We recently wrote to you about. It is worth noting that this is not just an emulator of the most popular OS, but its real desktop version, developed by former Google employees. And now, finally, you have the opportunity to download it from the official site and install it on your computer. Read how to do this in our material.
It is highly desirable to perform all actions on a USB flash drive of at least 8GB in size, supporting USB 3.0 and having the appropriate write and read speeds (20MB / sec).
Attention! All actions you perform at your own peril and risk, and we are not responsible for the result and possible failures in the operation of your device. Jide notes that at the moment this is only an alpha version of the operating system, and sudden bugs are possible.
In order to install Remix OS on your computer, you need to take just a few simple steps:
- Download the official distribution of Remix OS 2.0 from the developer's website: http://www.jide.com/en/remixos-for-pc#downloadNow
- Run the utility remixos-usb-tool.exe, indicate in it path to the ISO image of the system, select the required USB flash drive and click OK. Upon completion of the installation, you will have a ready bootable flash drive with Remix OS!
- Now, depending on which computer you are going to run the new OS on, you need to follow certain steps. If you decide to continue the experiment on Windows, you will need to configure the BIOS boot priority from a USB flash drive. Hold F12 while turning on the computer (or the Option key if you are using a Mac) to bring up the System Startup window.
- In the menu that appears, you can choose two modes for launching Remix OS: Guest Mode, where after turning off the computer, no changes will be saved, or the usual Resident Mode, during which all changes and downloaded files are saved.
- The process of installing Remix OS on a USB flash drive will take about 15 minutes, after which you will see the long-awaited screen:
If you use a Mac OS X computer, but also want to try Remix OS without having to install a second Windows system to create a bootable USB stick, you can do the following: 1. Download the official distribution of Remix OS 2.0 from the developer's website: http://www.jide.com/en/remixos-for-pc#downloadNow
2. Download the UNetbootin program to create a bootable USB flash drive on Mac OS X
3. Run the program, select the ISO image of the operating system and the desired USB flash drive (Disk Utility will help you with this), then click OK
4. Hold down the Option (Alt) key while the backlight on the black screen turns on after reboot. Select the USB stick to continue booting the system. Further actions repeat 4 and 5 points from the above steps for WIndows. That's all! Yes, it's that simple. Do not forget that at the moment this is just an alpha version of the operating system, and its creators honestly warn about possible bugs. But just imagine what Jide can achieve if we, the users, show a real interest in this operating system and give the developers quality feedback! The operating system is still in its infancy, but it already has many advantages and hidden ambitions. To remind myself, Remix OS is exactly what users expect from Google when they hear about the unification of Chrome OS and Android.
If you have installed Android on your PC and you find it inconvenient to use it, then this is not surprising, because Android was created for smartphones and tablets, and not for PCs. But do not rush to fold your hands. Better try Remix OS, because in fact it is the same Android, but adapted for the PC.
Due to the fact that it was created on the basis of Android-x86, you will be able to install and use Android OS apps.
In doing so, you will receive the following advantages over regular Android OS:
1.Multi-window and multitasking... Unlike Android OS, here each application will be located inside its own window, as in Windows OS. In this case, all these applications will be active at once.
2.Task bar... Here you will have the usual desktop operating systems taskbar, where you will see icons of running applications. You can switch between applications by simply clicking on the desired icon.
3.Ease of use of mouse and keyboard... With Remix OS, you can use a mouse and keyboard just like you do on a desktop OS.
4.File manager, with which you can work with files in the same way as on desktop systems.
5. Convenient tool screen capture with the possibility of cropping.
6.Remix OS Regular Updates... With the OTA updater, you will receive the latest operating system updates automatically.
Preparing to install Remix OS on your computer
After we have clarified the advantages that we get after installing Remix OS on a computer, let's try it. First, check your computer to see if it meets the requirements:
- 2 GHz dual-core processor or better;
- 2 GB random access memory or more;
- At least 8 GB of free disk space where the system will be installed;
- Internet access is desirable.
