Project Astoria, Project Islandwood
On the morning of February 26th, Beijing time, Microsoft announced today that it will stop providing Android application import tools for developers, which means that they cannot easily import Android applications into Windows 10 with the help of official tools provided by Microsoft. The decision also confirmed a rumor from last November.
Microsoft first announced the project, called Project Astoria, at last year's Build developer conference, along with a similar program that would create a so-called "bridge" between iOS and Windows, and would help developers integrate Migration of legacy Windows software and web software to the new Windows 10 system.
But Microsoft executive Kevin Gallow said on its official website on Thursday that the company found it unnecessary to move code from the mobile operating system to Windows through two "bridge" technologies at the same time.
The day before, Microsoft just announced the acquisition of Xamarin. Using the startup's technology, developers can write apps in a set of programming languages and then customize them for every major smartphone platform. Instead of waiting for more progress from Astoria, Microsoft said developers should use the company's open-source iOS migration tool, known internally as Project Islandwood, or use Xamarin's products to develop cross-platform apps.
"The idea behind bridge technology has always been to make it easier for developers to migrate existing code to Windows, and our investment in the iOS bridge can simplify that process," Gallo said.
Microsoft knows it's losing ground in the mobile operating system market, so it's spent the past two years trying to make the company's apps compatible with all platforms -- and now it's trying to help third-party developers do the same. In Microsoft's view, attracting more users to Office and Windows will help the company's long-term business, no matter what device users use.
However, the cancellation of the Android app import tool shows that the company is placing more emphasis on importing iOS apps. After all, there are very few productivity and business applications developed purely for Android.