Would You Buy a double Booting Handset with Android and Windows Phone?

Microsoft make an interesting idea to HTC

frantic times call for desperate measures, or at least for some outside the box thinking. Microsoft, for example, is struggling to promote its Windows Phone platform as a feasible alternative to Android and iOS, but so far its market share (3.7 percent) is barely a blip on the radar (though Windows Phone did surpass Black Berry for third place). Meanwhile, HTC just posted its first quarterly loss and there's little reason to think it will reverse course. Maybe the two can help each other out.

Microsoft's proposal to HTC is that it cram its Windows Phone platform alongside Android on its handsets, Bloomberg reports. As added encouragement, Microsoft is willing to drastically reduce or even eliminate its licensing fee, so the real risk would be in whether or not there would be an audience for dual OS devices, and not the cost of licensing Windows Phone.

HTC was first out of the gate with an Android phone (HTC Dream, otherwise known as the T-Mobile G1) and also the first to offer a Windows Phone handset, though it hasn't touched Windows Phone since June, nor was it planning to anytime soon.

This is an interesting proposal on a number of levels. For one, it shows how far Microsoft is willing to go to get its Windows Phone platform in front of more eyeballs. And on the consumer side, you have to wonder if a dual-booting phone would lure Android users who might be intrigued with Windows Phone, but unwilling to commit for whatever reason. Imagine if the HTC One also ran Windows Phone -- how much more popular might it be?

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