Pekan Desktop is now a direct download, and the Download button works again
Pekan Desktop is in a private alpha for invited testers, and it is distributed as a direct download rather than through an app store. Alongside the Windows installer there is now a portable ZIP, so you can unpack the app to a folder and run it without an installer at all. Every release publishes SHA-256 checksums for both files, and you can verify what you downloaded before you run it with a single Get-FileHash command, which the release notes spell out.
The Download button on this site was pointing at the wrong repository and returning nothing. It now points at the releases page that actually receives the builds, as do the links in the docs and on every changelog page.
Two things to know before you install. Alpha builds are not code signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen will warn you the first time you run one: choose More info, then Run anyway. And the app does not update itself during the alpha, so when a new version appears you download it and install it over the old one. Your boards carry across.
Settings now tells you this directly. The Updates section used to disappear entirely on builds that do not update themselves, which read as though Pekan was quietly keeping itself current. It now states the running version, says the build does not update itself, and tells you your boards are kept when you install a newer one.
The getting-started documentation describes all of this too, including what to do if Smart App Control blocks the installer outright.
Highlights
- A portable ZIP alongside the Windows installer, for running Pekan without installing it.
- SHA-256 checksums published with every release so you can verify a download.
- Settings now says plainly that alpha builds update manually, instead of hiding the section.
- The Download button and every docs link now point at the right releases page.