[Microsoft Surface] hectorantonio:
Short version: Hi, I need help to install paint.net on my Surface RT (running Win8.1RT, no jailbreak), been reading the threads around here but having absolutely no luck and I'm lost, many threads have deleted comments and I'm not sure on the continuity or lost content, if someone could guide me I will be really thankful.

Long version:

Hi, I'm late to the Surface RT party but I've been a reader of this website for years finding solutions and guidance to solve diff device issues. Found several sources (including this forum) explaining Paint.net (and other apps) can be somehow installed and run on the Surface RT, but honestly I'm lost with the "how". I'm not lazy, I do read and do my research before asking, it's just... the threads don't seem complete.

- Several threads have broken (download) links

- Several threads have deleted comments and I'm not clear on the continuity of the conversation

- I'm really confused on the jailbreak(s) and conflicts with update packages from Microsoft (producing interferences)

- Found some zip downloads identified for RT here and on other places with no instructions except "download" but the app paint.net does not run on my Surface RT, and after trying on my Win10 machine they do run on X86 (dual code? or probably not ARM after all)

- Found videos about what to do to install and run "untrusted apps" but that didn't help, and the videos have lots of comments stating it doesn't work and how it makes no sense the "untrusted" mention regarding instructions for apps found on the Store

- Found a list of ported apps (here) but I think it's quite outdated, the packages don't work or are broken and 404 not found, etc.

- The instructions regarding an alternate Store don't sound complete to me, it didn't work (I couldn't even execute the exe on my RT) and besides I just need paint.net (and this doesn't appear on the Microsoft Store, so sideload using the tool sounds confusing to me)

I'm really lost, honestly the info seems broken, well, I understand it's been years and I'm late to the party. My main interest goes to paint.net, perhaps notepad ++ and that's it. MyTube does work on my device. Interesting because when I tried several times it didn't appear on the MS Store, but somehow one day it was there and I was able to install it, I like it and does what I need.

Why playing with a Surface RT on 2020? I like it, specially the battery life, it's a nice device and does what I need (except simple image manipulation and sure, no modern internet browsing).

On a sidenote: updating to Windows 10? (RT / ARM)??? It's been a couple of months of reading and researching and I'm not sure, I don't see lots of people genuinely happy. It is not a risk I'm comfortable taking, the instructions are long and technical (I could put effort on that) but I see too many people complaining on issues, bricked devices, some report the instructions not working and some reporting the work wasn't really worth it at the end. Besides in my case when I tried came across a message stating bitlocker being active (yet it's not applied to the disk), there was an option stating "skip this drive" but I decided to stop and didn't continue, I'm not sure what does that mean, "skip?" would I loose space on the disk?. Well I'm not making two questions on one thread, just discarding the options to have a better RT, and updating to Windows 10 still doesn't feel safe to me. If anyone could share some experiences, freedom to install some additional apps, better browsing or performance, I will be happy to read.

Thanks in advance.