Being a PC user.

[oldSock]

Today we find ourselves with what is essentially information overload.

 

Being a PC user and not a technical expert does place a person in a real disadvantage. 

 

Lately I look at the Laptop, tablet and mobile phone industry and I wonder why Desktop is no longer part of the discussion. Now the type of hardware will really boil down to its use case. For example we know that some users need a more powerful system because their workload is demanding others will need a basic system because the workload is not demanding. Now the standard desktop is customizable and one can argue to a high degree even portable "depending". Even a large server is portable if someone needs to move it. 

 

Now a little while ago, my own system died on me and I had a horrible time to get things to work again once I replaced the drive. Despite having several original keys for various versions of Windows i was unable to authenticate my key. Originally the system Shipped with a windows 8 key and I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and then was given the option to upgrade to windows 10. This time around it simply refused. At this time I wasn't aware that Win10 will work as per normal without a key. I know I can install windows 10 without a key but didn't know it will work as per normal. Also I don't know what parts of Windows 10 remains locked. I am just a user not an tech professional.

 

The biggest factor I personally thought would be the OS. But after several minutes of being turned into toast I realized that this is not the case.

 

So I started to wonder what changed.

 

The realization is that both Microsoft and Android has developer community but others like Linux may not enjoy the same exposure. That said Linux community works really hard to give the user a really GOOD experience.  The second thing is Linux is very user friendly then what it was and I can see why many users enjoy using it.  

 

I am a Linux user. Not a Linux expert. I am a Windows user not a Windows expert. I am a Android user not a Android expert. I use to be a Apple user not an apple expert. 

 

Now my experience with some companies is better then others. So I like many I have products that I enjoy and products I really dislike.

 

So While struggling to get hold of support and had a looming deadline I realized that the devices that was working at the time might help me out. I used them and sure enough they helped me out a lot. I managed to get the work done and in a timely matter.

 

Then I realized that for the time I had my tablet and Phone they hardly gave me problems and when they did I just followed a few instructions on the net and I got them working again.

 

This is not necessarily the case when it comes to Windows. Sometimes I as a user run into really simple problems, but at the time not solvable problems. The same was true for Linux when I ran into a driver problem for the GPU. For some reason the recommended and the open source driver wasn't working. Then I was surprised to learn that even Linux have very data heavy updates. Now because my internet provider doesn't host uncap, data management is important to me. 

 

Windows on the other hand does give me a very simple and user intuitive way to manage data use. That said, android also allow for data management due to its mobile roots.

 

So, why am I writing all this?

 

I was wondering if other users thought about using Android as a OS on their desktop system. If so how was the experience?

 

For me personally Android has a big advantage because many companies have custom apps that allow for ease of use. The same companies sometimes have custom solutions for the Windows OS as well. This means that Linux may not always be able to access these custom solutions. 

 

Now I did use a android emulator, It worked well but it started to install software I didn't want or even asked for. So this emulator wasn't a good experience for me personally. I would like to control what gets downloaded, what gets installed on my system. 

 

So should users limit themselves to the OS they use? 

 

I personally don't think so.

 

As a PC user and not a tech professional I am now looking into really just load android on my PC and just force myself wot work with it. I think it will be frustrating, I think I will run into many problems. However IF I can reinstall the OS get it running in a good time and not worry about keys and authentication problems then this is a good solution for me. It will also allow me to move between my devices again. Something I use to enjoy as an Apple user.  Now why not use Apple? As it stand now I lost my trust in apple devices. My one device had battery bloat and my other device was very flimsy. This was several years ago. Why not Linux? Linux does not allow me to use the custom "in house" solutions thus I only really have android and windows as options right now. This is not to say that a Linux solution will not be developed, it is just not currently available.

 

So in conclusion, I think it is time to explore options. 

 

If you are reading this and you had tried this, what was your experience? I would really like to know as I go into this. 

