Microsoft has long viewed the mobile operating system market as a strategic opportunity, but competing against the entrenched ecosystems of Android and iOS has proven challenging. One of the biggest barriers to broader adoption of Windows smartphones has been the limited availability of mobile applications. Recognizing that developers were reluctant to build native Windows apps for a comparatively small user base, Microsoft introduced a strategy designed to lower the cost of entering its ecosystem. By allowing developers to port existing Android and iOS applications to Windows 10 with minimal modifications, the company sought to accelerate app availability while making its platform more attractive to both consumers and enterprise users.
The initiative also carried significant implications for the payments industry. Mobile payment applications, merchant point-of-sale software, and enterprise payment solutions increasingly depended on smartphones and tablets as primary interfaces. If Microsoft could successfully simplify application migration, Windows devices could become more competitive as payment acceptance terminals, mobile POS systems, and enterprise productivity tools. While technical challenges remained—particularly around security frameworks and payment credentials—the strategy reflected Microsoft’s broader ambition to remain a relevant player in digital commerce by leveraging its strength across desktop operating systems, enterprise software, and cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft’s effort to Usurp Android (Microsoft ‘Apps Everywhere’ Strategy Further Threatens Google Control of Android) continues and according to this article in ZDNet, Microsoft will release a developers environment to easily port both android apps and iOS apps onto the Windows 10 platform:
“At its Build conference this week, Microsoft dropped a bombshell: Windows 10 will run Android and iOS apps. Whether or not that’s a good idea is a highly debatable topic. On the one hand, it will close any real or perceived mobile app gap but on the other hand, it could discourage programmers to make native Windows apps.
Either way, it’s an impressive and ambitious undertaking. Called Project Astoria, the Universal Windows Platform Bridge tool is advertised at letting developers re-use much of their code from other mobile platforms. And after watching this video demonstration of how it works for Android apps, it appears that Microsoft is making it as easy as possible.”
The operation of Astoria appears straightforward:
“The toolkit also identifies what changes will need to be made to an existing app for another platform if a developer wants to port it to Windows. Dragging the current Android or iOS code into the Universal Windows Platform Bridge toolkit causes some preliminary analysis to take place and guide developers to what code requires tweaking.
This brief video only shows a high level look, of course, and the devil’s in the details. Once Project Astoria goes widespread — it’s currently in a limited developer preview — I’d be curious to hear from Android and iOS programmers if they plan to use it, and if so, how much of the heavy lifting Microsoft has done to ease the transition.”
Mercator is also interested in hearing from Android and iOS payment providers to determine their interest in porting payment related apps to Windows 10. Payment apps will certainly be harder to port due to the security implementations the apps are tightly coupled with, but this tooll should certainly make it easier to convert Windows 10 into an mPOS like device.
This announcement is important to payments because this approach should enable the Microsoft platform to more easily integrate into the mPOS infrastructure. This will help Microsoft remain relevant as a POS and may enable Microsoft to influence the direction of mPOS architectures.
Microsoft is by far the most popular OS running on PC’s and Laptop’s today, the Microsoft browser remains widely used, and a large percentage of web sites are run using Windows server. When Microsoft decides to get serious about owning a segment of the market it must be taken seriously and the earlier a decision is made to support Microsoft’s efforts the more market share you may be able to gain as well.
Microsoft’s application portability strategy highlighted an important lesson in platform competition: attracting developers is often just as critical as attracting consumers. By reducing the effort required to bring Android and iOS applications to Windows 10, Microsoft attempted to overcome one of the largest obstacles to platform adoption while strengthening its position within enterprise mobility and payments. Success ultimately depended not only on the quality of the development tools, but also on whether developers believed Windows could deliver a meaningful return on their investment.
Although the mobile operating system landscape ultimately evolved differently than Microsoft envisioned, the concepts introduced through Project Astoria foreshadowed today’s emphasis on cross-platform development and reusable code bases. For payment providers and enterprise software developers, reducing development friction remains just as important today as it was then. As organizations continue building applications that span multiple operating systems and devices, interoperability, security, and developer productivity continue to shape the future of digital payments and mobile commerce.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
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