in the correct path for StoreApps.

Get and Test it?
You need Windows 10 1607
then yo can go to https://www.microsoft.com/sv-se/store/p/multicommander-se-store-edition/9nblggh4nfs5
or just search for MultiCommander in the Windows AppStore


For issues that are unique to the Store Edition please send me a mail or post a in this forum.