If your computer meets the requirements, download the distribution from this page. There are 32- and 64-bit OS versions to choose from. When you click on the "Mirror Download" or "Torrent Download" button, a window will appear asking you to subscribe to receive updates (see below). You can enter your address here. Email and click the "Subscribe" button to subscribe, or click the link below "I have subscribed, skip" to skip the subscription.
Here you will be offered a coupon for the purchase of the Remix Mini (see the picture below) measuring only 12.4 x 8.8 x 2.6 cm at a discounted price of $ 49.99. You can see the characteristics. But I will not dwell on this computer anymore.
On the next page you will be asked to select a server from which you will download the distribution kit.
Installing Remix OS on a computer
In total, the developers offer 2 installation options: on a computer and on a USB flash drive. Both options assume that you will be installing using a special utility that works only on Windows 7, 8 and 10. First, let's look at how to install Remix OS on your computer.
Unpack the archive you downloaded. I have this file Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_32bit_B2016081502.zip. As a result, I unpacked three files:
- Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_32bit_B2016081502.iso - Remix OS disk image.
Make sure your computer has free logical drive from 8 GB for Remix OS. Run the installation utility (I have this file Remix_OS_for_PC_Installation_Tool-B2016080802.exe). Specify the file with the Remix OS disk image (for me it is C: \ Remix_OS \ Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_32bit_B2016081502.iso), select “Hard disk” in the “Type” field, and in the “Media” field - your free logical disk on which you want to install operating system (mine is drive E). Click OK.
If you have an old 32-bit processor, you will see a warning like this. In this case, just make sure you select the 32-bit Remix OS image and click "OK".
If the logical drive on which you are installing Remix OS is large, you will see a dialog for selecting the size of the system drive. It is recommended that you select the largest suggested size, as in this case, you will be able to install more applications. Click OK.
The process of installing the OS to the disk will begin.
After everything is done, you will see a window as shown below. Click Restart Now.
First launch of Remix OS and initial setup
After installation and the first restart of the computer, you will see a menu for choosing which operating system to load. In fact, this menu will always appear after installing Remix OS on your computer. Select Remix OS here and press Enter.
The language selection screen will appear first after loading. For some reason, only English and Chinese are represented here (although, maybe I'm wrong). But let's not get upset. Select English here.
On the next screen, accept the user agreement by clicking Agree.
In the next step, you can set up WiFi right away. If your computer is connected to the Internet directly through a network card, you can skip this setting by clicking "Skip" at the top of the screen. If you want to configure WiFi, then select your access point from the list.
Then enter the password and click "Connect".
The last step is the proposal to immediately install any applications. Click here CONTINUE.
Then select applications and / or click on "NEXT>".
Finally, confirm the installation of the application by clicking INSTALL.
And after installation click on Finish.
The next step, the system will offer you to activate your account Google. Click Next.
That's it, the setup is complete. You will see the Remix OS desktop.
Installing Remix OS on a USB flash drive
After we looked at installing Remix OS on a computer, let's see how to install this OS on a USB flash drive. With a ready-made flash drive, you can switch from computer to computer. In this case, all your documents, installed applications, games and settings made will be saved on the USB flash drive. Those. your flash drive will be like a portable computer, but without system unit, monitor, keyboard and mouse, and to work with your OS you need a donor computer.
Unpack the archive you downloaded. I have this file Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016081502.zip. As a result, I unpacked three files:
- Remix_OS_for_PC_Installation_Tool-B2016080802.exe - utility for installing Remix OS;
- Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016081502.iso - Remix OS disk image.
- How_to_launch_Remix_OS_for_PC.txt - short instructions in English.
Connect an 8GB or higher flash drive to your computer. It is advisable to use a USB flash drive with a write speed of 20MB / s. Run the installation utility (I have this file Remix_OS_for_PC_Installation_Tool-B2016080802.exe). Specify the file with the Remix OS disk image (mine is C: \ Remix_OS \ Remix_OS_for_PC_Android_M_64bit_B2016081502.iso), select in the Type field the item “ USB device", And in the" Media "field - your USB flash drive, on which you want to install the operating system (for me, this is drive G). Click OK.
You will see a warning that all data on the flash drive will be deleted. Click OK.
