You can now download premium photo editing and managing app Adobe Lightroom directly through the Microsoft Store without using the Adobe Creative Cloud app.
While you still need a valid Lightroom subscription to use the app permanently, there's a free seven-day trial available through the Microsoft Store so you can take it for a spin before making up your mind.
- The best free photo editors: alternatives to Photoshop
- Get creative with the best free collage makers
- Here's our guide to the best cameras of 2019
As well-known Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott explains, this is a big deal, both for creatives who now have a choice of where to download their software, and for Microsoft, which seems to have struggled to get the Microsoft Store to take off in the same way as Apple's Mac App Store.
The Microsoft Store lives on
Earlier this year, Thurrott speculated that Microsoft's Unified Windows Platform (UWP) apps could soon be killed off, which would have left the Microsoft Store bereft of content and its future in jeopardy.
Those speculations have since proved to be unfounded (it appears that the forthcoming Windows 10X will support UWP apps, and Apple is hunting for a developer with UWP experience to create what may be a Windows 10 version of iTunes.
The support of a major developer like Adobe seems like even more proof that things are looking up for the Microsoft Store, and if it continues the store could become a genuine first destination for Windows users looking for premium software. It'll be interesting to see if any other major developers decide to follow suit, and whether the rest of Adobe's creative apps will appear on Microsoft's virtual shelves.
Adobe pre-Christmas deal
If you live in the UK, you can currently save 19% on Adobe single app subscriptions, giving you full access to tools including Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. This deal ends at midnight December 19, so move fast to grab it while you can.
- We've rounded up 10 essential free Windows 10 apps for you
