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Android as an OS...good or bad?


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Android as an OS...good or bad?
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Satchmo
can't read sarcasm.
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
 
2009-04-01, 11:01

With HP pondering using Android on it's netbooks, is this really necessary? While it would certainly be a challenge to Microsoft, do we really need another open source OS cluttering the landscape? Isn't that what Linux is? Even with Google's clout, I'm not so sure people are ready to dump Windows (or Linux for that matter). And I'm guessing Mac users won't easily give up the benefits of OS X.

Hewlett-Packard Co is studying uses for Google Inc's Android operating system, but the world's top PC maker stopped short of saying it had decided to adopt the fledgling software in its products.
The free, open-source Android operating system is now used on smartphones but is being designed to support all kinds of devices. Many analysts view the Android as a viable platform for netbooks, the low-cost, stripped-down laptops that have become one of the hottest PC segments.
Any move by Android into the PC space would be a direct challenge to Microsoft and its dominant Windows operating system.
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alcimedes
I shot the sherrif.
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2009-04-01, 11:07

Android would be to Linux what OSX is to BSD.

Take something that's been around forever but never broke out of the niche crowd and make it main stream.

It would likely give us three consumer OS's to work with, two of which would be *nix based.

I don't see how this would be anything but great news for consumers and Apple fans.

Google is your frenemy.
Caveat Emptor - Latin for tough titty
I tend to interpret things in the way that's most hilarious to me
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Satchmo
can't read sarcasm.
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
 
2009-04-01, 12:36

Yes it'll be *nix based, but how is this great news for Apple?
I mean if Android takes off, doesn't this mean open source is the way of the future?
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Dave
Ninja Editor
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
 
2009-04-01, 15:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by Satchmo View Post
Yes it'll be *nix based, but how is this great news for Apple?
I mean if Android takes off, doesn't this mean open source is the way of the future?
It's good news for Apple because half of the *nix software out can just be recompiled to work on OSX, and the other half is easily ported (relatively speaking).

FOSS may or may not be the wave of the future, but I for one would like at least my main OS to be supported by someone and I suspect I'm not alone in that sentiment. I've run linux in the past, and will likely do so again in the future, but never as the sole OS on my main computer. Not until I'm *way* more familiar with it anyway.
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alcimedes
I shot the sherrif.
 
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2009-04-01, 16:11

I think if Google could main stream the Andriod OS it gives you the little extra push necessary to have apps. ported to *nix builds like OSX and Android.

Either one alone might not be worth the time, but if you could develop for both at the same time, and they would share a large portion of code base, well, maybe that's not so bad then.

I'd assume it to mean more software for OSX if anything. No way OSX or Android are replacing Windows any time soon, but combined they might end up big enough to no longer be worth ignoring for developers.

Google is your frenemy.
Caveat Emptor - Latin for tough titty
I tend to interpret things in the way that's most hilarious to me
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cosus
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2009-04-01, 16:58

At this time, android as a desktop OS, seems like Handheld PCs, ie Windows CE.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-04-02, 03:26

I wouldn't mind if HP put Android on my HP Mini. It would be better than their own "Mobile Internet Experience" software. I would have probably even chose it over Windows XP, to be honest (especially if it knocked $50 off the price).

Android seems like an even better fit for MIDs and low-power netbooks like the Touch Book though.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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cosus
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2009-04-02, 04:14

Second thought, couldn't they use Android for their iPaq?
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