The rest of the installation is similar to installation on a computer. At the end you will see a window informing you of the successful installation of Remix OS. The flash drive is ready. You can click on the "Restart now" button if you want to use it immediately try the USB flash drive on the same computer, or click on the "Exit" button to close the program. When booting the computer from a prepared Remix OS flash drive, make sure that boot from USB media is enabled in the BIOS.
The first launch and configuration of a computer when using a flash drive occurs in the same way as when installing Remix OS on a computer.
Enabling Russian language and Russian keyboard layout in Remix OS
Now let's enable Russian language support. To do this, double-click on the Settings icon on the desktop and, in the window that opens, find and click on the item " Language & Input».
Here select the topmost item " Language».
And in the list select " Russian».
After that, the system interface will immediately become Russian-speaking, well, at least that part of Android that has remained untouched by the Remix operating system.
To enable support for the Russian-language layout, find in the settings " Language and input" chapter " Physical keyboard"And click on the item" AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"(This may be the name of your physical keyboard, which is different from what you see in the picture).
In the window that appears, click on the button " CUSTOMIZE KEYBOARD LAYOUT».
Select the desired layouts from the list that opens (I chose English and Russian) and go back.
The Layouts dialog will display the layouts you have selected.
That's all the layouts are configured. Change the layout using the keyboard shortcut specified in the dialog CTRL + Space it didn't work for me, but it worked with the combination CTRL + ALT + Space.
I will not write anything else about the Remix OS system. You can explore it yourself after installing it on your computer.
Outcome
Well, the system turned out to be quite interesting. There really appeared such elements of the user interface, which were lacking in Android for ordinary desktop PCs. But, unfortunately, the Android-x86 system is very moody and may not work on any computer. This flaw is inherited by the Remix OS system. Therefore, before installing it on your computer as a permanent system, nevertheless, first try how it works from a flash drive. And check how the Android apps you actively use work.
Geektimes has posted numerous posts about Remix OS, an Android-based desktop OS. On March 1, a beta version of this operating system appeared, with which it is already quite possible to deal with. Generally speaking, this is a customized version of Android that looks and works like a complete operating system for personal computer... It was first released in 2015, with minimal support for multiple devices. In January, the alpha version of Remix OS was released, the developers made it available to everyone by opening the ability to boot the system from a USB drive.
The beta version has dual-boot, with the ability to switch between two operating systems - Remix OS itself and Windows. You can install the operating system both on a hard disk and on an SSD, which provides a fairly high platform performance. Now the Remix OS PC installer supports Windows 7 and later versions of this OS. A Mac version should be available soon. If you are tired of the OS, removing it is even easier than installing it. 
Updates now come regularly, built-in support for over-the-air updates. There are other news, including the move to Linux 4.4 for better compatibility with newer processors, 1080p YouTube and Netflix video support, USB drives up to 64GB, and more.
What is not? Play Store support. Since Remix OS is not certified by Google, there is no default access to the market. But you can add it, more on that below. First, let's talk about installing Remix OS itself.
Don't want to install Remix OS on an SSD or hard drive? Not a problem. You can work with an operating system directly from a USB flash drive by making it bootable. But still, the performance of the OS in this case will be lower than if you put it on a HDD or SSD.
How to install Remix OS on HDD or SSD
1. First, download the latest OS version from here. There are 32-bit and 64-bit builds for their respective PCs.
2. Unpack the archive and get three files: a textbook with instructions, an installer and ISO, a disk image.
3. Run Remix OS Installation Tool.exe and check that the installation location is correct (drive letter, etc.).
4. Click Next and select the disk image that has just been loaded. It will be something like Remix OS for PC_x86_64-B2016xxxxxx.iso.
5. We start the installation and wait a few minutes until a message appears about the need to restart the PC to complete the installation.
The next step will take 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the performance of your PC. Remix OS creates its own 8GB download area and installs the OS in this area.
8. After everything is ready, Remix OS will boot for the first time and you can get started.
9. If you need to return to Windows, select the shutdown icon, then the reboot option. After that, instead of Remix OS, on the selection screen, click on Windows.
How do I install the Play Store?
Everything is simple here. Here is a video describing the entire process:Can you get more than 8 GB?
