If I agree with everyone in this thread, with those who want Android apps on WP and those who despise the idea, am I then schizophrenic?
If MS creates their own Android app store where any company or person can submit any Android app, then I'd agree with the nay-sayers. That would be the end of WP app development. Metro on mobile would be dead, and WP would be forced to abandon all hope of achieving UI consistency. Those supporting this approach need to explain what the point of WP would be after such a move. Seriously! IMHO MS would be better served killing WP if it ever came to that.
On the other hand, if MS were very selective about which apps are admitted into their android app store, then the approach might make sense. Limiting admission to those apps which simultaneously:
a) don't violate WP's security restrictions
b) exist only to serve a very localized market
could help WP get a lot of the apps it otherwise never would. That selection probably wouldn't include a lot of the apps people here are asking for though (for example, that would also exclude PeakFinder, the only Android app my fianc?e misses on WP)
Simply admitting any Android app into the app store for which no native WP version yet exists sounds reasonable at first, but that would be just as disastrous as the first option without any restrictions. Such an admission-rule would cause a huge number of companies that already built WP apps to remove them from the WP app store, so they could consolidate on a single Android version. We'd also have to say goodbye to new WP apps, for the most part anyway.
If MS ever decides to allow Android apps on WP, they need to be very careful not to setup an admission policy that instantly makes WP obsolete. I'm satisfied with WP8.1 right now. An unrestricted Android app policy is the only thing I can think of that would make me abandon WP in a heartbeat.
I thought Microsoft supporting the Nokia X was the complete surrender. There is a good chance that Nokia X could outsell Windows Phone in a couple of quarters and they're just starting with this platform.
Don't think so. First time I've heard anybody say that anyway. The problem most people have with the Nokia X series is understanding why it exists in the first place. Not understanding why it exists isn't the same as surrendering to Android however.
I would only see two kinds of people left to buy Windows Phones: The ones who love the platform and already own Windows Phones.
If MS introduces an unrestricted Android app policy, then I'm not sure what platform is left to love. At that point MS would have to introduce the same free-for-all (do and break whatever you want) model, meaning differences would be only cosmetic for the most part. WP might as well just be an Android skin at that point... like the Nokia X series.