14 DAY TRIAL // BlueStacks development continues and although no stable build is available right now, the beta version still gives users a very easy way to try out the feature lineup before the full product arrives.
BlueStacks Systems today released version 0.8.9.3088 Beta of the program that comes with bug fixes and adds support for some new Android app, which means that you can now launch the latest titles in Google Play right on your PC.
Although it's still in the beta development stage, BlueStack is still a pretty neat way to open Android apps on your Windows PC, but things could change completely in the coming years, as Microsoft itself might offer Windows users the possibility to do the same thing with a built-in tool.
Word is that Microsoft might at some point introduce options to run Android apps on a Windows computer and even offer an app store for this, which would basically merge the two platforms and thus boost the number of apps available to its users.
The lack of Metro apps for Windows 8 users has been considered one of the main setbacks for the new platform, so bringing Android software on the modern platform could really come in handy.
In case the company does decide to allow Android apps to run on Windows PCs, it wouldn't be the first company that is trying to capitalize on the popularity of items displayed in Google Play, as BlackBerry took a similar decision for OS 10. At this point, BlackBerry 10 devices are capable of running not only BlackBerry apps, but also tools developed for the Android platform, which can be downloaded from third-party app stores out there.
Although these are all rumors and nobody can tell for sure whether they are indeed accurate or not, Microsoft is expected to make some pretty big changes in Windows 9, the next full version of Windows expected to be launched in spring 2015.
While it's not yet clear whether support for Android apps would be part of Windows 9 or not, the new OS version will also bring some other significant improvements, with Cortana personal assistant believed to be on the feature lineup of this release.
Cortana is already part of Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview, but Microsoft has already hinted that it could at some point debut on the PC and tablet as well, and Windows 9 seems to be just the perfect timing for this.