Microsoft reportedly doubles down by itself platforms while also taking a difficult have a look at Android.

Indications of Microsoft’s push to update its Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems continue to mount. Expected new features include a protracted-awaited notification center for Windows Phone and tweaks to make Windows 8.1’s touch-oriented Modern UI more palatable to mouse-and-keyboard users.

However, a brand new leak suggests Microsoft is barreling toward certainly one of its new platforms’ most anticipated milestones: the merging of the Windows Phone and Windows app stores. Paradoxically, reports also say Microsoft is thinking about opening Windows to Android apps — a move that can undermine the appeal of a combined app store.

A unified app store hasn’t shown up in leaked Windows update builds, but Twitter user @AngelWZR, a known leaker of pre-release Windows information, posted images that indicate Microsoft is tricky at work on one. The pictures, allegedly taken from a Microsoft presentation for developers, promise not just a single app store but in addition a version of Visual Studio that may allow developers to focus on both Windows and Windows Phone while not having to put in writing separate apps for every.

[Details emerge on Microsoft’s latest Windows update. Read Microsoft Windows 8.1 Update Takes Shape.]

Windows and Windows Phone updates will reportedly debut around April, when Microsoft will hold its Build conference for developers. It is not clear whether the unified app store will launch that soon. The roadmap reportedly already includes rough plans to launch Windows 9 in early 2015.

As for Android, The Verge, citing unnamed sources, reported that Microsoft is “seriously considering” opening Windows and Windows Phone to Google’s app ecosystem. ZDnet subsequently published a corroborating report, which also cited unnamed sources knowledgeable about Microsoft’s plans.

The Verge said Microsoft insiders are divided at the idea; some dissenters contend it may doom the Windows platform. There was substantial speculation that Nokia, whose device business Microsoft is acquiring, could release an Android phone soon. Those alleged plans have provoked mild debate, but when Microsoft took the more radical step of welcoming Android into Windows, the resultant controversy might possibly be fierce.

The company’s app ecosystem lags far behind Apple and Google offerings, and a unified app store could help address this deficit. But what incentive would developers must consider native Windows apps if Microsoft embraced Android, besides? This query was raised last month when Intel announced at CES that it had developed a “dual OS” chip that might run both Windows and Android natively, enabling users to modify between both quickly with the press of a button.

“i believe [dual OS] won’t be necessary if Microsoft gets its act together,” Carolina Milanesi, who specialized in mobile devices as an analyst at Gartner and now could be director of insight at Kantar Worldpanel, told us at the moment.

Milanesi said a dual OS reinforces the perception that Windows turns out to be useful just for legacy software. “What good does that do? How is that helping Microsoft stay relevant?” Instead of stacking up quasi-solutions to fundamental problems, Microsoft must discover a foundation that convinces people to “actually prefer to spend time” with Windows.

Moreover, earlier experiments with Windows and Androids haven’t exactly set the realm on fire. AMD and BlueStacks partnered last year to permit Android apps to run on Windows 8 devices, but when any would-be customers cared, the sentiment hasn’t translated into meaningful gains in marketshare.

With Satya Nadella taking on as CEO, it’s possible Microsoft is barely putting all options at the table. The corporate is in strong shape overall, but its Windows strategy clearly isn’t working, using issues of the product itself and external disruptions corresponding to Google’s recent pact with VMware to run virtualized Windows desktops on Chromebooks. Time will tell which path Microsoft takes, but with new leaks and speculation from well-placed sources emerging almost daily, Nadella will undoubtedly face formidable expectations when he finally addresses developers in April.

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Michael Endler joined InformationWeek as an associate editor in 2012. He previously worked in talent representation within the entertainment industry, as a contract copywriter and photojournalist, and as a teacher. Michael earned a BA in English from Stanford University in 2005 … View Full Bio

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