Showing archive results for August 2026

As previously discussed, we can divide processes into the two broad categories of packaged vs unpackaged, based on if the process HAS or LACKS package identity. Packaged processes can be divided into three broad categories: All three have package identity, but they make different tradeoffs between compatibility and modern packaged behavior....

What's a PFN? MSIX introduced Package identity in Windows 8. While the familiar package identity "5-tuple" was functional, it wasn't especially convenient to pass through APIs or embed in resources such as files, registry keys, URLs, or XML documents. To address this, Windows defined an opaque string representation known as a Package Moniker. Win...

MSIX uses a Garbage Collection (GC) design for staged package lifetime and destaging. Throughout this article: Package Core Principles A staged package can't be destaged while any references to it exist. This is a direct consequence of MSIX's core architectural principles: Consequently, removing a package's payload from disk is not ...

Just as There is no Install – it’s ‘Stage’ and ‘Register’ explained that Install is not truly an installation operation in MSIX, Remove is similarly not an uninstall operation. This can be surprising - sometimes even alarming - to developers coming from traditional installer technologies such as MSI, where uninstalling software typically implies: ...