Discussion on:

Poll: Would you welcome an Android-powered PC?

What's the point? We already have many Linux distros.

99.999% of the general public that use Android everyday have no idea and don't care that the underneath the pointy, smooth icon-fest lie the remnants of the a once godfather O.S. - Unix.

Linux is a total failure as far as they are concerned - stick that on a box/slate/phone and it won't sell. Call it Android and they'll come flocking.

That's the point and be happy that 'nix finally found its way into many nooks of our lives but it could it only do it wearing a disguise (Android/iOS/OSX).

For what it's worth I think this may be dodgy ground for Android - if it does happen then it's either as a pre-boot OS or secondary OS for the OS most people will use on a PC box. Windows 8/9/10 will offer so much flexibility and capability that there'll be hardly any need to switch back or across to Android.

Android is likely sell PCs on behalf of Microsoft. Phone/Tablet->Android->PC->Windows etc.

I do believe that was the point of the comment.

My understanding is Android is NOT a Linux distro & that is even from the mouths of Google.

Linux is conquering the world with its usefulness...

You're right!

Linux is fine, but still has a neglible share on the desktop. Until it is plug n play like Windows and runs Windows legacy apps, the penetration will remain a footnote. I would not say "conquering the world" with minor desktop usage.

Have you ever used (not tried) any Linux distro? I have been using Ubuntu on my work computer for almost 2 years now, and I have found that it is more plug & play, speedier and of course virus free than windows.

For example I could configure network printers, JDE Edwards, etc by myself, while in windows the IT guy had to do it. By the way I use Ubuntu through wubi.

..if your criteria is "runs every Windows legacy app, just like Windows, exactly, and makes money for Windows peddlers and techs."

Fortunately, for the majority of homer users, that's not important. Surfing the web and engaging in online activities safely is. There, Windows will never be better than Linux in general, android in particular.

it's already better than windows.

I can help you run windows XP and windows 7 native with free licensed software on a linux desktop.
Contact for details if you wish to.
Regards,
Khawar Nehal
http://atrc.net.pk

Your needs are quite a bit different than those of the consumer and your depth of knowledge is dramatically more than the typical user of Windows (let alone Android).

Marcovj you are so very right about Linux "playing nice" with application software like JD Edwards and you CAN do it with just some basic thinking. WUBI helps make Linux more "attainable" for people who are not wire-heads or UNIX system administrators too. Android with the connection to phones may well be the way to get Linux better accepted.

It being FREE is being used by many companies, who take the source code and use it. Who needs to do work when they can leech off of somebody else's work?

That's what's making it used everywhere.

So, how do you compete with free?

Ask Apple.

OS X and iOS are based off of FreeBSD.

You complain that companies "leech" off the work of the open-source community, but then speak glowingly of Apple for doing the same thing? Am I missing something here?

There's nothing wrong with Apple or any other company using open-source code for their own gain. The open-source licenses specifically allow that.

Is there no clause about keeping the derivative open sourced?

on the license.

Banking, finance, insurance...the list goes on. Linux has penetration and respect in the corporate server world. Period.

We're talking about linux on PCs not servers.

I find Windows more comfortable than Linux for my desktop PC.

...my answer is that I have used Microsoft Windows ever since I got my 11 floppies of Win286 and grown with it. DOS 3.3 was really good, as I recall and we are to never trust an even numbered version of DOS as 4.0 taught us quickly. You always love the "first" because you are connected in more than skills to that experience. But I have to admit I stood on a freeway off-ramp and gave away CD's of Ubuntu when it was in Version 5 (or so...) to anyone who would roll down their window.

those companies have the capab to hire geeks, IT experts who would hammer their heads rewriting and compiling codes, drivers... to save a few bucks

I even ran that Android image from wherever it was as a VM, to see what the phone UI was like. But as a desktop OS, it is probably something I'd have to decrapify before use, so I don't see why I'd bother. Unless it becomes a fixture and a lot of people want some sort of support for it.

I'm sure the base Android image doesn't have any other crap in it...yet. But what happens with OEM's adding toys and gewgaws to it may mean you'd then have to decrapify it much like the junk OEM'S already shove into their Windows machines.

it will have plenty of crap in it. As of now, I'm not sure how much is in x86 builds.

Since the talk is about machines shipping with Android installed, there is sure to be plenty of crap built in.

Somebody has to pay money for the FREE android, maybe not you but you you would pay one way or the others.
In lost jobs, lost privacy...

The most obvious difference is that neither Android nor any other tablet OS offers preemptive multitasking. They offer simply task-switching. Even Windows 95 offered cooperative multitasking. The tablet OS world is far simpler than the Linux or Windows worlds. How Win 8 for tablets fits into this paradigm remains to be seen!

