Windows 8 is a revolutionary change in Windows road map. It introduced the “Metro UI” now called as “Windows 8 UI” specially optimized to work with touch screens. Along with the UI they introduced metro apps to go with it. They didn’t stop there and manufactured hardware to go with it.
They did a great job in designing UI and manufacturing hardware but there are no enough, quality metro apps yet. It’s one of the major drawbacks in Win 8 eco system. However it’s a matter of time, Microsoft has billions of dollars to spend on it.
In the meantime there is a cool solution for you to enjoy a wide selection of apps right on your Win 8 Pro device.
Getting Started With BlueStacks
BlueStacks is a free application running on Win 8, Win 7 and It’s providing Android environment to install and run any android application. In other words you can run Android app in Win 8, Win 7 or Mac. Yeah! It’s a cool Idea and giving you access to millions of Android apps right in your Win 8 device. Let’s go and see how it’s working.
- Go to BlueStacks home page, select the suitable version, download and install.
- Then you will have BlueStacks icon in your desktop. Launch the application.
- It will open a Window where you can run Android Apps.
- By default it comes with few apps such as facebook.
- Tap on it, log in and Boom! You are running Android Facebook app in your Win 8 PC or tablet.
- Before you install a new application you have to link your Google account to BlueStacks.
- Go to Settings -> Manage Account -> Add account, and then provide username and password to login.
- If you have enabled 2 step verification, you will need an application specific password.
- Tap in the blue stack button to go to home. Then tap on search icon, search for any app you need, download and enjoy it.
- BlueStacks has pull down notification panel and Sound notification same as any Android device.
This is a great solution to run Android apps on your Win 8 device to fill the void of metro apps. However you might face some issues with performance. I tried Facebook, Dropbox, twitter etc general apps on BlueStacks. They worked just fine. But when I was playing Angry birds, graphic was bit choppy. So it’s not a good idea to use this for graphic intensive apps.
There are lots of other features in BlueStack which are self explanatory. If you face any trouble or there is anything else to share join the discussion in the comment section below.
Tags: #Android #Windows