Microsoft working on Windows 10 ROM for Android smartphones

Although Windows Phone 8.1 received positive reviews from many critics, the latest reports place Windows 10 in a distant third - behind Android and iOS - in the smartphone market, with a share of about 3 percent of the pie. While Microsoft has yet to gain true importance in the smartphone market with Windows Phone, the Redmond-based tech giant has recently announced a rather interesting strategy to expand the reach of its mobile OS.

Microsoft is now working to transform Windows 10 into a custom Android ROM. At the moment, Microsoft is working with Xiaomi to test-drive Windows 10 on Android, but in the future, the ROM should be available to all Android smartphone users.

The strategy is showing signs of enormous potential, as the customer base of Android is far beyond what Microsoft can realistically accomplish with Windows Phone. Furthermore, the company would no longer be dependent on the limited number of Windows Phone handsets currently available for purchase. By releasing Windows 10 as a custom ROM for Android smartphones, the company could tap into Android's enormous market share, although getting users to stick to Windows 10 will be an entirely different matter.

If the Windows 10 Android ROM gets even close to matching the efficiency of Windows Phone 8 on native machines, then the ROM should work quite smoothly even on low-end Android smartphones. Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s VP, stated that installing the Windows 10 ROM will be just as easy as installing any other Android ROM currently available for Android. At the moment, the Windows 10 ROM is being tested with select Xiaomi customers. 

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