Windows 11 is launching in October without Android App support

Windows insiders have been testing Windows 11 for months and we have heard nothing but good things. It finally looks like Microsoft is on course to break the good-release-followed-by-bad-release jinx. One feature that has everyone excited including myself is the ability to run Android apps natively on Windows. Unfortunately, it seems the feature is not going to land the moment Windows 11 is released in October.

Windows 11 setup and 1st impressions. It's made for touch

Windows 11 is launching on 5 October but it seems Windows’s Subsystem for Android (WSA) will not be ready yet so it will not be included when the operating system comes out. Instead, the feature will only remain available to Windows Insiders as Microsoft is keen to test the feature further.

That’s disappointing but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I personally, and I am sure primary Windows users would agree with me here, would rather they delay delivery and make sure the feature is perfect instead of delivering an alpha version of the software that’s not fit for purpose.

Also early on when the WSA feature was announced it wasn’t desktop Windows users who were excited. Gamers who use the Xbox platform which also happens to have a Windows Store were kind of hoping that they could get the Windows’s Subsystem for Android feature would be available to them too. That will not be happening as Microsoft has now updated its Store page to reflect the fact that only desktops (and laptops of course) will be getting WSA.

So when can we expect WSA to land in production versions of Windows? It is kind of hard to predict these things but a lot of people reckon the best they can do is early next year. That is when Windows 11 version 21H2 is expected to land and it will probably be based on version Windows Build 22000.176, the one version with WSA, which insiders are testing.

Windows 11 WSA will be powered by Intel Bridge Technology however those who use AMD and ARM will also be able to use the feature to install Android apps too. Apps will come from Amazon’s FireOS system rather than Google’s Play Store.

Microsoft already has done something similar with their Windows Subsystem for Linux which gives power users the ability to install Linux apps and operating systems such as Ubuntu on Windows. You can even run Ubuntu from inside Windows. Like their WSA partnership with Amazon, they also partnered with another company to do this-Canonical the guys behind Ubuntu.

You should also read

• More Windows 11 controversy as Microsoft kicks some PCs from the Insider Program
• PC users bombarded with fake Windows 11 installs
• How to make your Ubuntu Desktop look like Windows 11
• What is a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) & why it’s important for Windows 11