Ask Slashdot: Could Android and iOS Become Popular Desktop Operating Systems?

dryriver writes: For many older people, you use Windows, macOS, or Linux on the desktop, and Android or iOS on mobile devices. Nobody is screaming for an Android desktop PC or an iOS 17.3-inch laptop computer. But what about younger generations growing up, from a very young age, glued to devices with these two mobile operating systems running on it? Will they want to use Windows, macOS, or Linux just like us old farts when they grow older, or will they want their favorite mobile operating systems running -- in a beefed up and more robust form -- on desktop and laptop computers which they use for school, college, and/or work as well? Since we are on this topic -- could Android or iOS one day become reasonably usable desktop operating systems from an architectural standpoint? And could Google and Apple already be planning for an "Android and iOS on the desktop" computing future, without telling anyone about it publicly?

Comments

It is the applications

[Anonymous Coward]

You will use the OS where your apps work best. No matter what that is. The OS really does not matter except for security. The software matters to get shit done.

Re: It is the applications

[denisbergeron]

That why is cool too work with Microsoft word on Samsung Linux/Android DEX

Re:It is the applications

[HornyBastard]

Could Android and iOS Become Popular Desktop Operating Systems?

No.

Most people are not very smart. It could become a POPULAR desktop operating system.

The real question is Could Android and iOS become GOOD desktop operating systems?

The answer to that question is no.

Reminds me of an old quote: "nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people"

Betteridge's law of headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

Mobile devices are based on the act of consumption, not content creation.

Yes you can "create" tweets and meme-grade content, but the more complex something is, the more tools you'll need for it. The existence of an operating system that allows you to manage files is a core function required for fluidity between the tools. Without that you're stuck with all-in-one solutions.

Neither iOS nor Android has that level of user-manageable file integration, by design. If that changes in the future, so be it, but for them to be dominant desktop creation platforms they'll have to change so much that they effectively become new and different systems.

Re:Betteridge's law of headlines

[Anonymous Coward]

Mobile devices are based on the act of consumption, not content creation.

90% of users are consumers so it shouldn't be a problem.

Anything that can run a browser, play a movie and maybe some games would be perfect for most users.

Re: Betteridge's law of headlines

[Farmer Tim]

Actually dipshit Android has a perfectly usable filesystem with tools to match.

Lost track of the silly names...is Dipshit Android, version 8 or 9?

Start to plan on it when ...

[Tjp($)pjT]

When Apple moves Xcode to iOS you know they are planning for shifting the paradigm. Until then, desktops and mobile OSes are not destined to merge.

Fuschia

[Kryptonut]

Isn't that sort of what Google is doing with Fuchsia?

OS X / macOS seems to have gotten progressively more and more iOS like since about Yosemite (10.10).

Re:Fuschia

[phantomfive]

Fuchsia is Google's NIH solution to the Linux kernel. They got tired of running their own custom fork (because it takes effort to merge) and thought it might be easier to make their own kernel. It's mainly a kernel.

No

[Roger W Moore]

iOS is far, far too restrictive to ever be a desktop replacement in its current form. Any science or engineering degree requires some level of programming which is almost impossible under these OS's so at least some "young people" will get used to desktop OS's. Plus, if you want to develop an app for these OS's you need a desktop OS to do this.

The only way that iOS or Android will replace macOS or Linux is if they end up becoming a lot more like macOS or Linux.

Re:No

[drinkypoo]

Any science or engineering degree requires some level of programming which is almost impossible under these OS's so at least some "young people" will get used to desktop OS's.

Those people are dramatically in the minority. Most people will never even do any scripting, let alone programming. Since python is taking over scientific analysis from tools like matlab, it's quite feasible that all dominant desktop operating systems will die, and traditional Linux (mod systemd, unfortunately) will become the desktop OS of scientific computing and hackers — and pretty much nobody else. (Naturally, it will continue to power "The Cloud".)

On the other hand, Android sucked rocks as a desktop OS last time I tried it. One thing users do still expect is to be able to switch contexts rapidly, and perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Android and iOS are still very much designed to do one thing at a time. They'll have to support windowed apps floating around before it becomes feasible to use them as desktop operating systems.

