[Python-Dev] Python in next Windows 10 update

[Steve Dower]

Hi all

Just sharing this here because I think it's important for us to be aware 
of it - I'm not trying to promote or sell anything here :) (Those who 
were at the language summit have seen this already.)

In the next Windows 10 update that starts rolling out today, we 
(Microsoft) have added "python.exe" and "python3.exe" commands that are 
installed on PATH *by default* and will open the Microsoft Store at the 
page where we (Python core team) publish our build.

This makes it a 1-2 click process to get from a clean machine to having 
a usable Python install ("python.exe" -> opens Store -> "Get it Free" -> 
"python.exe" now works!)

The associated blog post:

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/python/python-in-the-windows-10-may-2019-update/

Here are answers to a few questions that I assume will come up, at least 
from this audience that understands the issues better than most:

* if someone had installed Python and put it on PATH with our installer, 
this new command *does not* interfere
* if someone had manually modified their own PATH, they *may* see some 
interference (but we [Microsoft] decided this was an acceptable risk)
* the Python 3.7 installed from the store will not auto-update to 3.8, 
but when 3.8 is released we (Microsoft) will update the redirect to 
point at it
* if you pass arguments to the redirect command, it just exits with an 
error code - you only get the Store page if you run it without arguments
* once the Store package is installed, the redirect command is replaced 
(this required a new feature in the OS). If you install with the regular 
installer and update PATH, or active a venv, it will add it *before* the 
redirect. So these scenarios should be all good.

I'm happy to answer other questions here. The long-term contact for this 
integration is python (at) microsoft.com, which right now will come to me.

And on a personal note, I'm very excited that we (Microsoft) got the 
approval to do this. Getting *anything* added to Windows is a big task, 
so it's a reflection of the popularity and support for Python that's 
growing within Microsoft that we were able to make this happen. That's 
due to every contributor, both to the core runtime and the ecosystem. I 
hope this will only help us improve the availability of Python for users 
and make it an easier choice for dev tasks in the future.

Cheers,
Steve