An iPhone is just a Mac that you put in your pocket and the desktop environment is different.
Android already has the desktop, at least on Samsungs. So traditionally a desktop is a tower computer with a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other things plugged into. LPT, get a Thunderbolt dock and plug all those things into the dock rather than your computer. Now run a Thunderbolt cable from your desktop computer and tie it to the dock, since the desktop’s not going anywhere. Plug the cable in — all your stuff works. Now unplug it and plug in a laptop. All your peripherals, on the laptop. With me so far? Now plug it into a Galaxy phone and see what happens. LPT 2, lay the Samsung phone under the keyboard in the middle, because it’s gonna be a trackpad, like on a laptop/MacBook.
Now, the difference between what Google and Qualcomm are hinting at, and what Samsung calls DeX (Desktop eXperience), is that the proposed computer will be more like an M-series Mac. The same ARM64 type of processor that powers your phone, but bigger, with a larger thermal footprint. It’s still pretty small. Instead of a battery, you have a fan, and you attach AC power to it.
As far as the software, Android uses the Linux kernel, so technically they’re just talking about a Linux desktop, but one that would be compatible with the Play Store. This is smart, because it’s the same thing Apple is doing with its M-series Macs. They can all run most App Store apps and games (developers can opt out of Mac installation and many do).
Android users might also enjoy features like universal clipboard — copy something on one, paste it on the other. Macs and iPhones (and iPads) have this. Or messaging on any device.
The advantage of an Android PC is, it should, in theory, be able to dual boot with Windows for ARM, and, in theory, you should have access to some PC (Windows-based) gaming. If you like that idea, start rooting for Mac gaming and Switch gaming right now, because those platforms, as well as iOS and Android phones, are pushing ARM64 gaming. Most games are made first for x86-64, what runs most Windows PCs, as well as Xbox and PlayStation. But the new Xbox handheld coming out is an ARM64 machine, so now Microsoft has incentive to port games to ARM64, which will benefit anyone using anything Apple, Android, or Nintendo.
Honestly I’d say Google’s biggest hurdle here is making a desktop environment (Launcher, to Android fans) that is compelling for desktop use. Fortunately, those have existed for Linux for decades. KDE is similar to Windows and GNOME is similar to macOS, though those are over-simplifications. They are very much their own thing, but like, KDE has a Start menu of sorts, and GNOME has the persistent top menu bar like Macs do. So you start with what you know and customise it out from there.
Anyone who had used chromeos knows exactly how android desktop environment looks. It’s just terrible and nothing you can do about it. Just because they use a Linux kernel doesn’t mean they’ll allow a vaguely decent desktop.
So… Linux? We already have that.
An iPhone is just a Mac that you put in your pocket and the desktop environment is different.
Android already has the desktop, at least on Samsungs. So traditionally a desktop is a tower computer with a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other things plugged into. LPT, get a Thunderbolt dock and plug all those things into the dock rather than your computer. Now run a Thunderbolt cable from your desktop computer and tie it to the dock, since the desktop’s not going anywhere. Plug the cable in — all your stuff works. Now unplug it and plug in a laptop. All your peripherals, on the laptop. With me so far? Now plug it into a Galaxy phone and see what happens. LPT 2, lay the Samsung phone under the keyboard in the middle, because it’s gonna be a trackpad, like on a laptop/MacBook.
Now, the difference between what Google and Qualcomm are hinting at, and what Samsung calls DeX (Desktop eXperience), is that the proposed computer will be more like an M-series Mac. The same ARM64 type of processor that powers your phone, but bigger, with a larger thermal footprint. It’s still pretty small. Instead of a battery, you have a fan, and you attach AC power to it.
As far as the software, Android uses the Linux kernel, so technically they’re just talking about a Linux desktop, but one that would be compatible with the Play Store. This is smart, because it’s the same thing Apple is doing with its M-series Macs. They can all run most App Store apps and games (developers can opt out of Mac installation and many do).
Android users might also enjoy features like universal clipboard — copy something on one, paste it on the other. Macs and iPhones (and iPads) have this. Or messaging on any device.
The advantage of an Android PC is, it should, in theory, be able to dual boot with Windows for ARM, and, in theory, you should have access to some PC (Windows-based) gaming. If you like that idea, start rooting for Mac gaming and Switch gaming right now, because those platforms, as well as iOS and Android phones, are pushing ARM64 gaming. Most games are made first for x86-64, what runs most Windows PCs, as well as Xbox and PlayStation. But the new Xbox handheld coming out is an ARM64 machine, so now Microsoft has incentive to port games to ARM64, which will benefit anyone using anything Apple, Android, or Nintendo.
Honestly I’d say Google’s biggest hurdle here is making a desktop environment (Launcher, to Android fans) that is compelling for desktop use. Fortunately, those have existed for Linux for decades. KDE is similar to Windows and GNOME is similar to macOS, though those are over-simplifications. They are very much their own thing, but like, KDE has a Start menu of sorts, and GNOME has the persistent top menu bar like Macs do. So you start with what you know and customise it out from there.
Anyone who had used chromeos knows exactly how android desktop environment looks. It’s just terrible and nothing you can do about it. Just because they use a Linux kernel doesn’t mean they’ll allow a vaguely decent desktop.
Linux already has access to 99.9% of Windows games via Proton.