I see that the above video was released today outlining the ease of integration between Microsoft Intune and the Microsoft Store for managing app installations from the cloud (all powered by winget in the background).
With the signaled retirement of the Microsoft Store for Business, along with the restricted functionality of the Microsoft Store for Education that has already taken place, this new Store integration can not come soon enough for those admins that are keen to reduce complexity of app management on Windows.
I have not had a chance to get hands on with this myself yet sadly (future blog post to come!), however I was sufficiently excited by the video to want to share it with the readers of this blog, along with the official Microsoft Learn documentation supporting this.
To be honest, winget reminds me a lot of APT (Advanced Package Tool) from Debian that I used regularly when running Linux distros as my desktop and also on Debian based servers I was managing. There is tremendous power and scriptability of command line tools like this that most admins just love, however there is also a time and place for GUI based app management as well. Ubuntu is one of the most popular Debian-based linux distros out there, and they have the pun-inspired Aptitude graphical package manager for those that want a simpler experience. I’d suggest that the Microsoft Intune integration with the Microsoft Store, extended by the Company Portal app for self-service installation of optional apps, creates a similar offering of managed application support in the Windows ecosystem.
I’m definitely looking forward to getting hands on with this new solution and sharing it with my education customers as soon as possible – watch this space!
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