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WindowsAndroid Lets You Run Android 4.0 Natively On Your PC

Posted by Soulskill on from the hey-why-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes "WindowsAndroid is a very cool tool from the Beijing-based startup SocketeQ that lets you run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) as a native application on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 machines. The creators tell us they have a deep background in virtualization, operating system, and graphics technologies, and have been working on the project for years. Essentially, WindowsAndroid allows you not only to execute Android apps on your Windows computer, but also use the browser, not to mention every other component of the operating system."

14 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. i know what i'm thinking is heavily biased but! by etash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    how many of you would think it twice before willingly installing software from a chinese software company -- given all the news we hear recently about chinese companies being denied access to important western markets due to security reasons and all.

    1. Re:i know what i'm thinking is heavily biased but! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sandbox it. It's an Android emulator, if it can't run in a sandbox at full mobile device speeds, it's not worth using. If it can't run in a sandbox because it requires administrator access to your boot sector, delete with extreme prejudice.

    2. Re:i know what i'm thinking is heavily biased but! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean the accusations without proof from the US government? The same government that's been waging a cyber-war against other countries in secret for years now? The same government who can run surveillance on their own citizens without a warrant by handing someone a post-it note?

  2. Re:yeah bitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Chrome on Android on Windows is really fast, huh?

  3. From China..? by mr.dreadful · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is anyone else a little hesitant to run Chinese software? I don't want to be xenophobic, but I'm a bit leery of either Russian or Chinese software.

  4. http://androvm.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    AndroVM is better, runs on GNU/Linux and already supports hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering of Android games when the game installer is not huge (less than 100 MB in size).

    1. Re:http://androvm.org by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Mr. Ballmer, your medication is ready!

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    2. Re:http://androvm.org by phorm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Any luck running Netflix on it?
      That's about the only thing other than games I run Windows for.

  5. BlueStacks by Jason+Levine · · Score: 5, Informative

    Looks similar to what BlueStacks does. http://www.bluestacks.com/

    And, for those posting about being wary of software from a Chinese company, BlueStacks is located in California.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  6. Peeling the onion by nanospook · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have an app that runs windows on my phone. I wonder if I can run Socket in there? Wouldn't that be the bomb?

    --
    Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
  7. Re:Developers by inamorty · · Score: 5, Funny

    The current simulator is a bit slow.

    I'm curious.
    What kind of filter are you using that is able to remove all traces of swearing from your post? It's very effective!

  8. Already in the SDK. by ewanm89 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The SDK can already hardware virtualize an x86 image already (via Intel HAXM on windows and Mac and KVM on Linux), and there is a 4.0.4 x86 image in the repositories.

  9. Re:Does it handle OpenGL, then? by ewanm89 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, hardware accelerated graphics is available in the Android SDK emulator, it's still marked experimental and has a few caveats, but is available (since SDK tools 17).

  10. Need Windows emulator... by marciot · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would like to try this on my Android phone. Does anyone know of a good Windows emulator I can use to run this software?