 

 

Thank you for reading

 

 

peace

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

[AndreiArgeanu]

6 minutes ago, oldSock said:

I am now looking into really just load android on my PC

You might want to consider loading chromeOS instead, it's basically android with a desktop friendly user interface, and you also have access to the Android app store, additionally you can also set up linux inside chromeOS so you can run Linux apps, a good example might be installing virtual studio code, since there is no android version for it.

[flashiling]

i'm guessing the windows 7 key you had from last post didn't work?

[AndreiArgeanu]

1 minute ago, Lord Vile said:

It has to run on ARM

It doesn't, android runs perfectly fine on an x86 cpu.

[Mateyyy]

3 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

It doesn't, android runs perfectly fine on an x86 cpu.

Didn't the x86 port run like crap though?

[AndreiArgeanu]

Just now, Lord Vile said:

What's the performance though.

It's not bad, I tried it out a long time ago on an i3-530, it run perfectly fine.

[AndreiArgeanu]

Just now, Mateyyy said:

Didn't the x86 port run like crap though?

Not really, 4 years ago or so, android 4.4 kitkat ran perfectly fine on an i3 530, so I can't imagine newer versions being that much of an issue if you've got half decent hardware.

[kelvinhall05]

Chromebook would be perfect for you, or ChromeOS on your PC (check out Cloudready).

 

The problem with Android is that everything is designed to be used on a slow phone or tablet with the only input device being a touchscreen. Good luck getting any serious work done with mobile verisons of apps. At least ChromeOS has a slight edge in that regard.

[gloop]

1 hour ago, Lord Vile said:

Android is a fairly limited OS in terms of compatibility and optimisation. It has to run on ARM essentially which outside of Apples A13 chip isn't competitive with a low power laptop chip and to my knowledge there is no x86 to ARM emulator on android. 

 

Why not use a ChromeBook?

For the love of mobile please snip. 

[henerysmith]

2 hours ago, oldSock said:

Today we find ourselves with what is essentially information overload.

 

Being a PC user and not a technical expert does place a person in a real disadvantage. 

 

Lately I look at the Laptop, tablet and mobile phone industry and I wonder why Desktop is no longer part of the discussion. Now the type of hardware will really boil down to its use case. For example we know that some users need a more powerful system because their workload is demanding others will need a basic system because the workload is not demanding. Now the standard desktop is customizable and one can argue to a high degree even portable "depending". Even a large server is portable if someone needs to move it. 

 

Now a little while ago, my own system died on me and I had a horrible time to get things to work again once I replaced the drive. Despite having several original keys for various versions of Windows i was unable to authenticate my key. Originally the system Shipped with a windows 8 key and I upgraded to Windows 8.1 and then was given the option to upgrade to windows 10. This time around it simply refused. At this time I wasn't aware that Win10 will work as per normal without a key. I know I can install windows 10 without a key but didn't know it will work as per normal. Also I don't know what parts of Windows 10 remains locked. I am just a user not an tech professional.

 

The biggest factor I personally thought would be the OS. But after several minutes of being turned into toast I realized that this is not the case.

 

So I started to wonder what changed.

 

The realization is that both Microsoft and Android has developer community but others like Linux may not enjoy the same exposure. That said Linux community works really hard to give the user a really GOOD experience.  The second thing is Linux is very user friendly then what it was and I can see why many users enjoy using it.  

 

I am a Linux user. Not a Linux expert. I am a Windows user not a Windows expert. I am a Android user not a Android expert. I use to be a Apple user not an apple expert. 

 

Now my experience with some companies is better then others. So I like many I have products that I enjoy and products I really dislike.

 

So While struggling to get hold of support and had a looming deadline I realized that the devices that was working at the time might help me out. I used them and sure enough they helped me out a lot. I managed to get the work done and in a timely matter.

 

Then I realized that for the time I had my tablet and Phone they hardly gave me problems and when they did I just followed a few instructions on the net and I got them working again.

 

This is not necessarily the case when it comes to Windows. Sometimes I as a user run into really simple problems, but at the time not solvable problems. The same was true for Linux when I ran into a driver problem for the GPU. For some reason the recommended and the open source driver wasn't working. Then I was surprised to learn that even Linux have very data heavy updates. Now because my internet provider doesn't host uncap, data management is important to me. 

