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PC Plus Packs Windows and Android Into Same Machine

Posted by timothy on from the or-splashtop-plus-if-you'd-prefer dept.

jones_supa writes "At the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in early January, it is expected that multiple computer makers will unveil systems that simultaneously run two different operating systems, both Windows and Android, two different analysts said recently. The new devices will introduce a new marketing buzzword called PC Plus, explained Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies. 'A PC Plus machine will run Windows 8.1 but will also run Android apps as well', Bajarin wrote recently for Time. 'They are doing this through software emulation. I'm not sure what kind of performance you can expect, but this is their way to try and bring more touch-based apps to the Windows ecosystem.' Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, suggests that PC Plus could get millions of consumers more comfortable with Android on PCs. 'Just imagine for a second what happens when Android gets an improved large-screen experience. This should scare the heck out of Microsoft.'"

17 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/27/2027222/pc-makers-plan-rebellion-against-microsoft-at-ces?sbsrc=md

    1. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      That story got 538 replies. Why not try for another heavy hitter? It's a good business strategy.

      Help Dice out folks, copy your last comments into this story.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, I'm kinda reading this as something along the lines of...

      Exec: So, based on the Ouya's wild success since its launch...
      *crickets*
      Exec: ...we'e decided Android has proven it can work outside of mobile devices and that it's time to implement an entire PC around it. And since people love dual booting...
      *crickets*
      Exec: ...we expect it to be a smashing success!

      This product idea is basically a shot across the bow to Microsoft from the hardware manufacturers, telling MS that they're actively looking for alternatives and that MS had better do something about it. But they're not as clueless as the executive I painted above. They know that this product will flop, because normal people don't want to deal with wondering why they can't use their app unless they reboot or why their data isn't accessible from where they are, and the decision makers know that Android is not ready to be run as a desktop OS.

      I predict that we'll only see a handful, if even that, of these come to market, and that most will be killed before they ever get close to launching, since it isn't about selling them: it's about sending a message to Microsoft.

    3. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by noh8rz10 · · Score: 5, Funny

      so if a computer just has android but no windows, is it a PC Minus?

    4. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by sootman · · Score: 5, Funny

      > copy your last comments into this story.

      My comments? Fuck that. I'm stealing some +5s from that thread.

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      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    5. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      you got that backwards. the windows 8 system is the pc minus.

    6. Re:Dupe Plus Packs Two Articles into Same Subject by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Buddy, years ago you used to be insightful, but these days, you've gone off the rails.

      If you don't have root on an Android device, there's no way that you can install something that cannot be uninstalled, unless it came pre-installed in the ROM that was flashed onto the device. It's just *not* possible to block the uninstallation of something without root, or root-equivalent powers (to wit, getting baked into the ROM).

      Moreover, that Linux "infection" link that you linked to has nothing to do with stock Android. Stock Android doesn't ship with gksu, doesn't know what to do with Gnome or KDE Launcher files, runs each app on the system as a separate user, and (in recent versions of Android) uses SELinux to further protect against privilege escalations). Also, can I point out the absurdity of their "Getting root" appendix? They're talking about malware that modifies a file in /usr/sbin/ in order to *get* root. /usr/sbin/ is *only* writeable by root in *every* mainstream distro. If you can write there... well, things get easy when you're on the soft and squishy side of the airtight hatchway, don't they? ;)

  2. Screen resolution for laptops? by CockMonster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1366x768 just doesn't cut it, no matter how many OSes you stick on it.

    1. Re:Screen resolution for laptops? by msobkow · · Score: 5, Informative

      The reason the business market is "dying" is that the hardware itself has been more than capable of dealing with business tasks for years. With central OS updates by the business, they're all running Windows 7, regardless of what was running on them when purchased. So those "old" machines are perfectly serviceable for the business, and the businesses are not upgrading and replacing them nearly as often as they used to.

      The same issue is hitting the home consumer market. Just how much raw CPU do you think it requires to run Word, email, a browser, and watch a video? That's all most home users do. Very, very few of the machines sold are gaming machines, and even fewer are used for CPU intensive tasks like video processing or encoding.

