World’s biggest PC vendor [Lenovo] takes first step that could establish Android as Windows biggest rival ever — and eliminate Google ChromeOS at the same time
They're not saying it will. My gaming laptop is already running the same Linux kernel as Android phones so the kernel is great. Then it's down to the GUI and that might be a good fit for hospitality/healthcare/retail as the article says where some devices are already run in more or less of a Kiosk style with specific purpose. Besides phones are just small PCs anyway, it's all about the use-case.
Its an OS, period. Like in every other context it'll be adapted to its use case. Its unrealistic to think that its going to look like a phone/tablet. Android is and had been running on a hell of a lot more than phones for a very long time now, and most people dont even realize it.
I'll agree with you as an advanced user myself it most likely won't be for me either, but we're not the 99%. The normies benefit from more locked down ecosystems and especially immutable OS's.
I just spend 3hrs literally yesterday in my mothers OnePlus unfucking it, she's only had Androids since she's owned smartphones, yet cant understand Android and actually how to use it, never knows what she does, constantly turns things on and off, shit you CAN'T accidentally do. Non tech people and functionality/control over the OS is never a good thing.
MDM managed devices would make situations like your mother's much easier to manage and handle remotely. Lock down all the stuff she keeps messing up. Id love to have hardware that I could walkaway from that was cheaper than apple and had management like it when using an MDM like Jamf.
Why though? Immutable Operating Systems are great for regular usage. Android is restricted and closed up, compared to Linux or Windows. But its damn secure.
Having the app support, on this ecosystem where every app always is in its container, would be huge.
But I prefer Fedora Atomic, its more or less the same, but actually free, with wide app support and no Google.
Because I do all kinds of things with my OS that they probably didn't consider when they were locking things down. I enjoy the freedom and flexibility of a desktop OS while I'm on a desktop. Even Mac OS drives me up the walls sometimes.
Well yeah... We are not saying is for everyone.
Like it's nice for less technical people were it's more difficult for them to fuck it up or get confused with technical stuff and they do not need anything advanced or sometime that flexible, just a couple of apps an a browser.
Yeah it would probably be great for someone like my mother. She's an expert at breaking her operating system and anything to lock her system down would be helpful. I'm sure there are millions of people who never do much more than read emails, browse the web, and maybe do some spreadsheet work, and it would be great for them too. For me, I like control. I use Arch on my laptop and Pop on my gaming computer so that I'm not constrained by whatever Microsoft or Apple are currently trying to simplify with their OS.
Edit: I also stopped using Windows because it's becoming pretty similar to spyware and adware these days, and every time you turn all that stuff off, they turn it back on with the next update. I reached my wits end about 3-4 years ago and dumped Windows completely for everything except Fusion 360.
The problem I see with this is that Linux doesn’t do well enough as it is so fragmenting it further isn’t going to move the needle against Windows (IMO)
Believe it or not Android is solidly capable as an OS without too big of a hardware requirement. Give Android x86 a shot and you'll see how fast it can be. Pretty decently optimized. Sadly last Android the supported was 11.