title: Registering application in windows registry
body: <p>Windows has a vague and unambiguous way of declaring standards for registering applications in the windows registry.</p>
  
  <p>Following the official documentation for <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee872121(v=vs.85).aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">application registration</a> Microsoft recommends registering apps under</p>
  
  <pre><code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\MyApp.exe
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This recommendation however doesn't seem to be followed by developers since this key has not even been created on my system yet while other applications being registered into</p>
  
  <pre><code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\MyApp
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and</p>
  
  <pre><code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Applications\MyApp.exe
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Each of the keys above has a different structure and thus different options (i.e. the key <em>SupportedTypes</em> being available in one but not the other). What is the difference between registering apps under these different keys and in what scenarios would you chose one over another?</p>