Okay so the cat’s already out of the bag. A number of tech media outlets picked up on an innocent little comment of mine on the forum :
It’s at the top of my list. I’m going to release a 4.0.17 update and then focus just on pushing to Windows Store.
So there you have it 
You can all stop e-mailing me asking about this all the time. I’m traveling for work right now but when I’m back, my plan is: 1) release 4.0.17 which has some important fixes for performance and high-DPI, and then 2) focus exclusively on bringing 4.0.17 to the Windows Store. I’d love to give a date but I’ve always gotten them wrong. There may also be a 1.5) or a 3) in there because my code signing certificate is expiring soon and obviously I need to renew it. Hopefully that won’t be too onerous.
4.0.17 will also bring “native” portable-ness to the app, by way of a .exe.config setting to redirect the app’s settings into a local JSON file (instead of going to the registry). Should be a neat feature for some people.
Some people have asked, “but how will you make money with the Store version?” (I’m still planning on a price of “free”) Answer: not sure. But if I wait to figure out both of these things (money + Store logistics), I’ll procrastinate forever and neither will ever happen. It’s just something I’ve learned about my own psychology: don’t let X delay Y, just do Y and X will sort itself out later.
paint.net blog 
You could have two versions in the store… one for free and one for $9.95. That way, if your users want to donate, they can.*
*not sure if this is allowed… or even a good idea.
Not a bad idea — assuming it fits within the Store guidelines and rules. And doing something like that is relatively easy. The big hurdle is creating the package and testing it and stuff.
Exactly. I have not read the store’s guidelines and rules.
You can have an in-app purchase of a consumable item, similar to buying tokens in a game. Then people can donate more than once. This way there is only one package in the Store.
Here’s another idea: always charge in the windows store. If you want it for free, go to the website and download it.
I believe Krita is like that – free on the website, paid in the store.
Always charge in the store and use the store’s trial feature to offer the free version. Or use the store’s in-app payment system to have donations in a free app.
There’s a “Windows Store”?
Yes
Exciting!
Only feature I’m still hoping for is pressure sensitivity, is that still planned too?
As far as making money on it, the simplest solution might be a nice “Donate” button in Paint.NET’s toolbar, would that be allowed?
Going on comments others have made. Having a ‘feature-less’ In-app Purchase of $0.99 / 1.99 / 4.99 might be a great way to allow people to donate to your efforts without compromising the excellent FREE software you have given to people.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to see this coming to the store!
Display a changelog every time the app is updated. Include a “Donate” button as part of that changelog. This way it clearly ties donating money with contributing to software updates. In the settings, include an option to disable the changelog popup.
I hope the Microsoft blog post at https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/07/24/ms-paint-stay/#6aoHKhtBOW4bm8EU.97
does not complicate the maybe political process of getting paint.net to the Microsoft Store.
It will not
I don’t see why it would
Rick,
Can we assume that an up-to-date non-store version will always remain available alongside the store version? For some of us installing software from the store is not an option (and likely never will be)
My plan is to keep the Store and non-Store releases in-sync. I’ll never say never (or always), but I don’t foresee needing to discontinue the non-Store version.
Hi Rick,
As many has pointed out, you can use in-app purchases to facilitate donations within the app, although you’ll need to stay the MS fee. Also, you will need to code the in-app purchase in Paint.net.
Nevertheless, to start, and in order not to include any UWP code in Paint.net, which I guess is not something that seduces you right now, you can publish the app with a price, and then set a free trial (which is: you download the full app, and you can use without restriction for a limited time – this has been pointed out above as well). The free trial has an expiration date, but you can set it to “never expire”. I have done it myself with some of my apps.
I recommend you to have a look to myTube!, an awesome app from an equally awesome developer that implements all of this and more. You can take many ideas from it, like the changelog with the donation button suggested above.
I’m very happy of having Paint.net coming to the Windows Store!
Thanks for adding Paint.Net to the store!