HTC ONE M8 Runs Android and Windows Phone OS

The HTC One M8 for Windows marks a new tack Microsoft hopes will lead to greater popularity for Windows Phone. The basic idea: Let handset makers reuse high-end Android hardware.

Rival Android could be the cavalry coming to the rescue of Windows Phone, in Microsoft's latest maneuver to advance its smartphone operating system.

The underlying notion is this: Microsoft wants to make it easier to introduce devices that use the Windows Phone software. That was the message delivered this week's announcement of the HTC One M8 for Windows Phone.

Specifically, Microsoft has tweaked its Windows Phone 8.1 software so that hardware makers can lean on the hardware and reference designs they're already using to build devices for Android-based phones in order to build a Windows Phone device.

"We wanted handset makers like HTC to be able to leverage their engineering investment and provide them with a real choice," said Darren Laybourn, vice president of engineering for Microsoft in an interview following the launch of the HTC One M8 for Windows. "We feel the software should be the differentiator and not the hardware."

For four years Microsoft's Windows Phone smartphone operating system has limped along, trying to gain traction against the much more popular Apple iOS and Google Android devices. But Windows Phone handsets remain niche products. In fact, they only garnered about 2.5 percent of the worldwide smartphone market in the second quarter of 2014, according to IDC.

Microsoft has struggled to convince hardware partners to make phones running the Windows Phone operating system in what has turned into a chicken-and-egg scenario. Device makers don't want to dedicate resources to building a Windows Phone because there are so few customers. But without the devices -- especially iconic ones that offer cutting edge components and technology -- the operating system will never gain popularity among customers.

Management knows that Microsoft's mobile ambitions are doomed if it can't break that pattern. The solution depends on finding a way to get device makers other than Nokia, whose handset operations Microsoft acquired earlier this year for more than $7 billion, to build high-end smartphones using Windows Phone.

With the release of the latest software, Windows Phone 8.1, and now the launch of the HTC One M8 for Windows, Microsoft has come up with a new approach that could point the way past this dilemma.

"Ideally, I'm sure that Microsoft wants HTC, Samsung and others to produce exclusive designs for their software," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. "But I think they recognize the market reality now. And they're willing to let dedicated hardware go to get more high-end Windows Phone smartphones on the market."

Will Windows Phone OS v8.1 run on HTC One M8?

The information floating around is that, the One M8, If the news is true, there are high chances that the bootloader for the HTC One M8 will be supporting the Windows Phone operating system.

The news comes in from various sources that the upcoming Windows Phone from HTC, the One W8, has an open bootloader which can possibly install an Android OS too. Since the One M8 and One W8 are almost (reportedly) identical in specifications, there are all possible chances of the bootloader being compromised to install the two operating systems.

It will be just a matter of time when developers will be able to crack the internals of the bootloader and enable users to install Windows Phone 8.1 on the Android-running handsets. Also there will be high chances of users dual-booting Android and Windows on the same handset.

This would make the HTC handsets the best of both worlds and enthusiasts and app developers can use the same handset to test out their applications across platforms.

Specificatios

HTC has announced the HTC One M8... and. This time, though, it runs Windows Phone and is a Verizon-exclusive called the "HTC One M8 for Windows." HTC is the first OEM to take advantage of changes in Windows Phone 8.1 that allow for OS-agnostic smartphones, allowing (Verizon) customers to pick their hardware first and software—Windows Phone or Android—second.

The hardware is exactly the same as the Android version. That means you get all the good stuff from the HTC One M8: a 5-inch, 1080p LCD, a 2.36GHz Snapdragon 801, 2GB of RAM, a 2600mAh battery, and massive BoomSound speakers, all wrapped in an aluminum shell.

Double tapping on the screen will wake up the device, just like the Android version. That's good news, because the top-mounted power button is almost impossible to hit on a device this large.

HTC's questionable "UltraPixel with Duo Camera" system is still here, too. The main camera uses a 4MP sensor, and there's an entire extra rear camera to apply a fake depth-of-field effect to pictures. The M8 was one of the first Android phones with this feature, but it was immediately replicated by Google, Samsung, and everyone else in software, making HTC's additional camera look a little silly. We didn't find it very compelling in the Android version, but it's easy to ignore.

HTC is the first manufacturer to enter the wild new world of OS-agnostic smartphones enabled by Windows Phone 8.1. With the new update, the OS gained the ability to use on-screen navigation buttons, just like Android. That, along with Microsoft's enhanced hardware support in 8.1, means OEMs could finally build devices that aren't tied to a specific OS. Just build something with a screen, and the proprietary buttons can be added in software.

The M8 for Windows even works with HTC's Dot View case, thanks to new APIs in Windows 8.1 Update. The Dot View Case is full of little holes and displays the time and weather through the holes when the case is closed. Cortana even works without opening the case.

We know now that htc installed Android and Windows OS on the-same hardware, but what we don't know, is the steps by which they did it and the tools required. so that owners of this smartphone can switch OS whenever they feel like.

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