Universal app emulator?

spapakons · 21 Nov 2015

Please read carefully before replying.

I have read here that a developer can use an emulator included in Microsoft Visual Studio to test his universal (modern interface, Windows Store) apps, even if he is running Windows 7 on his computer. This is interesting as there are some Windows Store games I would like to play in an old notebook running Windows 7 which cannot be upgraded to Windows 8 or 10 (no NX/PAE support). Of course installing the whole Visual Studio is not practical, just to play some games! Is there a way to install only the emulator? Or is there any third-party emulator for running universal apps on Windows 7? What are the system requirements? Assuming there is an emulator, how can I transfer the game from Windows 10 to Windows 7? Can I copy it to a USB Flash drive and install it somehow? Or can I access Windows Store through the emulator and install it in Windows 7?

Thank you in advance.

PS: Please don't reply "it cannot be done", read link first. At least explain why it cannot be done.

MrNeeds · 21 Nov 2015

Developers for consoles make their games using 3D modelling software on a windows/mac/linux/insert vague OS here machine, doesn't mean the games run on these machines, emulation isn't anywhere near as powerful as it could be just yet, it's getting better, but it's got a few years of development before it's properly implemented, so back to your question.

The Windows Store is a closed ecosystem, just like iOS and Android, protection is in place, there is no way to circumvent it, apps that are used in an emulated environment are for testing an app before submitting to the app store for approval, homebrew is the only thing you'll get.

Also, there's this:

spapakons · 22 Nov 2015

So I guess you can test your own universal app, but there is no way running an official app from Windows Store... I just posted that in case there was a solution I'm not aware of. Anyway. Thank you.

MrNeeds · 22 Nov 2015

No problem, sorry it wasn't the news you were hoping for, a lot of people would like an emulator like you describe, it's simply not as easy as running an app, you would need the whole OS for it to work.

spapakons · 22 Nov 2015

Yes, I guess. I could bypass NX/PAE and install Windows 10 on the notebook, but its very old GPU (Intel 855G) doesn't even have WDDM drivers, so I would get stuck with Microsoft Basic Display Adapter and it would be much slower than Windows 7 with the XP driver (XPDM).

I'll just forget it, unless there is a desktop version of the game I want.