At only an alpha release BlueStacks is a way to run Android Apps on Windows 7.

Simply download their software and, once installed, an Android logo will appear on your desktop as a gadget. Click on this to show a number of pre-installed gadgets. More, but not a huge selection, are also available on the BlueStacks website. The best way of getting additional apps is to install their matching Marketplace App onto your phone or tablet – from that you can transfer your existing apps to your desktop.

I didn’t try anything too taxing – a Pro version is to made available soon with more functionality – but those I did try worked really well. They all appear full screen (to an extent – depends on the size and orientation of the App) – I’d like to be able to run these in a more realistic sized window on the desktop. Maybe this is a future option.

For the time being, BlueStacks looks promising and I look forward to seeing how it develops. If you’re an Android App developer I can certainly see a great advantage in having this available.