With the sort of growth Google’s Android has seen in the past few years, it is only logical to try and have it running on devices other than smartphones and tablets. Android is designed to run on devices on the ARM architecture, but most desktops and laptops of today have x86 processors which aren’t natively compatible to run Android.
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However, a certain project, known as Android-x86, has been in progress for quite some time to be able to port the OS to x86 based platforms. To give you a basic idea, the Android-x86 project will allow you to run Android on almost any computer that’s powered by an Intel or AMD processor. Good news is that folks at Android-x86 are closing in on a full release, and have put a release candidate of the Android-x86 up for grabs. The release candidate can be downloaded on the website’s download section.
The release candidate is based on Android v4.4.2 KitKat, and although not fully functional, the build currently can do HD video playback, OpenGL ES hardware acceleration for most Intel and AMD GPUs. There’s also WiFi, Bluetooth and support for other hardware including cameras and input devices.
Those of you who want a taste of KitKat before digging in full-fledged can try it out with virtual machine software, for eg. VirtualBox.