Windows 95 had preemptive multitasking for 32-bit apps. That was one of the things that made it a major improvement over Windows 3.1.

... and it implemented Win32s. Only the Windows NT family has ever offered preemptive Multitasking. Windows NT 3.5x was the first of the family, then WIndows NT 4, then WIndows 2000/XP (Windows NT5.x) and most recently, Windows Vista/7 (Windows NT 6.x).

I think it's an intriguing idea. A familiar flavor of Linux, a plethora of apps that could be ported to it, and none of the bloat of todays desktop O.S.'s. Not saying I'd run out and buy one, but I'd definitely take a look. I like this concept better than the Chromebook.

Take away pre-emptive multi-tasking and return to the days of "task switching" (as iOS and Android have done) and strip out high-performance graphics performance in exchange for limited graphics capability, and limit resolutions to 1024x600 or 1280x800, and you can cut the fat right out of that OS - AND you can long battery life and light weight out of that compromise - by IT IS a compromise!

Meeting 90% of the needs of all users is not the same as meeting all of the needs of 90% of users.

For some, a tablet can meet all of their computing needs but, by and large, tablets are being used as a "supplement" to the computing needs of users. Neither Android nor iOS are suitable a desktop replacements for a fully-functional OS like Windows or Linux.

... and android uses native linux task management.

There is task-switching (which is what tablet OSes do - and what Windows did prior to Windows 95).

There is cooperative multitasking (which is what MacOS 9 and earlier, and Windows 95 thru ME did).

And there is pre-emptive multitasking, which is what UNIX and Linux have done almost since the beginning.

The demands of the latter are what make desktop operating systems "bloated".

But whatever. YMMV.

... multiple GB of RAM (@ $10 per GB) runnung at 2GHz+ when comparing that software to predecessor software that once consumed 128MB of RAM which cost $100 and ran at 800MHz.

the former runs more poorly than the latter, on account of a butt-load of poorly integrated, bloaty "features".

Bloat is throwing away the progresses made in processing power, NOT doing more tasks at the same time, at the same speed as before.

... performs better than Windows XP SP3 does on the same 1GB machine. Of course, the "sweet-spot" for Windows 7 (x86) is 2GB of RAM (it's 3GB for Windows 7 (x64) ... but, at $10 per GB, who cares?

I don't know why Microsoft windows has to pay for the inability of the Hardware guys to invent batteries that last weeks at a reasonable price. That should be the real focus here

When did M$ have a contract with hardware guys that if they sell windows then MS shall pay for battery development ?
Khawar Nehal
http://atrc.net.pk

I'm referring to code bloat, I think you are referring to feature bloat.
Read it again. I never came remotely close to suggesting that in the dead of the night the Google Fairies would sneak into everyone's home and replace your feature bloated machine with an Android based lappy. Every machine is a compromise to someone, and we all benefit from having a multitude of choices to meet the needs of the masses, who have widely different computing needs. An android lappy loaded with the multitudes of exisiting Android apps might be an ideal travel companion while on vacation, or it might be a device so simple that even senior citizens and non techies find that it fits ALL of their needs. I'd never be able to use it as my daily driver either, but I'd sure like to go to Best Buy and take a look at one. Thats my point, and my only point.

Android on a pc is illogical. Android is essentially a stripped down Linux OS. Why would you want a stripped down OS on your pc, unless of course you want your pc to be a thin client with all apps running in the cloud.

On the other hand, you can install any of Linux varieties which are lightweight, yet will allow full desktop productivity and cloud connectivity.

As far as Android (and iapple) apps are concerned, most were always a bad idea - just a bloat on screen. Why have an app for OpenTable, when OpenTable has a website, why do an app for NPR, when NPR has a website. Those apps were necessary for small screen of a phone, but become a moot point for full desktop. On a sidenote, with the smartphones become truly smart and having full browsing, phone apps should become unnecessary. The wexceptions will be games, productivity apps, essentially anything which already does not have a fully functioning website.

My daughter has a nokia E5 and says it runs for days on the charge.
The reason for a stripped down machine is that it gets the job done with longer battery life.
For everything else there is a desktop or a laptop.
Now we are getting tablets vs mobiles and I believe that they shall be only considered over laptops due to battery life. Not PC or laptop features.
Regards,
Khawar Nehal
http://atrc.net.pk

Linux distros. The more the merrier. ABW.

Linux is Linux (mostly).

I just discovered my Roku box runs on Linux, and has a Bluetooth remote.

If it's not noticeably Windows or Mac - it's Linux. From DSL modems to new Cisco equipment, new kitchen "smart" appliances - literally everything.

When you think of it in these terms Linux has an actual market share of 99%. Most people only know what they see, on the surface, everyday and don't think about it. The truth is...

They are surrounded