Chrome Comes To The Windows Store (Kind Of) [Update]

In an interesting turn of events, Google Chrome appeared on the Windows Store today. Even though we never thought we'd see it there, it appears that Google is looking to attract some Windows Store adherents to its web browser. There are a few things that make this strange, especially when you realize that Google hasn't published an actual app to the Windows Store.

Instead of publishing the browser itself, the Windows Store download merely opens the Chrome download page from Google. When your download from the Windows Store completes, launching it will simply open a browser window where you'll be prompted to download the Chrome installer. It's certainly a weird way to handle things, and looking at some of the reviews on Chrome's Windows Store listing, users aren't too pleased about it.

So, even though we're seeing a listing for Chrome go live on the Windows Store today, it isn't the actual browser that you'll be downloading. The reason for this is likely laid plain right on the Windows Store page: Chrome won't work with Windows 10 S, and until that changes (which it probably never will), Google probably doesn't want to give direct access to Chrome through the Windows Store.

Those who want to use Chrome will need to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. While that upgrade is free for now, it won't stay that way forever. Not only that, but the upgrade to Windows 10 Pro is a one-way deal, meaning you can't return to Windows 10 S after you apply the upgrade.

We'll see if anything about this Chrome listing changes, but don't expect it to. Google hasn't exactly thrown its support behind the Windows Store in the time since it launched, leaving users to access Google services through their browsers. While it would be nice to one day have something like a Windows 10 Gmail app, this Chrome listing doesn't really make us hopeful that such an app is in the works.

Update: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the listing for Chrome on the Windows Store has been taken down. We don't know if Google or Microsoft is responsible for the take down, nor do we know if it'll be replaced at a later date. We'll keep an eye on it, though, and report back if anything new happens on this front.