In an effort to boost interest in its desktop and mobile platform, Microsoft is reportedly considering opening up Windows to Android apps. Citing “sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans,” The Verge says there are serious discussions within Microsoft over whether to open up the company’s desktop and mobile platforms to Android apps. The idea would be to let consumers download the apps from a store run by a third-party “enabler” where Microsoft is still the gatekeeper.
Of Microsoft’s many challenges in mobile, none loom larger than the app deficit: it only takes a popular new title like Flappy Bird to highlight what the company is missing out on. Windows 8 apps are also few and far between, and Microsoft is stuck in a position where it’s struggling to generate developer interest in its latest style of apps across phones and tablets. Some argue Microsoft should dump Windows Phone and create its own “forked” version of Android — not unlike what Amazon has done with its Kindle Fire tablets — while others claim that’s an unreasonably difficult task. With a new, mobile- and cloud-focused CEO in place, Nokia’s decision to build an Android phone, and rumors of Android apps coming to Windows, could we finally see Microsoft experimenting with Google’s forbidden fruit?