The official Remix OS installer for PC takes 8 GB for its needs. This is enough to install various applications that you may need for work or play.
But if you suddenly need more space, then you can add it.
How to remove Remix OS
If suddenly something went wrong, or just wanted to uninstall Remix OS, it can be done very quickly.Initially, run the installer again. It shows that the system is already installed on the PC and suggests uninstalling Remix OS. We agree, and after a few seconds the OS is removed.
You can also work not with the installer, but delete everything manually. We select in the address bar file manager C: \ Remix OS \, and run the file UninstallRemixOS.exe file... Then everything happens automatically.
After two months of public testing, Remix OS 2.0 is now in beta, which means that now this modified for Android computers can be officially installed alongside Windows on one PC. Jide has released a special utility with which you can conveniently and very simply install Remix OS 2.0 as a second system next to Windows.
Summer 2016 Remix OS 3.0 released... Read more about it at Treshbox: Recall that Remix OS 2.0 is a special version of Android with adaptation for computers and laptops. This fork got a typical desktop interface with a multi-window and a status bar at the bottom.
Installing next to Windows
Along with the release of the beta version, Jide added the function of installing Remix OS 2.0 next to Windows directly from under the system using the same utility for creating a bootable USB-media.- 64 bits (UEFI + Legacy BIOS) - direct link + torrent.
- 32 bits (Legacy BIOS) - torrent.
- Download latest versions Remix OS 2.0 images from the official website or via torrent (links above).
- Unpack the downloaded archive into a folder convenient for you.
- Run the utility and instead of USB Drive, select "Hard Drive" in the lower drop-down list. On the right, select the partition where Remix OS 2.0 will be installed. Be sure to choose exactly the one on which Windows is installed.
How to remove Remix OS 2.0 from your computer
Removing the system from your computer is even easier than installing it. It is enough to run the same utility Remix OS Installation Tool.exe, which will immediately determine that the OS is already installed and will offer to uninstall it, if necessary. The process takes a few minutes, and the bootloader will also be cleared.There is also an alternative way to remove Remix OS 2.0 from your computer:
The developers from Jide have done a lot of work on the new beta version of Remix OS 2.0. First of all, it is worth noting that now the version of Remix OS for computers is updated via the OTA protocol in the same way as the version of this system for tablets and mini-PCs from Jide. That is, all OS users now receive updates "over the air" with new functions.
There is now official support for 32-bit computers and the UEFI bootloader. Fixed over 50 critical bugs. As described above, Remix OS 2.0 beta can now be installed on a dual-boot Windows computer.
Other changes:
- Improved support Intel processors(Linux kernel updated to 4.4).
- Supports more data - up to 64GB on USB.
- Increased download speed from USB.
- Fixed a bug with displaying the battery indicator for laptops.
- Support for 1080p displays in YouTube and Netflix apps.
- An application with a terminal for developers is preinstalled.
- System images now support EFI and Legacy BIOS.
How to activate the built-in Google Play
Some time after the release of the beta version of Remix OS 2.0, it found built-in Google services including the Play Store catalog. The developers have hidden them in the system for release in future updates.How to activate built-in Google services:
- Start a root terminal (you can use the Alt + F1 command) and enter the command pm disable com.jide.apppolicy
- This command disables the JideAppPolicy application, which blocks the built-in Google services. Next enter the command pm list packages -d
- This command will list the blocked applications.
- Find among them com.android.vending, com.google.android.gsf and com.google.android.gms and then enter the commands pm enable<имя пакета> two times separately (or as many times as you like).
- Press Alt + F7 to go to the graphical interface.
- After that, it is advisable to force stop and clear data from Google Play Store, Google Play services and Google Services Framework applications in the settings.
- After that, reboot the system and the applications should work.
How to install Google Play on Remix OS? What applications are well suited for this system? All this useful information can be found in our
On January 12, the official release of the Remix OS 2.0 shell took place, which is based on Android x86 and is designed for computers and hybrid tablets. We decided to figure out how to install this system on computers and prepare an article about this process for the readers of Treshbox.
