User registry inside the package?

[Bogdan Mitrache]

So far we knew that HKCU entries are not allowed in the appx package, as mentioned in this docs article.

Extract from the article: Only keys under HKLM\Software are part of the package; keys under HKCU or other parts of the registry are not. 

In the MSIX package we've created with the new MSIX Packaging Tool we also see User.dat and User.Classes.dat, next to the usual registry.dat file.

Are there any updated docs that can give us more details about the changes in this area? Or basically all entries from these hives can now be stored inside the package.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

We are working to update the docs for these prerelease items. In short it should be fairly open, but if there are any limitations as we lock the final release.  

[#3]

@John Vintzel 2 years in and still no change. Hardly any improvement for MSIX, don't see a future for it as it's hardly usable for real environment. Take 7zip for example, if you package it into msix you cannot do file association or context menu. MSIX is by far not what it was promised.

[#4]

@_Florin 

We appreciate the feedback.  MSIX was originally started as part of the 1809 release, so we are nearing one year, not two as mentioned.  Since then we have added lots of new features based on customer feedback.  The MSIX Packaging Tool has had three major updates with new features and improved workflows.  We added support for Windows 10 1709 and 1803.  We launched the preview of MSIX core for IT Pros that brings MSIX to all supported Windows operating systems.  We added scripting support to MSIX with the package support framework.  Support for MSIX with Windows Services is in an insider preview. We also have a feature in preview that allows customers with Azure AD to sign their packages with a certificate unique to their tenant and not need to acquire an additional code signing cert (Thanks Device Guard team!).  

There is a lot of other smaller features that have been release and others in insider builds.  I understand that everyone has their own asks for what features are important to them.  I recommend you file items in the Ideas section of the Tech Community and we can prioritize work based on customer demand.

John (@jvintzel)

PM Lead, MSIX