Testing machine
The system which is used in this tutorial for testing Remix OS has AMD Athlon processor, 2 gigs of RAM, and Remix OS is installed on the hard disk. I had no problem in making this device an Android PC. Warning: Though Remix OS looks stable but it is in beta and may cause data loss. So, it is better if you install it on a spare USB 3.0 thumb drive (USB 2.0 is very slow).
How to Install Remix OS Or Android For PC
The installation of Remix OS is somewhat similar to the other Linux distributions installations. So if you have already familiar with Linux installation it’ll be a lot easier for you but if you’re not, don’t worry, it will still be easier. ? Download the zip file of Remix OS from the following links – Check the integrity of the file and if it is OK, then carry on. Extract the zip to a folder and you will find an ISO file and a setup file. Run the installer and choose the ISO and where you want to install the OS. When the installation is complete it will ask you to reboot, then you have to reboot the system. It will take ten to twenty minutes for setting things up. After that choose your language, then accept the license agreement and then setup WiFi and that’s it, the setup is complete and here is the desktop.
For Linux users
There is no official installer for Linux to install Remix OS, but we can use Unetbootin to install the operating system to a thumb drive.
Hardware compatibility
The OS supports most of the PC hardware, so you can make approximately any system an android PC.
Resource usage
The OS uses about 800 MB of RAM while no app is running. The laptop battery lasted for 4 hours for mixed usage which is fair enough. So, it’s better to have at least two gigs of RAM.
Usability
There is a Start menu like App Drawer which can be used to search and launch apps. The OS also comes with a taskbar and notification center. We can also add shortcuts for apps to the desktop. It also supports drag and drops feature for copying files and other shortcut keys like other desktop operating systems. Chrome switcher: An app that can be used to switch between user-agents.
How to install Android Apps On PC?
Play activator
In the desktop, you will find an app named play activator which activates Google play services. Click “Yes, Let’s activate!” and then you can use Google Play Store and other Google apps in your android PC. As Google Play Store is pre-installed, we can use it to install android apps on our pc easily. Just make sure the app you install is made for tablets or else you may face some problems with the window size.
Remix central
Remix central is a collection of apps that have been tested to work well by the developers of the operating system and optimized for Remix OS.
Pre-installed apps on Remix App
Remix OS comes with following apps pre-installed –
Chrome browserMessengerFacebookMxplayerGoogle play storeQuick pic
Play Android Games On PC – Gaming
There is a feature named Gaming Toolkit, using which we can choose between touch or key input for playing android games on PC.As my PC has no touchscreen, I chose keys and I faced no problem while playing some arcade games except there is no way to tilt as there is no key through which tilt can be simulated.
Conclusion
Remix OS is great for productivity, social networking, messaging and casual gaming on Android PC. If you have any old PC that’s not your main system, you can make it an Android PC or you can use a thumb drive. The operating system works great but it still has a long way to go. It’ll be a lot better if they provide quickly the next version based on Nougat.
