Microsoft Lays Groundwork for Android and iOS Apps to Run on Windows 10

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

One big 'appy family

Even though Microsoft's been giving us a glimpse of Windows 10 by way of Technical Previews and a spattering of blog posts, the Redmond outfit kept more than a few tricks up its sleeve. One of those tricks is getting Android and iOS apps to run on Windows 10 without tasking developers with rebuilding their code. How? Microsoft is offering a couple of SDKs that will make it relatively easy for iOS and Android developers to port their apps to Windows 10.
For iOS apps, the solution is called Project Islandwood. This is a set of tools that will allow iOS developers to use their existing Objective C code with minimal changes. The magic happens via middleware that offers APIs their code is already looking for. Developers who've tested Project Islandwood say they've only had to make minor changes, including Candy Crush Saga's developers, who said they only changed a "few percent" of code for their Windows 10 port, according to ArsTechnica.
Android's toolkit is called Project Astoria. The idea is to get Android apps to run on Windows Mobile, now the official name for Windows 10 on phones and sub-8 inch tablets. Project Astoria will include an Android runtime layer capable of running existing Android apps written in both Java and C++. What's unique about Project Astoria compared to Project Islandwood is that no recompiling is required on the part of the developer.
"We want to enable developers to leverage their current code and current skills to start building those Windows applications in the Store, and to be able to extend those applications," Microsoft's Terry Myerson told The Verge.
These toolkits should go a long way towards that goal.
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