Microsoft enables easy porting of Android and iOS apps to Windows 10

Software giant Microsoft has continued its quest to be platform agnostic on mobile by announcing Windows 10 will feature SDKs that make porting mobile apps developed for Android or iOS onto Windows much easier.

The announcement was one of a number of Windows 10 revelations at the Build developer conference, including a version specifically designed for IoT, support for its hologram headset – hololens and the successor to Internet Explorer – Edge.

Microsoft is putting increased focus on the Windows Store as a way of acquiring apps (as we now call software) for Windows 10, including carrier billing support for 90 global operators, which Microsoft expects to increase purchases in emerging markets by a factor of eight.

Terry Myserson, Microsoft EVP for OSs, blogged the following: “Today, we announced four new SDKs, enabling developers to start with an existing code base, integrate with the Universal Windows Platform capabilities, and then distribute their new application through the Windows Store to the one billion Windows 10 devices. The code bases enabled by these SDKs are: Web sites, NET and Win32, Android Java/C++, iOS Objective C.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made it clear for some time that Microsoft’s core strategy in mobile needs to be more platform agnostic – i.e. trying to sell software and services to everyone, as opposed to trying to focusing on Windows Phone. This is another step down that road, as well as trying to protect Windows in the enterprise space from defections to Android and iOS tablets.