It has been about a year since Microsoft launched the new Microsoft Store before the launch of Windows 11. With the new Store, the company has brought a new design and a lot of feature changes. To celebrate one year of the new app market, the company is giving out the Microsoft Store Community Choice Awards.
As the name suggests, this is an awards show where Microsoft asked users to name their favorite apps from the Microsoft Store, Windows 11 and Windows 10. Once the eligible apps are in place , Microsoft then proceeded to the user vote on the winners.
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In a special Windows Blog post, the company listed the winners in several app categories. Additionally, the company also released its Microsoft Store Editor’s Choice Awards. You guessed it, these are the rewards decided by the Microsoft Store team.
Below we will list the categories and winners of the two awards.
Below are the winners in all categories chosen by Windows users:
Utility category
Covers applications that provide additional functionality to the Windows operating system, such as diagnostic applications, task automation, driver management, etc. The category winners were:
File management category
This category considers applications that help Windows users manage files more efficiently. These can be sorting tools, editors, file viewer apps, conversion features, and more. The file management winners were
Category Open Platform
Microsoft brazenly describes Windows as an open platform and offers a category of apps that help users customize the Windows experience. Modifying applications would call them rather than the open platform. Either way, the winners are:
Microsoft Store Editor’s Choice Award
Rather than just repeating the same categories for its Editor’s Choice Awards, the Microsoft Store team covers other types of apps. Below are the winners in these categories:
Special recognition
Microsoft starts with an app it wants to single out for special recognition. This app is Talk for Me, a text-to-speech app available on all platforms.
Entertainment – Video
Streaming has become a go-to form of entertainment for billions of people, with dozens of video apps now available. Giants like Netflix, HBOMax, Hulu and others. However, Microsoft’s choice goes to:
Entertainment – Audio and Music
Similarly for music, many applications are available for streaming. However, there is an elephant in the room and Microsoft thinks it’s best:
Creativity – Graphics and 3D
Creativity apps are common on the Microsoft Store, including some of Microsoft’s own services. However, the two that Microsoft thinks stand out from the crowd are:
Creativity – Audio and Video
Of course, Windows is used around the world in editing studios, helping users create audio and visual projects. Microsoft claims that the following app provides the best experience for creators:
Productivity
I expected Microsoft to name more apps in the productivity category given the scope of the term. Instead, the company simply names the following app as the winner in this category:
Social
My pick would be WhatsApp, but the social category is full of popular apps like Telegram and Facebook. Microsoft Store publishers believe the following app provides the best social experience on Windows:
Discord
Tip of the day: It’s a good idea to back up your computer regularly, and the most foolproof way is to manually create a disk image and save it to an external hard drive.
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