It looks like Microsoft may have given up on having its own mobile app ecosystem. The company is expected to announce that Android apps will run on all devices powered by Windows 10.
Microsoft is set to give details about the upcoming release of its new operating system, Windows 10, at its annual Build 2015 developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, April 29. The conference runs through May 1.
According to longtime Windows journalist Paul Thurrott, Microsoft customers will be able to run Android apps on their Windows 10 phones, tablets and PCs. Thurrott, who is a fan of Windows Phones, thinks this could spell disaster for the platform. Rather than attracting more users with a wider array of apps, he believes Windows Phone users could become accustomed to Android apps and decide to switch to Google's operating system when they upgrade.
If the move is indeed announced at this year's Build conference, the news could go down with attending developers like a lead balloon. Microsoft has been pushing universal apps that run across its various platforms – Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox One and Internet of Things-embedded devices – since the announcement of Windows 10. But allowing Android apps to run on Windows 10 would have the effect of telling the developers that, in actuality, Google has already created a better software platform.
Why bother developing a mobile app for the Windows store, when you could just use an Android app? If this move happens, it could spell the beginning of the end for Windows mobile apps.
Thurrott believes it could speed the process of moving Windows from a widespread consumer product to a more specialized user base.
"It's increasingly clear that the traditional PC market going forward will be much like the workstation market of 20 years ago: a niche market of users with high-end needs like content creation," he wrote.
If Thurrott is correct, what looks like a win in the short-term – allowing Windows phone users a greater range of apps – could end up hurting Microsoft badly in the long run.
Photo: JD Hancock | Flickr
