Edited By Piyush Kashyap, Reviewed By Gulshan
Android has been the world’s favourite mobile operating system without any doubt. But the question arises how we can use android OS on a desktop computer?
Ever since its inception in 2005, Android has been a huge success. It was first launched as a mobile device operating system in 2008, and fast forward to ten years later, we are now witnessing the launch of Android 10. Android Open source project or AOSP is the source code on which the Android OS is built upon.
Because of AOSP being an open-source OS, it has allowed many developers to get creative and bring us their derivatives based on the Android OS. One such derivative is the use of the Android system on a desktop computer.

Purpose of using Android OS on a Desktop
Using Android on a pc fulfills two major purposes because of which one may choose the type of installation on a desktop. These are:


There are many ways in which one can use Android on a computer but most of them can be easily classified as either emulator based or running Android as an actual OS for the system.
The various methods in which you can run Android on a computer are explained below:
Emulators
Emulators are softwares which run on top of the base operating system such as Windows, you may simply download your selected emulator and install it. These emulators when installed will work like any other application software by sharing the CPU, RAM, and storage of your computer.
Emulators give the user the whole android experience on a PC. They can work on a touch-based as well as traditional computers. Emulators were among the first options which allowed the use of Android over a PC. They have been available just as long as the OS itself.
Through the years, with the new developments of the Android systems, emulators have also been constantly evolving. Today emulators offer smooth and compatible services such that it is the same as the experience you get on a mobile device.
And the best thing about the emulators is, most of them are free!
There are many emulators out there which allow you to run Android on your Windows or Mac desktop, but the most successful of these are:



Android as an Operating System
Android can also be installed as a whole Operating System for your PC. You can choose to install is a sole OS or in a dual OS, a system to get the best of worlds.
Due to the nature of the android open source project, it has encouraged many developers and coding experts to come up with different options and methods to run the Android OS on different platforms. In today’s world android can be used on almost all the devices and desktops that are launched.
Android OS on a desktop allows the user to experience operating on a much more powerful hardware setup, as in this way the android OS is not sharing the hardware but it is making full utilization of its RAM, CPU and Storage capabilities.
Users have the option to select their preferred android version for their convenience. This option is also used by the developers as it gives more control and efficacy to the developer to test out their creations.
There are a few options that allow you to use Android as an operating system on your desktop. The most popular and effective of these are explained below:
The operating system is free and is easily available on the internet. Select the OS you want to download such as Remix OS, Androidx86, Phoenix OS, etc. and go to their website, you will find an option to download the .iso file of the OS.
Once you download it, burn the image file into a CD/DVD. Alternatively, you may use a bootable USB to install the OS. A bootable USB is the same as any other use, it’s just made bootable with the help of software to make it compatible to install an operating system on the hardware of your pc.
After making the USB bootable and copying the image files of the OS on to it.
After completing all the pre-requisite measures follow these steps to boot from a CD/DVD or USB:
- 1Insert the USB and turn on the PC
- 2Press F1* (for most PCs) to boot from USB
- 3Select the preferred installation mode (Resident Mode, Guest Mode, and Verbose Mode- Remix OS)
- 4Create a disk partition for installation. Then the installation wizard will check if the hard-disk is compatible for installation, it depends on its speed. For better results, you may use an SSD.
- 5Wait for the installation to complete. Do not turn off the PCs during this step, it may damage your hard drive.
- 6Much like any new device you purchase, set up the Android System settings after its first booting process completes.
- 7After setting up the network, language, and signing in to the Google Play services, Your OS is now ready for use.
(*May vary depending on the manufacturer)