BlueStacks has been offering software that lets you run Android apps on a Windows or Mac computers for a while, but now the company’s venturing into the touch-friendly world of Windows 8. The latest version of BlueStacks is optimized for the Microsoft Surface Pro, and features a full-screen user interface and a Charms menu with Android menu, back, home, and other buttons.

You can download the Windows 8 version of BlueStacks from GetYourAppsBack.com.

BlueStacks Surface Pro
The website is a play on Google’s GetYourGoogleBack campaign which walks users through the steps of installing the Google Chrome and Search apps on a Windows 8 device.

The idea is that while there are tens of thousands of apps available for download from the Windows Store, there are over 700,000 apps in the Google Play Store — including apps and games from many top developers who have yet to release Windows 8 or Windows RT apps.

While the new version of BlueStacks is optimized for Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet, it can also run on other devices running Windows 8 (but not Windows RT).

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to play very well with the HP Envy X2 tablet I decided to test the software on. BlueStacks either got hung up on the loading screen or failed to show me anything other than a black screen once it had finished loading. I’m not sure whether the Envy X2’s low-power Intel Atom processor is to blame here, or if there’s some other problem.

BlueStacks on the Samsung Series 9

The app does function both in full screen and windowed mode on my Samsung Series 9 ultrabook — but that’s not as much fun, since that laptop doesn’t have a touchscreen.

Your results may vary, but the BlueStacks App Player for Windows is described as beta software, so hopefully performance will improve over time.

Interestingly, while BlueStacks has a full-screen mode, works with the Windows 8 Charms menu, and adds a tile to your Window 8 Start Screen, it still seems to run as a Windows desktop app. When you launch the app, Windows will switch to desktop mode before loading BlueStacks.

via TechCrunch

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6 replies on “BlueStacks brings Android apps to Windows 8”

  1. I am looking forward for this app to actually work, well, on my Iconia w510, just like others here with intel atom tablet…

  2. same here on my Acer iconia w510, black screen, is there a solution?

  3. Same problem on my Asus VivoTab smart. Only black screen. Hope they can fix this.

  4. I get the same thing on my HP Envy x2. I don’t think it is because of the Atom processor because I have had it working on machines will lesser specs. I am betting that it has more to do with the video card and drivers. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will be able to get this up and running on our tablets.

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