RemixOS: The Android PC solution we've all been waiting for?

http://www.jide.com/remixos

RemixOS is a free operating system that transforms your desktop or laptop into a machine capable of running Android apps. Unlike a lot of other Android PC solutions, RemixOS has been redesigned to take advantage of what people enjoy from a non-mobile OSes, offering true multi-tasking and a traditional navigation system.

I tried dualbooting Remix alongside Windows 7 but ran into a bunch of complications and eventually ditched the idea. Has anyone here taken the leap?

 

Hmm. I might actually try this out right now. I've always wanted an Android device to carry with, but have never been able to because of my ios device. A good thing about it is that it can run quite smoothly and would be great for people who want something lightweight for school and work. The only thing that concerns me is that there might be some keyloggers or trackers hidden within the OS. Still, I'm willing to take the risk.

 

I just emulate Android for the PC in virtualbox and vmware, and run entire android applications from them just like I would from any tablet, phone, or other device.

The iso for the android PC module can be installed to work on any intel or amd architecture. So I'm not sure why this is necessary, or how this is a solution anyone has been waiting for?

It looks pretty, but if it uses more resources and ram than to emulate android naturally or install the PC version of android to a bare metal machine and dual-boot it with grub then...why?

 

I think that most of us have bee waiting for it just to see how it wold look, and if it might stack up to the big boys and the names that have been around for a while, for actually seems like forever. I have confidence in Android to do that, though, and I have had little to no issues with Android on my phone or tablet, and I hoping that it would translate well to the PC.

 

I was not aware that you could install Android on PC as another OS. Good to know.

 

It's been a long time since I've returned to their web site to look at updates and read the comments on there, but it looks like Remix is just a version of the Android x86 project I was mentioning above.

It may or may not be top-heavy based on how it's been changed to accommodate newer android device compatability and requirements beyond Android version 4.4. It looks as if it's the update to it as 5.1. I'm not sure why JIde is mirroring this and claiming it as their own? At either rate, you can download the original version or any of the older versions from the official site and sourceforge reference here: Android x86 Project

Update:
Ah! I just saw that the main developer for Android x86 has joined the JIDE company and team, so that's why they are mirroring it. "RemixOS" is actually just the Android x86 Project PC ISO version 5.1 after all. Unless you need support for older Android 2.1, 3.0, or 4.4 versions, you should probably use the 5.1 "remix" for best results with newer programs. But you could download and emulate more than one if developing or testing it out so that you have all the different versions of android on your PC directly whenever you want or need them for anything.

 

There are going to be laptops that ship with Remix. Right now a Kickstarter for one is running for $70.

 

I would have a hard time calling it a laptop unless it has true hardware for being a laptop rather than a mobile device. It seems as if the marketing for the masses has skewed this distinct line even further by adding keyboards, mice, and other devices to it to make it act as if it is a "laptop", when it is still a mobile tablet or other chipset with a keyboard attached and appendages to make it appear as one.

It will be interesting to see what they use as a mobile device marketed as a laptop to people, if they do indeed use an x86 architecture when putting it out there.

I would hope they would go with something like an Intel Atom N series cpu or something so that you'd be able to literally install anything you wanted to on it, but I'm figuring that for $70, they're going to have to cut corners on the hardware quite a bit to make profit on it from the get go. That, or they're going to take a loss on the first releases of it just to make a splash and try to profit later if the kickstarter goes well.

I've used android devices to emulate PC things and run them natively on intel-based mobile devices to where the firmware could be rewritten, and to put it mildly, I wasn't impressed with the performance like I thought I'd be. I'm not sure why the public is simply ok with paying more for getting less every step of the way...but I guess that's what they want?

I like using Android in emulation on the PC, but I'm not sure I would buy a device that runs android instead of an x86 option rom for any other OS I might want to run on it. I would buy one if I could develop x86 programs and run them natively on it just by uploading them or flashing the firmware and be sure they're 100% compatible with a certain compiler, but I don't see a reason to buy one if the only intent is to run what my test development android phones and tablets already do with an ARM or other dedicated chipset.

It's forward thinking for it to run out of an emulator and make an android that can be run natively or emulated on a PC, but it just seems backwards to me to reduce the hardware into something less to market it to the masses when it (literally) could be something far more useful if there is a dual-option for both developers and consumers with what they're making here.

Considering that it is an x86-based mobile device made to look like a laptop, there's a huge cross-market that is made possible with this. Beyond just the proprietary development of custom option-roms and operating systems for it, it would be possible to run both OS X and android on such a device with a switch. THAT would be worth buying...especially for people who use both android and Apple devices routinely be it casually or for programming or any other purpose. I'm not sure they'd put what's needed into the hardware to ensure that it could handle that, but it would be possible depending on how they go about it. Apple would be up in arms over it (no pun intended), but if it shipped just with the android version and let users eventually find out about Niresh OS X and the hardware supported it...people could have their cake and eat it, too.

Granted, I can make my existing x86 and AMD-compatible systems work universally and seamlessly with each of those and Windows both natively and emulated...but for the everyday consumer to be able to spend $70 and have a system already designed to do the same that can be used as a netbook for them and still let them download the android apps they're used to with tablets and mobile phones, support iOS or OS X, support Windows programs, maybe a linux shell, that would be something neat for everyone and worth buying then. People wouldn't have to worry anymore whether they're on a PC or a mobile device with something handheld that could be both (without the limitations of the android system and davlik holding them back). That may be beyond the scope of what they want to do here, but I'm just putting that out here since I think it would be a neat addition and make it worth buying to me and others if it were to be that way.

 

Yeah I kind of agree here. Just calling it a laptop might not really be the most accurate, and until I see and it truly operates as a laptop would, then I would be a little hesitant to deem it so. I am not saying it won't be, but rather that I just hope the term is not just being thrown out there for the sake of needing something to call it. I guess we shall see though, and I am curious to see what they have to offer. Thanks for sharing.