Microsoft Releases App On Android to Encourage Switching to Windows Phone

In the never-ending battle of mobile operating systems, Microsoft is quickly becoming an afterthought compared to the current duopoly of Android and iOS, even with the advances made by Windows Phone 8 and its related slate of devices over the past 8 months.

In an effort to espouse the advantages of Windows Phone 8 and the platform as a whole, Microsoft has released an Android app to convince Android users of the advantages of Windows Phone compared to Android. Called Switch to Windows Phone, the app scans the Android phone it’s installed on and displays a list of app equivalents on Windows Phone 8, whether official or unofficial. It should be noted that the app also saves the results to SkyDrive, also in an attempt to push its own cloud storage platform.

Microsoft hopes that the app convinces Android owners about the advantages of Windows Phone, with particular attention paid to long-term Android users. The app is available now on Google Play, though its already been the recipient of negative reviews for poor performance and that’s even before taking into account any longstanding ill will from Android fans built up against Microsoft for longstanding patent issues that have affected all Android OEMs and amount to a shakedown by the software conglomerate, a shakedown that has proven to be much more lucrative than Windows Phone itself.