microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

Have a better CmdPal installation of extensions - Raycast better alterative

Open
#45,239 2 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub
Needs-Triage Product-Command Palette
Dominant language
C
Stars
139k
Forks
8.6k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

### Microsoft PowerToys version

0.97.1

### Installation method

GitHub

### Area(s) with issue?

Command Palette

### Steps to reproduce

Installing CmdPal and making it work with an office computer is really hard now. Besides an office computer, everyone is moving to Mac due to the fact Window 11 has become too much like an Edge Browser.

Except for Gaming I fear to turn on the PC for any lightweight tasks, Mac Mini runs peacefully without that industrial fan turning on when opening a notepad. Honestly, Mac is bad but still better than the current state of windows.

Technically Windows apps are very unstable, even the Microsoft apps. Only thing good about the whole Win ecosystem is the Powertoys, but increasing reliance on Microsoft Store is making it hard to use it on Office machines.

Winget, MSIX CmdPal extensions are not usable where Microsoft Store disabled in almost every office computer.

Raycast for Windows is a brilliant alternative, has separate store ecosystem. Gets updated almost every week.

### ✔️ Expected Behavior

Installing apps should work.

### ❌ Actual Behavior

_No response_

### Additional Information

_No response_

### Other Software

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the Command Palette installation flow and the GitHub-based extension path described in the issue. Compare the Winget, MSIX, and Microsoft Store constraints for office computers, then define a concrete supported installation route and verify that extension installation works without the Microsoft Store.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
github
Domain
desktop, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
15/100

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