Today Microsoft announced a surprise addition to their
Windows 10 UWP rostrum, by pushing to all Windows 10 devices a new system app
called ‘Editor for Registry’ via the Store. The long awaited development of the
cult favourite win32 software, Registry Editor, has finally been given the
Windows 10 universal makeover, bringing a consistent and responsive approach
for all Windows 10 users on mobile, PC, HoloLens and Xbox who need access to
edit the registry on a daily basis.
Head of Product Development for this new ground-breaking
app, Dave R Watson (affectionately known as “The Doctor” to colleagues)
posted on the official Microsoft Windows 10 blog about the excitement the new
system app generated inside Microsoft, and how they just knew this was the app
everyone wanted.
“Anyone who loves Windows as much as we do knows that you
can’t get through most days without crowbarring something in the registry to
resolve a problem. The overwhelming success of Windows 10, which is now
on over a billion and one devices, and with the vast majority of people hourly using the Store to update their apps, means that it was time to
replace the fanboy favourite Registry Editor for a new ‘modern’ approach.”
There’s no doubting that UWP apps are just about everywhere in
Windows 10. Adding a new one to the mix is probably not going to do any harm.
Besides, who doesn’t like adaptive UIs? There's a sneak peek at this
new app too on Dave's blog and it’s safe to say that Microsoft have really done a UWP
number on what was one of the most loved win32 utilities in Windows history. Bizarrely
there’s actually no way in this app to browse the registry. This is an app
purely for editing, which is quite apt given its name. However, Product Developer Dave had an explanation.
“We didn’t want to confuse our customers ..., “explained
Dave. “… They might see the new app in the start menu and think they could use
it to browse through the various registry keys and subkeys of their devices but this app is solely for editing.
We understand there will be a small minority of people who will want to just browse, therefore we are looking at bringing a ‘Viewer for Registry’ UWP app that
works completely independently from the ‘Editor for Registry’ app.”
Who can argue with that? 2 completely independent registry apps so that browsing and editing the registry can never ever again be confused. Everyone knows that 2 is better
than 1. This kind of strategy is undoubtedly the spearhead behind the
revolution that is Microsoft and their UWP apps.
But, back to the app, and here’s a look through some of its capabilities.
But, back to the app, and here’s a look through some of its capabilities.
The editor opens with a classic bland UWP home screen which,
as program developer Dave explains, is intentional. “We don’t want people
accidently editing the registry, so we feel that having to click on a button
after the initial load of the app is one way to safeguard against accidents”.
Dave promises that the development of this app won’t stop
ever. “This app will never be finished”, Dave swore on his life. “We’ve got a
ton of functionality still to introduce into this app in order to enable it to
become the ultimate registry editor across all Windows 10 devices.” Among the
features he taunted on his blog was the ability to rename keys,, upload keys & values to Sway in order to create a visual presentation of your registry changes,
and ... a dark theme.
If you want to get hold of this app it’s up now in the
store although the initial release is listed to have only the
following features:
- Edit registry key values
- Easily share your registry keys with friends and family
- Upload your edits to Sway or Photos app.
- Live Tile (see live values of your favourite registry keys on the start menu!)
- A universal app that’s responsive across all your Windows 10 devices.
