Android on the desktop. In general, Google hasn't shown much interest in making that happen, and some side projects have fallen by the wayside (for example, Remix OS), but Android-x86 not only remains strong, but has just taken a big step toward Android 8.1 Oreo. A couple of days ago, the official Android-x86 page shared the ISO image of Release Candidate 1, and we decided to download a copy to check the current state of Android on PC.
If we think about humble computers revitalized with the help of a more compact operating system, and a gigantic ecosystem with hundreds of thousands of available apps, the idea of bringing Android to the desktop isn't so crazy. Now, some of our readers probably think Chrome OS is better prepared for that, or that an optimized Linux distro is the logical alternative, however, the public's relationship with Android is much closer these days (courtesy of the billions of smartphones that use it), and the transition difficulties would be minimal. For a while there has been talk of a merger between Android and Chrome OS, but with the introduction of Fuchsia, perhaps the future of Google's operating systems will go in that direction. Until Mountain View decides to share its entire strategy with us, the best way to install Android on PC is by downloading a copy of Android-x86, which has just published the first Release Candidate of Oreo 8.1.
How to install Android on PC with Android-x86
If you've installed a Linux distro before, you won't find any surprises here. You can run Android in Live CD mode (recommended if the plan is basic exploration), install it on the hard drive automatically, or with advanced options to create partitions manually. Once the installation is finished, the rest is... well, Android. Language selection, time zone, Internet connection, username, Google account... the procedure is identical to taking a smartphone out of the box and turning it on for the first time. Unlike other Android remixes, the Google Play Store is already integrated into Android-x86, so downloading apps is a matter of a couple of clicks.
Personally, I had no luck with graphics acceleration and Internet detection, but those are classic growing pains in Android-x86. This Android Oreo 8.1 image includes OpenGL ES 2.0 support via SwiftShader, which enables software rendering on GPUs without compatible drivers, however, developers have made significant advances on devices with Intel HD graphics, and any relatively modern netbook/notebook should be able to fully accelerate Android-x86. Android-x86 Oreo 8.1 RC1 is available in 32 and 64 bits.
