Microsoft’s worst nightmare has been realized: Windows apps are coming to Chrome OS

Microsoft’s worst nightmare used to be a world where the media tablet category got so hot that it ate into PC sales. That nightmare is no longer a nightmare, however, because it has become a reality. Taking its place, then, is a world where computers powered by Google’s Chrome OS are just as capable and versatile as Windows computers. Unfortunately for the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant, that nightmare has become a reality as well.

“Today, customers can fully embrace the cloud with Chromebooks using VMware Horizon DaaS,” Google’s Chrome project lead Rajen Sheth wrote in a post on the company’s blog. “VMware and Google are working together to make the migration of legacy applications even easier, by using the HTML5/Blast experience from Chromebooks. This means you can work with Chromebooks and connect to a Windows experience running VMWare Horizon View.”

In other words, Chromebooks and other PCs running Google’s desktop operating system can use Google and VMWare’s joint solution to run traditional Windows applications on Chrome OS computers.

Sales of Chromebooks have already eaten a big chunk of Windows OEMs’ education business, and Chrome OS is seeing substantial growth in the enterprise market as well. Having gained access to Windows software just as the clock on Windows XP support is set to expire, Google’s Chrome OS could see a serious surge in sales in the near future.