If this is confirmed, it looks like no *signed* app or installer distributed outside the Microsoft Store gets instant SmartScreen reputation anymore. This effectively kills the entire EV code‑signing certificate value proposition.
Over the past few weeks, we've been seeing inconsistent SmartScreen warnings for our apps that previously had stable reputation via Azure Artifact Signing certificates. Nothing changed on our side.
This would also neatly explain why Microsoft support has been oddly silent and unhelpful on our tickets. If instant reputation is now Store‑only, that’s a pretty major platform shift that doesn't seem to have been clearly communicated.