One of the features of Windows 10 is the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Thanks to him it is possible to install a Linux system on top of Windows, thanks to Hyper-V, and use it as if it were an operating system installed natively on our PC. Although until now only terminal apps could be run, the possibility of running applications with a graphical interface will come very soon. And it is not the only novelty that we can find in this new subsystem.
Yes, you heard it right: Windows Subsystem for Android, as cool as WSL.
– Miguel Ramos (@marbtweeting) June 24, 2021
This is how Android apps work in Windows 11
Microsoft announced this feature above in the presentation of its operating system, although it went into more depth at the developer conference. Microsoft, in a partnership with Intel Y Amazon, is preparing the arrival of Android apps to its operating system. This means that we will not have an Android from Google, with its Play Store and Play Services, within Windows 10, but that everything will be done through the Amazon App Store.
The Amazon application store will be integrated into the Windows Store, the application store of the operating system. There we can find all the available applications and download them as if it were any other app.
In order to run these applications it is necessary that our processor has Intel Bridge technology, a technology available in the 10th and 11th generation Intel processors. These applications are not emulated, but loaded in a kind of virtual machine (like Linux) and will have support for voice, touch pens and Bluetooth connection.
At the moment it is not clear if Microsoft will allow developers to send their apps directly to the store or if they will have to go through Amazon in order to appear in the operating system. What is clear is that this marks a before and after for the Windows store, which has just launched its utility.
Not all Android apps will work
Although it is common sense, it is important to remember that not all Android applications existing so far will work on Windows 11. The first reason for this is that not all Android apps are in the Amazon App Store. And the second, that many of these applications have been created to work on smartphones and meet their needs, so on PC, either they are useless, or they will not work directly. Everything that depends on Google Play Services, it probably won’t work on Windows 11 either.
In addition, not all the apps in the Amazon App Store will be available from the first moment for this operating system. It has to be Amazon who validates them, guarantees that they work well, and allows them to appear in the Windows 11 store.
Microsoft has not elaborated on this new feature. For now we will have to wait to know everything about her.