      Bottom line: People don't need new machines. So instead of buying a new PC, they're buying toys like tablets and the latest whizz-bang cell phones. If the old PC ever dies, then they'll replace it. And join the crowd in bitching about Windows 8.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    2. Re:Screen resolution for laptops? by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Indeed. And vast majority of people cannot tell. At all. Almost entire thing can be summed by two words: "placebo effect".

      Some tiny minority can tell the difference at normal viewing distances. Most of those that claim that can actually cannot. You require perfect eyesight AND on top of it a trained eye to see it. Brutal medical statistics suggest that there are simply not enough people that meet the criteria. Our eyes are simply not durable enough nor good enough.

      On the other hand, a much bigger problem seen by almost everyone in terms of graphical fidelity is color banding. And yet, even apple, the supposed darling of "making stuff look as natural as possible" keeps shoving IPS panels into its phones. These panels cannot display enough colors to avoid banding.

      Reality is, neither is all that important. Our eyes get used to whatever image we see very quickly. It's an evolved trait that is possessed by essentially everyone, both those with good vision and bad, those fully color blind or not. What's important is that it's good enough so that your eyes can adapt to it within a few minutes of usage.

      As a result, 1366x768 is good enough. Because outside the hipster talk, people choose functionality over pricey hipster cred. That's why these cheap laptops sell truckloads while expensive stuff can't match its volume. Just like they do with audio and audiophiles. It has to be functional, and good enough. Rest is for the tiny minority that demand the absolute best to the point of hallucinating about potential advantages when there are none.

  3. Might be a way to solve a few issues... by mlts · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One of the biggest causes of malware are attacks on the Web browser and its add-ons. Android is a lot more secure in this regard, so having the ability to browse the Web with the code executing well away from the Windows side will be a very useful security gain.

    It won't stop Trojans, but it will help address one major vector for infections.

    I'd buy one of these "PC Pluses" just because I do know that the Android side will almost always be usable. I won't be able to do the advanced workflow or run the usual applications and games as I do on Windows, but for a number of tasks, the Android side will be good enough. Plus, with root, it can serve as a way to offload some UNIX functions such as a caching DNS, squid cache, etc.

  4. This is not new and not news, either. by kheldan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So you run Android in a VM inside Windows. So what? This isn't a new trick, and it's not newsworthy either. It smacks of shameless shilling. Seriously, nothing to see here, move along..

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  5. Woohoo more experience by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Has anyone else taken a skeptical view of the word "experience"? I don't want to "experience" a computer. I just want a functional computer that works.

    'Just imagine for a second what happens when Android gets an improved large-screen experience.'

    I don't need to imagine much. When you use any system for something its not designed for the only thing that it will experience is its own demise.

  6. davlik ported to windows? by strstr · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most Andriod apps are not native ARM apps, but Java / bytecode which run in a virtual machine called davlik. Port that to Windows / x64, and suddenly all the Android apps run in Windows. The Android environment itself could be emulated in Windows or tied to replacement functions like the Windows desktop in the new platform (instead of a phone/tablet interface).

    Windows is POSIX compliant and supports Unix if they chose the route of emulating unix functions, or they could build their own environment like cygwin/etc. It doesn't need this, but some apps might need something like it if it exposed the underlying unix features. It depends on how they wanted to implment it, cause it could also just wrap over to the Windows environment..

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_(software)

  7. We need an Android app that lets you run Windows by Animats · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe we just need a Android app that lets you run Windows applications. You know, for those times you need to run some ancient CRM app from the corporate network on your tablet. That's probably more useful than the other way round.

  8. Re:Remote desktop while out of Wi-Fi range by tepples · · Score: 4, Funny

    A tablet with a screen and keyboard

    ...is called a laptop.

  9. Re:Trojans by lxs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You mean after choosing to download a malicious application, choosing to install it, and choosing the grant it permission, Windows allows me to use software that DOES things to my computer that I may consider detrimental?

    Yeah but for some sites you really need to have Adobe Flash installed.