Remix OS - Android OS for your PC

[Jim Brown]

Here's an interesting OS which is a custom Android version of the existing X86 image incorporating elements to give Android more of a PC productivity slant. For instance, floating windows, right-mouse click, file management, enhanced multi-tasking, and common cut/copy/paste key mappings.

The official release is 12 January 2016. The OS can be installed onto a USB stick for trial testing. This might be a good replacement OS for your older PC/laptop hardware. Its compatible with Intel and AMD chip sets.

Main site:
http://www.jide.com/en/remixos


In depth look:

 

[DarkMann]

It's quite a nice system. I supported their Remix Mini on Kickstarter and have had it for a little over a month. £40 for a usable desktop PC (Ok, £60 with the keyboard and mouse) is a remarkable achievement. Their desktop is somewhere between Windows and ChromeOS.

Most of my android apps work just fine. Naturally, some of them work better than others - it depends on how they handle screen resize events. As far as I can tell, the OS sends an orientation change event when the screen is resized and the app has to handle that properly - including checking the screen resolution it is being told to work within. But in general phone apps open in a portrait window and just work and you can switch apps from the bar at the bottom - just like any other desktop OS.

It is probably what ChromeOs should have been from the start, or more likely it is what it will become as Google add more android app compatibility to ChromeOS.

I'm using it as one of the platforms I test Android apps on as it gives a versatile approach to layout checking.

David

 

[Jim Brown]

I'll take this for a spin tomorrow. Any ideas if it supports multi-user accounts David? I can't see any evidence of user switching options.

 

[DarkMann]

Sorry Jim,

I had to check myself about the multiuser thing. It doesn't llo like it. There's no option in the setting s to set up a separate login, just the usual android accounts stuff.

David

 

[Cableguy]

Wich Android version it is bzsed on?

 

[KMatle]

I hope that it WILL WORK (not: it might work on "some" pc's in "some" environments but with 256 MB only but only if you ...).

 

[Jim Brown]

So I just finished playing around with Remix for the PC. At the moment its 'alpha' so a few hiccups are expected.
It does not perform properly in Resident mode for me, and to be fair I did get a warning that my USB write speed is under the desired 20MB/sec write speed.
In Guest mode everything was snappy although I could not turn WIFI on.
The layout and functionality are very nice and clean. You almost forget its Android since it feels like a lightweight Windows 10.
At the moment it only runs from the USB stick. There is no 'install to PC' option. Being alpha though I wouldn't chance it anyway.

The Remix UI approach is where Google should have gone with the Pixel C. For productivity Android in its current 'tablet / mobile' form is not really geared up for a desktop productivity environment but Remix proves that it certainly can be.

Oh, and the version of Android under the hood is 5.1.1

 

[Lahksman]

Just got it running in VirtualBox.
Gonna give it a test run this evening.

 

[sorex]

I have it running in guest mode on an HP Elitebook 2530p laptop.

Took way to long to boot but once booted it worked quite fast and could browse the internet without any problems.

I didn't see any Google Play icon tho to install something extra.

It didn't boot on an HP desktop tho once I selected guest mode.