Suddenly out of the blue, Microsoft has made a policy change on Windows 10 Pro which means users no longer need a Microsoft account to download apps from the Windows Store.
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The change was made only to Windows 10 Pro so those with other versions will still need a Microsoft account to download Store apps. Whether this functionality will be available on other versions anytime soon or not is unclear.
Of course as expected, this policy change for Windows 10 Pro only applies to free apps available on the store and won’t let users download apps or games that require a subscription or a one-time fee. Those interested in paid apps will still need to log in to their Microsoft account to download the app.
However, there is good news for those people as well, once the app has been downloaded, they no longer need to stay logged into the same account and can use the app just fine without a Microsoft account as long as it is downloaded on the same Windows 10 device.
For updating purposes when it comes to such paid apps, a Microsoft account will be needed on Windows 10 Pro.
There has been no word official word from Microsoft regarding this Windows 10 Pro policy change as it was originally discovered by German website Windows Area.
Since it is targeted only towards those using the Pro version, it’s not difficult to see that Microsoft specifically targeted companies that are trying to get more control over what users install on their systems.
There has been some reports from users with the Enterprise edition of Windows 10 that this method now works for them as well but the reports conflict as some still claim that they need a Microsoft account to log in before they can download the free apps.
Of course, there are benefits to downloading apps with a Microsoft account, mainly the sync feature that keeps all application settings and data synced across multiple devices and can be used to recover data after a reinstall.
