Bluestacks opens Windows to Android apps [video]

Several computers have been released that can run both the Windows and Android operating systems (click here to read our review of one, the Acer Aspire One D250) but all have required the user to reboot into each operating system to use it.

A new program called Bluestacks allows the Android operating system to be run on top of Windows 7 so that users can switch seamlessly between the two.

The founder and chief executive of the Bluestacks company, Rosen Sharma, was at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, and he demonstrated the program in action. You can see it working in our video above.

It uses technology called virtualisation to allow the computer running Windows to effectively create a second 'virtual' computer inside itself, which then runs Android. To the Android operating system, the virtual computer appears real, and most Android apps will work normally.

Some, which have been specifically 'compiled' for ARM processors, will not work under Bluestacks, which is designed to work with Intel and AMD processors. It's most useful for tablet computers, for which Android is designed, but it will work on other Windows computers too.

Mr Sharma was demonstrating the product at an AMD press event at Computex. To read more of our coverage from Computex Taipei 2011, click here