Microsoft is rumored to be considering adding Android apps to Windows in 2021. While apps like Bluestacks can offer Android emulation, Microsoft's move has a different proposition: Instead of emulating, it will migrate the Android app using the platform. UWP and thus obtain the app converted to Win32 (that is, 32-bit Windows).

Microsoft chose Android as its preferred mobile operating system when Windows 10 Mobile was finally abandoned in 2017. The company already offers a mobile version of most of its applications for the Android system.

And through the Your Mobile Phone Companion app (yes, that's the name), users can run a variety of compatible smartphone apps on their Windows desktop. However, this service is currently limited to Samsung smartphone users.

Adding direct access to Android apps would be a major upgrade for Windows 10, putting it on a direct collision course with Google's range of Chromebooks, which run ChromeOS.

With Android apps on Windows, the system can become almost universal

With access to the Chrome browser and rumors of a real-time interface for running on Linux, the addition of Android apps would make Windows 10 a near-universal operating system.

Meanwhile, the company is said to finally have the Windows 10X, a version of the operating system that will eventually be aimed at multi-screen devices, ready before the end of the year.

So Windows 10X is being billed as the “Chromebook killer.” And if Android apps are part of the offering, that moniker could very well be earned.

While there's no concrete information on this, we're already thinking about how it could work. One idea is that Windows could include an Android section in the Microsoft Store, but that presents its own problems for existing Android owners. They could end up paying for an app in two different stores and having different data saved on different devices.

Of course, the idea would need to be a little more elaborate and, in fact, let's not forget that everything can end up in nothing. However, if it happens, it could represent the biggest shakeup in the desktop/laptop market.

Street: XDA Developers