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Microsoft's Plan To Port Android Apps To Windows Proves Too Complex (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Astoria project at Microsoft has failed because a breakthrough was needed to overcome the complexity of the software development challenge. Microsoft tried to automate mapping the Android UI into the Windows 10 UI and to map Google services within the app such as maps, payments and notifications into Microsoft equivalents. Automated conversion of a UI from one platform to another has never been successfully demonstrated. When I first saw Microsoft's Android bridge at Build 15, I thought it was achievable. But project Astoria, as it is called, is much too complex. Drawing on my architectural knowledge of the underlying Microsoft/Lumia hardware that is very similar to Android phones.I concluded that in the context of partitioning the device or running a VM Microsoft would succeed. But Microsoft tried something much more ambitious.
Rather than "failed," The Next Web reports that for now the project may have only been delayed.
Of course it can be achieved!
Ever heard of Jolla? They are a small Smartphone manufacturer created by former Nokia employees who were let go when Microsoft bought up the phone activities of Nokia.
=> jolla.com
Ever heard of sailfish? It is an operating system based on Linux and Qt, with its origins in the next Linux OS developed by Nokia. It was suppose to replace the OS running on the N900 (which used GTK for the UI). That was before that smart guy Stephen Elop became CEO, if you know what I mean...
=> sailfishos.org
So what, you ask? Jolla runs sailfish and sailfish contains an Android runtime (VM + glue code + libraries).
In a sense, I just love the irony of the situation!