 

Windows on the other hand does give me a very simple and user intuitive way to manage data use. That said, android also allow for data management due to its mobile roots.

 

So, why am I writing all this?

 

I was wondering if other users thought about using Android as a OS on their desktop system. If so how was the experience?

 

For me personally Android has a big advantage because many companies have custom apps that allow for ease of use. The same companies sometimes have custom solutions for the Windows OS as well. This means that Linux may not always be able to access these custom solutions. 

 

Now I did use a android emulator, It worked well but it started to install software I didn't want or even asked for. So this emulator wasn't a good experience for me personally. I would like to control what gets downloaded, what gets installed on my system. 

 

So should users limit themselves to the OS they use? 

 

I personally don't think so.

 

As a PC user and not a tech professional I am now looking into really just load android on my PC and just force myself wot work with it. I think it will be frustrating, I think I will run into many problems. However IF I can reinstall the OS get it running in a good time and not worry about keys and authentication problems then this is a good solution for me. It will also allow me to move between my devices again. Something I use to enjoy as an Apple user.  Now why not use Apple? As it stand now I lost my trust in apple devices. My one device had battery bloat and my other device was very flimsy. This was several years ago. Why not Linux? Linux does not allow me to use the custom "in house" solutions thus I only really have android and windows as options right now. This is not to say that a Linux solution will not be developed, it is just not currently available.

 

So in conclusion, I think it is time to explore options. 

 

If you are reading this and you had tried this, what was your experience? I would really like to know as I go into this. 

 

 

Thank you for reading

 

 

peace

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Running Android as an OS is not a permanent, not even temporary solution. There are 100s of software just for one application. Better try chromeOS

[dfsgsfa]

2 hours ago, oldSock said:

was wondering if other users thought about using Android as a OS on their desktop system. If so how was the experience?

even you managed to setup a android as desktop daily use, you will still try to revert to windows layout, habbits, and apps.

at least thats what i do when i connect phone to tv with mouse and keyboard back in 2014 samsung s3

[Uttamattamakin]

There is a strong case for doing what you said.  SAMSUNG has the best phones for this.  

 

 

HP tried to make this work with windows phone.  Windows did this first, they are likely to try it again with their new phones.    I have seriously considered using such a setup for my own work if my Surface Pro died. 

 

BUT  the thing about these setups is, so far, there will be a time where one has a killer app that MUST run on an X86 platform.  You may be surprised how much software you use has no real equivalent on ARM.  ARM is highly optimized for running code I will call "Java like" not Java anymore but code that has a heritage that leads back to Java, which was the defininc characteristic of Smart Phones from before the iPhone.    That and Linux/UNIX like code.   

 

I love Linux, I love UNIX, but really objectively think of how much software we use  which has NO real, non hacky, equivalent in Linux. 

 

There is one reason why a chromebook would be better. 

 

Chromebooks can run Linux apps that you say you use, but also Android apps.  Which would include a lot of KEY corporate software mainly MS Office apps, in particular Outlook.    Outlook for email has no equivalent native Linux app. 

 

So in short yeah with the right phone you can really have a good experience of using a phone as a computer.  That said, a Chromebook is a better less compromised version of that.    PLUS you can use a Chromebook with an INTEL or even I think AMD processor and still have all the goodness of x86 architecture  still a real PC.

 

 

 

[oldSock]

3 hours ago, flashiling said:

i'm guessing the windows 7 key you had from last post didn't work?

Nope it didn't, i have no idea if they just dropped the upgrade function or if i am terribly unlucky.

[AndreiArgeanu]

11 minutes ago, oldSock said:

Nope it didn't, i have no idea if they just dropped the upgrade function or if i am terribly unlucky.

They didn't drop the upgrade function, the windows 7 pro key stuck to my optiplex worked perfectly fine when activating windows 10 on 2 pc's and a laptop.