Windows 'open' for Apple and Android

Microsoft is keen to sell its mobile devices
Microsoft is releasing software tools that make it easier to
run popular Apple and Android apps on Windows mobile
devices.
By changing a "few percent", Apple app makers should be able
to run code on Windows 10 mobile devices, it said.
And many Android apps should run with no changes.
Experts said the move was an "imperfect solution" to
Microsoft's problems persuading people to use Windows
mobile.
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For iOS, Microsoft has unveiled an initiative called Project
Islandwood, which has led to the creation of a software
interpreter that works with the development tools Apple coders
typically pick.
By piping code through this interpreter and changing a few
other parts, it would be possible to transfer or port iOS apps
to Windows 10, Microsoft said in a presentation at its Build
developer conference in Seattle.
Already developers working for game-maker King have ported
the massively popular Candy Crush Saga to Windows using
these tools.
A separate initiative, called Project Astoria, is aimed at
Android and involves code built in to Windows itself that spots
when an Android app is running and gives it the responses it
expects.
Microsoft said this meant many Android apps would run with
no changes on Windows mobile devices.
However, the way that Android is built means changes will
have to be made to some apps.
The tactic is seen as a way for Microsoft to to boost its
popularity and persuade developers to include Windows 10 in
their plans.
While many apps are already available on the Windows store,
some popular ones, such as Pinterest and Plants v Zombies 2,
are absent.
Microsoft has also added tools that let Android apps reach
some parts of Windows, such as its Cortana personal
assistant, they would not otherwise be able to use.
CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber said: "The decision to
embrace Android and iOS applications is an imperfect solution
to an undesirable problem.
"Nonetheless, it's a necessary move to attract developers
otherwise lost to Apple and Google."