Mobile OS doesn't have the workflow

[Heir Of The Mess]

My primary school age kids use their portable devices for games that can be played with a couple of fingers, but they know that for getting work done they use Windows OS. They have collections of photos they sort into folders, videos they edit, pictures they edit with their fine motor skills via the mouse, copying files to USB to take to school, powerpoint presentations, web pages they are copying and referencing, and this is all at the same time across multiple monitors. I guess if you really wanted an alternative there's MacOS, but then that doesn't run Visual Studio, so it's useless to me, and why would I buy a whole lot of different rigs for my home environment when the Windows OS installations I have all work nicely together? Under what situation would someone run Android as a desktop operating system? It's like Linux but with a whole lot of vulnerabilities thrown on top. Maybe iOS could make it if Apple turf MacOS and give iOS a desktop shell. If you're hoping for some mobile OS to take over the desktop then that's probably your best bet, but then you are stuck in the walled garden on your desktop.

iOS is already most people's desktops

[xtal]

Desktop computing is the domain of professionals now. The vast majority of people use their phones and tablets as their primary computing devices. I had my eyes opened working on my wife's website for her firm - 95% of the traffic was mobile or tablet.

iOS won't work for people who use computers in the classical sense - e.g. tell the computers to do things - because you don't have enough fine grained control. An IDE on a tablet would be a genuinely terrible experience. ...but most people interact with a tablet as their primary OS, and that's a good thing.

Re:iOS is already most people's desktops

[ShoulderOfOrion]

Not sure why you're gettng so much AC hate...you nailed it. No, Android/iOS is not going to become a desktop OS, because we're talking about two VASTLY DIFFERENT userbases. All those kids now using phones and tablets who will grow up to become corporate drones or plumbers won't need desktops because they have their phones and tablets. In the corporate world they're more likely to have thin clients with fullscreen browsers running webapps than some desktop workstation running Android/iOS. Desktops will be used by those who need 2^X cores, watercooled GPUs and 256 lanes of PCIe, and those folks are not going to be installing some eToy operating system.

Re:Does it run Microsoft Office?

[Jeremi]

If the answer is no, then forget about it.

What should I do if the answer is yes?

Popularity or Utility are not Relevant

[Required Snark]

This question must be considered in terms of the current captive market.

On the desktop Microsoft is the entrenched monopoly. On smartphones there is a duopoly between Android/Google and IOS/Apple. It is completely feasible for Google or Apple to try to grab some of Microsoft's desktop market share with their respective phone centric OS. Google is already on this path with the Chromebook and Apple with the iPad line.

The move to challenge Widows with another platform is a business decision on the part of Google or Apple. It's not about an unmet demand on the part of users. It's a case of three massive rivals placing bets on the future. Concepts like "popularity" or "ease of use" are not primary movers. Marketing, market share, and risk/reward are the basic factors, not any desire on the part of the public.

Re: Can it run autocad?

[Anonymous Coward]

https://blogs.autodesk.com/autocad/autodesk-brings-core-desktop-engine-autocad-ipad/

AutoCAD was featured at Appleâ(TM)s keynote eventâin Brooklyn, New York, where Apple introduced the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

âoeFor the first time, Autodesk will be bringing the desktop engine of AutoCAD to the iPad. This will allow customers to view and edit files that contain hundreds of thousands of objects that you see here with performance as fast as the fastest PCs.â

Walled garden

[ZorinLynx]

I'm willing to tolerate a walled garden for my phone and tablet, because they are appliances. I don't consider them "real computers"; they serve a specific function, which is communicating and accessing the Internet and other systems. Basically they're like fancy terminals.

But definitely not for my desktop. I want a real computer on my desk, that I fully control and can run whatever code I want. I suppose Android wouldn't be too bad, though even on Android device makers try to take a lot more control than they do with PCs and Macs.

My iPad is great for sitting in a coffee shop reading something, surfing the web, reading E-mail, or even SSHing to a host or two. But if I have to do any sort of real work, the frustration level spikes quickly. iOS would need a substantial redesign to be a real desktop operating system, including ditching the walled garden. But then what do you have? MacOS. Why not just use the best tool for the job?

Re:iOS is MacOS X

[Cmdln Daco]

Okay. Slowly now. Put down the 'candy' that Genius at the Apple Store gave you to chew on.

Now come with us, we can help you.

You changed my mind

[SuperKendall]

Mobile devices are based on the act of consumption, not content creation.

I was coming to say the same thing about Betteridge's, but because I know your statement here is utterly false I conclude that in fact it will happen.

I have switched to mostly editing images from professional cameras on an iPad because I prefer it. I try to do all by banking on mobile apps (here failures of the app makers throw occasional wrenches in that plan). I've worked on long documents and presentations all on mobile devices.

Sure iOS and android are not replacing desktops today, this year, or next. But you can see it coming, sure as you can see the lights from the large city you are driving towards scores of miles away at night and know what is there.

ChromeOS

[sgunhouse]

Google has no plans for Android as a desktop OS - that is what ChromeOS is for. But Samsung or Lenovo - two vendors that have modified versions of Android on their products - might have their own ideas. Lenovo has a version that let's you run apps in windows rather than full-screen, has a task-based, and the Yogabook that I'm running it on comes with 64 gb storage (expandable by adding a micro SD card) and an attached keyboard, trackpad, and pen input. That's as good as a Win 7 laptop I used to have.

I recall articles here that Google is working on a new OS, so of course they are not planning Android as a desktop OS. But it seems to be happening anyway.