I've often imagined a computing environment in which you could run mobile apps on a full desktop OS. For example, I figured it made sense for Apple to replace the widgets capabilities in Mac OS X with the ability to run iOS apps. Or, Microsoft could provide a way to run Windows Phone apps on Windows instead of gadgets. Well, someone has brought this dream to life: Via a utility, you can now run Android apps on Windows.

The utility, called BlueStacks, is available in an early, pre-beta release right now. And while I've only just started testing it on the Windows 8 Developer Preview slate PC, I was so surprised by how well it's working already that I wanted to get the word out. This thing appears to be the real deal. For example, I was able to easily and seamlessly use the Pulse mobile app, full-screen, on the PC with full touch support.

You gotta check this out. It looks very interesting.

Thanks to Sheldon D. for the tip.