Audacity has existed for two decades the best free audio editor on the market and the main pillar of open source software. Now the official version has landed on Microsoft Store and will be useful against freeloaders who pretend to be an application that charges for this development, which has always been free.

Audacity hit the media last summer not because of its strengths (but many), but because of privacy concerns that challenged this development after it was acquired by Muse Group, a multinational company you will know from the famous Guitar Enthusiasts website, Ultimate Guitar.

Despite allegations that it has become “spyware” and that it violates the open GPL under which it is released, the application has not lost its popularity and has supported versions that claim to be the “official” iconic sound editor.

It is disturbing to see the existence in the Microsoft Store half a dozen versions that charge money (€ 4.99) for downloading and using versions that do not offer any type of code enhancements or support that would justify payment. Of course, it would be a different matter if development were divided into the above-mentioned privacy issues. this is not the case.

The official version of Audacity in the Microsoft Store

Now the official version has arrived at the Microsoft store «developed by Muse Group and the open source community Audacity«Martin Keary, Audacity Product Manager, says: “Due to the ridiculous number of fake Audacity variants available in the Microsoft Store that charge users for non-functional or very limited applications, I’ve now (finally) returned the name and released the correct free version for the first time.”.

It is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions for Windows and is completely free and open source. If you work on other platforms, you can also download it for macOS and Linux from its website.

Muse Group recognized in its time “Unclear wording of privacy principles and lack of context for change”to clarify the main points of interest for users below. But if you’re still worried about your privacy, you should know that there are alternatives like the ones we’ve already offered you, starting with DarkAudacity, which is also free and open source.

As for the Microsoft Store, although it doesn’t have as many apps as Google Play and the Apple App Store, suffers from counterfeits or imitations which can reduce the value of the original and also negatively affect developers’ revenue. Audacity is completely free at the moment and you don’t have to pay anything for it.