Phoenix OS- A best alternative to Remix OS
Google’s Android may have been developed as a smartphone OS, but over the past few years we’ve seen a number of attempts to turn it into a desktop operating system. One of the best example is Samsung’s own Dex, but the downside of this technology is that you have to have a Galaxy smartphone either Note 8 or S8. Apart from this you can buy a $1000 Google’s own Pixel book which I may not recommend to anyone unless they want to have a pure taste of Google’s so called modified Chrome OS technology.
One of the most successful Operating system has been Remix OS, which gives Android a taskbar, start menu, and an excellent window management system. I have covered Remix OS topic in one of my blogs. Here’s a link if you want to check it out.
The Remix OS team has also generated a lot of buzz over the past year, and this week the operating system gained a lot of new alpha testers, thanks to a downloadable version of Remix OS that you can run on many recent desktop or notebook computers.
But Remix OS isn’t the only game in town. Phoenix OS is another Android based desktop operating system, and while it’s still pretty rough around the edges, there are a few features that could make it a better option for some testers.
One of the best alternative for Remix OS is Phoenix OS(x86). (I have tested it personally, and boy I’m impressed with this)
Phoenix OS (x86) is an Android-based Desktop operating system and runs on devices with Intel and other x86 & x64 based CPU. Compared to original Android, Phoenix OS has merged Android with some key productivity features from Windows, such as Start Menu, Taskbar, and multi-window support.
Some background
I first discovered Phoenix OS from a post in the Remix OS XDA Group, although, I’ve also found mentions of the operating system on various platforms.
To give a basic idea of Phoenix OS’s look and feel, here’s a Official Introduction video of the same.
Phoenix OS is available as a downloadable custom ROM that you can install on a Google Nexus 9 or Nexus 10 tablet. But you can also download an x86 version that can be loaded on a USB flash drive and HDD and run on a computer.
We believe that at this point you already know what Remix OS is, but if not, we will kindly inform you now that it is an Android operating system made to run on any 32-bit or 64-bit PC, powered by GNU/Linux technologies and based on the famous Android-x86 project.
Just like Remix OS, the new Phoenix OS comes in two flavours, one for Android devices and the other one for x86 PCs.
I had the opportunity to take Phoenix OS for a spin on my hardware and I would like to share with you my impressions of the entire project.
But first, a little background on the Phoenix OS project. It is an Android-based operating system that runs on devices with Intel and other x86-based processors, includes key productivity features from Microsoft Windows, such as a Start Menu, multi-window support, and a Taskbar.
Phoenix OS is designed to be user-friendly, flexible and powerful while being as lightweight as possible on your computer. It’s designed for large screens, offers support for mouse and keyboard devices, and it’s made in China by a group of programmers with years of experience on Windows.
After all, Google is the first company who have attempted the localization of Android on PC. Whereas, they missed the era of mobile Internet & network and smartphone sweeping around the world due to an early start.
Subsequent years, Android-x86 appeared first and lay a solid foundation for newcomers to make transition. Then it’s Phoenix OS and Remix OS‘s turn to break a new ground. AppNee thinks that: the day Android rooted on a PC platform (that means compatibility is no longer a major problem), the time Linux started to formally replace Windows in all directions!
The main advantage of Phoenix OS over Remix OS is, Remix OS is an abandoned project where as Phoenix OS has been updated to latest nougat update and maybe be further update to future versions also along with Oreo update.
This is a deeply customized operating system based on Android platform, specially designed for PC with x86 or ARM architecture CPU, targeting high-end Tablet, All-in-One PC, laptop, desktop computer, and other devices with a big display. It’s UI learns from a lot of Windows elements (such as the start menu, multitasking, windows switch, adjust the window size optionally, use mouse to drag & drop which makes the files move operational and become much more efficient and convenient on Android, keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl + C/Ctrl + V/Ctrl + A, file compression/decompression, etc.), and is specifically optimized for mouse and keyboard operations. As to the desktop design, it’s more like a fusion of Android, Linux and Windows.
Certainly, there have been so many Android emulators (I can call the names of at least 10 of them, such as: Andy, BlueStacks, Droid4X, Genymotion, KOPLAYER, Manymo, Nox App Player, Windroy, YouWave, AMIDuOS, Remix OS Player, most of them are from China) which can directly be installed on computer and run Android apps/games. But they all have one common critical defect — the low performance of virtualization running. That means, in addition to buying an Android tablet with powerful CPU, we do have a better and free choice that’s to direct install an Android OS on our computer.
In Phoenix OS, you can run a number of Android games and apps natively.
In particular, it’s performance is definitely pretty much better than any virtual machines and especially Remix OS. And thanks to the support of switching between multiple windows and multiple tasks and keyboard support, Phoenix OS allows you to run and display the interfaces of multiple apps on a big screen at the same time, so as to greatly improve the use efficiency of Android OS.
In simple terms, Phoenix OS is completely ported the Android OS for mobile devices onto PC (or we can call it x86 desktop edition of Android), in order to enable you to continue your using habit on the Windows OS while running an Android OS on a laptop or desktop computer.
Some really important features are-
Starting from fashion, returning to classics.
Classic “starting” (Full-screen, Menu)
Multiple tasks, high efficiency
Multiple-window design
Title bar
Free stretching window
Easy management of files
LAN access
Global searching
Cross-windows dragging
Mouse operation
Compression
Familiar keyboard shortcuts
Notification centre
Entrance or lock screen
Application message
Quick setting
Stardust Browser (It’s own equipped browser which is basically based on chrome but highly tweaked in terms of performance and I have tested it out as well and yeah it kind of impressed me. I have tested out Safari along with chrome and edge as well and Lineage OS’s own browser as well and yeah it lies on the same level as those browser)
Browsing of multiple tabs
Advanced Chromium-based
Advertising filtering
Manage applications for you
Prevent self-starting of applications
Intelligent recovery of memory
Regular systematic examination
And more importantly, it’s pre-rooted
Troubleshoot
The official says, at present, the application compatibility of Phoenix OS on devices with Intel Atom series of CPU is the best. For other types of CPU, you might meet some compatibility issues, but that does not affect its basic use.
If you encounter error “Verification failed (15) Access Denied“, the solution is easy:
Enter BIOS, disable the “Secure Boot” option in ‘Security‘ tab and that’s it, you are good to go.
(Personally I have not encountered any sort of problem on my PC though just an act of precaution)
In order to install Phoenix OS, which I think you should, there are just simple steps to follow. I have discussed and covered them up below. If you have read my Remix OS blog, the process may seem familiar to you. Rather I would highly simplistic as compared to Remix OS procedure.
Step 1- Firstly to download the operating system.
Here I will provide you with 2 links, one which has downloads the application which directly detects your system configuration and downloads the OS accordingly rather than you applying you rocket science.
Here’s the link
Click for Phoenix OS downloader link
And the other link consists of the website if you want to download the OS version of your choice.
Click for different versions of Phoenix OS
Personally I would recommend first link.
Step 2- Hit install button and select the drive properly.
Step 3- Just click next to carry forward the installation. Now, let the program do the
rest of the work.
Step 4- Click Reboot
Step 5- Click the Phoenix OS option in the dual boot menu and after sometime you
will be greeted with the welcome screen. Rest setup is simple as usually, connect to a
network and that’s it you are all set.
That’s it done. You are ready to use the OS. ENJOY!!
Thank you for your time and reading this article, hope you enjoyed and liked it. For further queries just drop down your message on the right side of the article page and mail them to me,
I’ll be happy to help you out.
