Could Android–a mobile operating system from Microsoft’s arch rival Google–actually be the key to solving Microsoft’s mobile problems? I suggested as much in early January in a post called “Why Microsoft’s Surface Team Should Warm Up to Android.” In that post, I suggested that Microsoft’s new Surface tablets could resolve problems with the dearth of apps available from Microsoft by beginning to run Android apps through BlueStacks App Player.

BlueStacks App Player has been available for some time for Windows users who want to run Android apps on PCs, and it’s available for Mac users. And now, sure enough, BlueStacks has released a free version that is optimized for Microsoft’s Surface Pro.