Next Asus tablet may run Android *and* Windows

Next Asus tablet may run Android and Windows

Asus is preparing to introduce its latest crop of devices at the Computex trade show next week. Today the company posted a few videos that don’t show off any new products… but they do give us an idea of what to expect.

One video is simply titled “when two sides unite” and it shows two sides of one poster board with Tai written on one side and Chi on the other… when you spin the board fast enough it read Tai Chi.

The second video is a little more informative. It says “all0in-one is no longer in one,” and shows drops of water pooling together — and then two drops pulling apart. One has a Windows logo in the center, while the other has an Android logo.

Long story short: Don’t be surprised if Asus introduces a new tablet which can run both Windows and Android.

Update: It looks like Asus is partnering with BlueStacks to offer support for Android apps on all Asus computers, including the millions of PCs that are already out there.

This wouldn’t be the first tablet to offer that type of functionality. ViewSonic has offered a 10 inch tablet with an Intel Atom processor and support for Windows and Android since last year.

Asus dual OS

What’s not clear is whether the new Asus tablet would be a dual-boot machine that lets you choose your operating system at startup, or a solution more like ViewSonic’s where you could run Android apps from a Windows environment using BlueStacks software or something similar.

It’s also not clear whether this will be a computer with an x86 chip. Up until recently if you wanted to run Windows you needed an x86 (or x64) processor. But Windows 8 will come in an ARM-friendly version called Windows RT which device makers will be able to preload on tablets and other devices.

If I was a betting man, I’d put my money on an x86 chip, because I don’t know if Microsoft will take kindly to PC makers loading Windows RT and Android on the same computers. But we should know soon enough. Asus is holding its Computex 2012 press conference on June 4th.

Of course there’s another possibility: Asus might just offer two similar tablets. One would be available with Windows 8 while the other runs Android.

Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2012, 10:33 am by Brad Linder | 6 Comments

jb82

Even better would be if they could squeeze two processors into it… android running on an arm chip and windows on an x86. Not unfeasible considering how small android systems can go these days.

If they pair it with a wacom digitizer (I’m even settle for ntrig) and a keyboard dock … well it would be my dream machine.
puzzud

Looks like MS or Asus is trying to beat Canonical/Ubuntu to the punch:
http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android. Although, the concept of Ubuntu and Android sharing the same exact kernel will ultimately trump whatever this venture might be.
CyberGusa

Yes, but what may be interesting to see develop is how well Android and Linux will work together… Since Linux is suppose to be strictly Open Source but Android is flexible and can use proprietary and closed apps and drivers. So should be interesting how they work that part out.

Especially, since one of the long standing issues with Linux on ARM was the fact so many devices used proprietary setups and components, like the GPU, with closed driver support.

So it was more than just the lack of performance that has held desktop Linux back from wider use on ARM devices before now.

Though Canonical may decide to be a little flexible themselves, but that remains to be seen. While more likely device makers may have to invest extra to support any proprietary setups, apps, and closed drivers their products may use.

While it’s likely only Android will work with Windows 8, because of the requirement for secure boot certification and Google is more likely to get that for Android than any Linux distro.

So we may see a similar divide in systems offerings as we do now, with Android playing both sides, but it’s likely to give desktop Linux a nice boost in market share even with the problems it still faces.
Guest008

“What’s not clear is whether the new Asus tablet would be a dual-boot machine that lets you choose your operating system at startup”

Or an automatic and/or manual switch-like feature.
Android when in tablet alone and W8 when the tablet is connected to its keyboard/dock.
I think the hybrid solution is better suited to answer the tagline: “All-in-one is not one.”

Or, something even more out there like 2 tablets. One Android with an Arm, the other on W8 with a x86 cpu. And when you combine them, one becomes a digital keyboard, depending on which OS you wanna use with the ‘laptop mode’.

…Just throwing ideas.
http://rationaldreaming.com/ Mike

Ugh no — that sounds like a complete nightmare to design and build. There’s a lot more to designing an ecosystem for two disparate processors than finding room for them both on the motherboard. Essentially, you would have to put a complete ARM system and a complete Intel system next to each other on the board — even sharing memory and storage would likely not be possible, and all the peripherals would need to be controlled by two different chip sets.

Of course, if enough people want to pay $2000 for such a beast, someone might be willing to build one.
http://www.tatvasoft.co.uk/android-apps.php Charles Cobb

Your post is so interesting. The information in this post is more useful and helpful for the android developers. Thanks for share.

Next Asus tablet may run Android and Windows

Featured Articles

Mini PC comparison table

Recent Posts

Popular Discussions

Featured Video