Windows 10 will also support a method for getting Android and iOS apps running on Windows. This is a good move for Microsoft, but it's probably also the mobile platform's only hope. It's not ideal ...

If Windows mobile apps had counterparts on the desktop that synced up and presented themselves as a Windows 8 app tile, that could give Windows phone an advantage currently lacking in its rivals.

If Windows and Windows Phone can't ever get the app support that Android offers, then Microsoft goes the BlackBerry route: run the same apps, or at least a subset of them.

But there are still a number of lingering questions about running Android apps on Windows Phone. First and foremost, it’s unclear how Microsoft would plan to get Android apps onto a device.

Tom Warren is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft is rolling out a set of updates to its Windows Phone Bing ...

But if Windows 8 were able to run apps made in Windows Phone 7, it would be a huge boost for the tablet side of Microsoft’s upcoming operating system, but with potential problems as well.