Why fight if you can use your rival for your own benefit?

[Krystianpants]

First you had the internet. Everything was done on webpages and native experiences suffered.
Then you had the explosion of apps. Everyone moved the internet into apps. This has become a huge problem as every website or web application wants to be an app.
Now will come the progressive web app world that combines the web and app experiences together. No need to emulate anything. Standard interfaces for native app experiences plus whatever extras an operating system may offer that is unique.
This will really leave gaming as the focus for sometime. Except, gaming is going to eventually go into the cloud. Operating systems will go into the cloud. You will likely be running dumb terminals that are equipped with nothing but input interfaces and sensors. Operating systems will likely become subscription services that allow you to choose which your device uses.

 

[tomakali]

If there's one company that can create flawless emulators, it's Microsoft. They've proven them selves with Xbox 360 on One and Windows 10 on ARM. So why not creating a built-in emulator for android or ask Bluestacks developers to build one for Surface? If this device is a Windows PC then it can easily handle the current Bluestacks app for Windows with no problem. However a built-in version is always better for performance. With this simple solution app gap will no longer be a problem. Who doesn't love a pocket sized PC that can run APKs like any other android device?

NO! Big NO! for emulators...
Instead it would be better if Microsoft can create a hybrid "winux" filesystem which can let the OS support .appx and .apk files natively.
it would be still better if it was named Andromeda OS
the dawn of New Microsoft

 

[Mike Buckhurst]

The boat has sailed for Windows mobile, there's no point reviving it. If they want me to buy a new folding screen mobile connected PC, it's going to need to replace my Galaxy S8+ and therefore run the apps that I need. I got this phone because I was finding life traveling around the US was getting more difficult without all the airline, hotel and uber apps. I still wish I could use my 950XL daily, but it simply doesn't manage. So I travel with a Surface Pro 4 and a Galaxy S8+, but if they produce a powerful folding PC that can replace both, I'll jump at the chance, but it has to run the business apps I need both on Windows and on Android, but mostly I couldn't care less whether they talk to each other.

I wouldn't build an Android emulator though, I'd build a phone emulator, if you could make a windows PC behave as though it was a Samsung or LG or whatever, you'd get round the issues of the Google apps, so long as it appears to the outside world as a real phone, everything should work, including updates.

 

[lumianok smart]

Why not make a 'bridge' towards the other way? UWPs could get a push if they would be available on Android? Maybe include it preinstalled with cooperation of other manufacturers. For sure it wont be that easy but might be another solution. What do you guys think?

 

[Wevenhuis]

I agree on the surface an android emulator on windows 10 or windows 10 mobile sounds wonderful. But when it comes to emulators, it immediately reminds me about project centennial for legacy apps. Spotify recently did this. Likely the software engineering is simply amazing, but the experience is hideous. The UI/UX is cringingly slow. If this is for every android app in an emulator, please no android emulator!!! Please use Xamarin instead and just develop a UWP app. It may be sound to do emulator's as a business solution/tool, but please let's also consider a good productive experience as well, instead of ending up back 30 years, despite modern powerful hardware and better software solutions. An emulator is not per se better. But get the performance and stability right simultaneously out of the box, then off course you have my blessing.

 

[M_A_Adams]

I think that Android would be a BAD idea, they do nothing to safeguard what is in the store, there is as many dangerous apps as safe ones. As much as I hate to say it, collaboration with the evil apple empire would be much wiser. At least they maintain the necessary safety precautions.

 

[naddy6969]

Lol, the “app gap” no longer exists. The problem is now the OS. Windows 10 is not a mobile OS. There, I said it.

Cramming Windows 10 into a “telephony enabled tablet pc with a folding screen” is a silly idea. But of course it looks great to Microsoft, and most people here. Because when all you have is a desktop OS, all devices tend to look like desktop PCs. Like when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Windows 10 will never have MOBILE apps. It is not a mobile OS. It is too old, too heavy, too barnacle encrusted. Just accept that “Windows Mobile” is done, and move on. Life is much simpler when you are no longer fighting battles from 3 years ago.

 

[Emil Y]

I think the comment about making .apk files work on Windows Phone, and that there shouldn't be a proper emulator. Maybe there should be an app that has the sole purpose of running apps from play store, and you could download the apps onto that so there would be a list of all the android apps you had downloaded and you could use them all. They would of course have to have maximum integration with the phone's hardware services as possible, i.e. gps, wifi because otherwise there would be no point

 

[abrichman]

I think the comment about making .apk files work on Windows Phone, and that there shouldn't be a proper emulator. Maybe there should be an app that has the sole purpose of running apps from play store, and you could download the apps onto that so there would be a list of all the android apps you had downloaded and you could use them all. They would of course have to have maximum integration with the phone's hardware services as possible, i.e. gps, wifi because otherwise there would be no point

That is the essence of virtualization. Issue is that there are one of at least two issue as I mention above.

 

[Chaos2000]

Microsoft don't need to make a Android emulator, The only way they can come back and bite Android & Apple is to run win32 apps with xap, it might seem impossible but it can be done, Microsoft has everything as a Software Giant so why wasting consumers time, the phone doesn't have to be exactly like a PC but it can function like one, If Microsoft can put in exe and xap together than Android & Apple will have their demise, The reason is apps is not real like original pc software files, so Microsoft need to step up and stop running around looking for another way out, they have all the tools they just need to use it to bring a pocket pc to life.

 

[opium_tm]

Anyway you can vote on the Microsoft feedback hub for the Project Astoria resurrection.

For my opinion there is no damage for any operating system to have more apps, even emulated. It's a common reason. Emulated apps would promote OS as whole and then developers could consider OS as a platform to develop native apps. The other option is to have no apps, to be stuck at vicious "app gap" position and then go out.

 

[Wevenhuis]

I would be for an emulator for android on windows. But after experiencing project centennial spotify app and VM's for business, I'm not too keen on emulator's and VM's. Microsoft may be ahead of the game with these solutions, but they're far from ideal in real world performance. I think as end user's we allow ourselves too much compromise with the mediocre performance and stability issues with these rendereing technologies in 2017. I often get the idea we're right back in the early nineties with low-speed and crash proneness. For 2017 this is counterproductive and not the norm. It's nice the solution is there, but is it far from practical. And new hardware will be a must to get the performance right. Older hardware for mainstream daily use will regularly have issues. I have less issues with UWP and original legacy apps and programs. It's reality.

Secondly I'm worried about a flood of security and crapware issues if an android emulator is allowed on windows. An emulator will most likely cover for that, but still. I can remember having this discussion 3 years ago, at the dawn of windows 10, where similiar sentiments were called out, next to the positives of bridging the app gap. I don't think that argument has changed much. That will be a love-hate relationship.
I think an emulator for android on windows can be very beneficial to adress the app gap. But I do think performance and stability issues need top priority adressing from the start. I think in the short run it will be awesome, but in the long run it will be downright annoying and couterproductive if the apps run slow and laggy and frequently crash with loss of frame rates. I don't think android apps on windows deserve that kind of poor performance.

 

[Drew Neilson]

I wonder whether it would be possible to run Android natively on one of the recently-announced "Always Connected" PCs that run on ARM. Unless the hardware is tied specifically to the Windows software, perhaps it would be possible to install Android as a second bootable OS, such that when you boot the PC, you choose to boot into either Windows 10 or Android. Or perhaps some company will develop a Windows program compiled for ARM that runs Android in a virtual machine on top of Windows, and because the host device is an ARM-powered device, it would run faster than if it was an x86 device.