When comparing ARC Welder vs Windroy, the Slant community recommends ARC Welder for most people. In the question“What are the best ways to run/emulate Android on a PC?” ARC Welder is ranked 5th while Windroy is ranked 17th. The most important reason people chose ARC Welder is:
Even though it's a developer preview, it's likely to evolve quickly as Google is developing it. Since Google is also behind Android, it makes sense to use a more official way of running APK. If they don't work, you may check with the developer so it may eventually work.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Developed by Google
Even though it's a developer preview, it's likely to evolve quickly as Google is developing it. Since Google is also behind Android, it makes sense to use a more official way of running APK. If they don't work, you may check with the developer so it may eventually work.
Pro Cross-platform
Works on Chrome 41+ on Windows, Mac, Chrome OS and Linux.
Pro Allows running apps in a Chrome web browser
It installs as a Chrome App and runs on most operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS), even thought x86 support will be put in maintenance mode soon.
Pro Supports any UI resolution
Pro Supports a variety of full-screen & windowed modes
Full-screen mode, windowed mode (including scaling) and switching between windowing mode and full-screen mode are supported.
Pro Supports I/O devices
Such as mouse, keyboard, remote control, etc.
Pro Stock Android experience
Pro Support Windows Vista/7/8
Cons
Con Discontinued
Discontinued after December 2020.
Con Not all Google Play services are yet supported
ARC Welder supports OAuth2, Google Cloud Messaging , Google+ sign-in, Maps, Location, and Ads APIs from Google Play services.
Con Only supports "arm" apk files
"x86" apk files don't work as of 20150422.