Summer 2016 Remix OS 3.0 released... Read more about it on Treshbox: Before the instruction itself, it is worth telling what this Remix OS 2.0 is. This fork of Android x86 aims to bring the ecosystem Android applications to computers with a convenient desktop interface. In the second version of Remix OS, developers from the Jide startup added a convenient window interface where you can use several Android applications at the same time. At the same time, applications are scaled to fit the window, and the entire interface has normal mouse and keyboard controls - no bottom bar with three buttons.
How to install Remix OS 2.0 on a computer
To install the system, you will need a USB flash drive that supports the USB 3.0 standard, a write / read speed of at least 10 Mbps, a memory capacity of at least 8 GB, as well as the computer itself on which you are going to install the system. It is worth noting that the requirements for a USB drive are quite formal - many users have installed Remix OS 2.0 using an old USB 2.0 flash drive with 4 GB of memory.1. Download the image and install it on the flash drive
You can download the system image on the official website of the Jide startup by direct link (687 Mb, torrent)... Available EFI-enabled image (torrent)... You can also download an image for 32-bit systems (torrent)... Inside the archive you will find both the image itself and a special utility for installing it on a USB flash drive. Before proceeding with the installation of the image, you need to format your drive under the FAT32 file system, deleting all data.Updated: On March 1, 2016, the first beta version of Remix OS 2.0 was released. Fresh links to download the system:
- 64 bits (UEFI + Legacy BIOS) - direct link + torrent.
- 32 bits (Legacy BIOS) - torrent.
The Remix OS USB Tool, which you can find in the image archive, is a special variation of Unetbootin. Launch the utility, select the Remix OS 2.0 ISO and the USB drive you will be installing it on. Then press the “Ok” button, after which the installation of the image on the flash drive will begin. Alternatively, you can use the original Unetbootin utility by selecting your FreeBSD distribution and Remix OS 2.0 image. The result will be the same.
If everything went well, the utility will immediately prompt you to restart your computer to boot into Remix OS 2.0 from the flash drive. If you install the system on the computer where you are recording the image, then you can safely press the restart button, but before that it is better to read the next paragraph of the instructions.
2. Boot from USB
After restarting your computer, you need to bring up the alternative boot menu "a. different computers this is done in its own way. On ASUS laptops- by the Esc button, for example. On ordinary PCs, mostly using F8 or the buttons next to it. It is better to find out about this on the Internet in advance. Also, before such a boot, it is worth checking the Legacy Boot Mode Enabled function in the BIOS. It must be enabled.
After turning on the computer, we call the alternative boot menu and select your USB drive in it. Next, a menu with two items should appear on the screen - “Guest Mode” and “Resident Mode”. The first is the usual Live CD mode, where the user boots the system from disk and tries it without saving all the data. The second mode allows you to use Remix OS 2.0 as a complete system on a USB stick. When this mode is selected, the OS is loaded in a mode where all the progress and user manipulations are saved on the drive and can be accessed the next time.
It is for the "Resident Mode" that a USB 3.0 flash drive and fast write / read speed are required. The developers assume that it is in the mode of saving all data to USB that Remix OS 2.0 should be used.
If your system does not boot after such an installation, then you can try the same process, but enter a different command to call the installation programs: / kernel initrd = / initrd.img root = / dev / ram0 androidboot.hardware = remix_x86_64 androidboot.selinux = permissive quiet INSTALL = 1
4. Alternative installation
You can also install Remix OS 2.0 from under another Linux-system, in particular - Ubuntu. To do this, you must already have Ubuntu installed with the Grub bootloader on your computer.Instructions:
- Create a “remix” folder (without quotes) in the / directory on Ubuntu.
- Open the ISO / IMG image of the Remix OS 2.0 operating system with some archiver or a simple explorer; take the files from the image initrd.img, kernel, ramdisk.img, system.img and move them to the “remix” folder.
- Inside the “remix” folder, make another “data” folder.
- Open your console and enter the command gksudo gedit /etc/grub.d/40_custom
- The console will ask you for an administrator password - enter it.
- Next, a window will appear text editor with a specific document; at the end of the text, you need to insert the following text (so as not to lose formatting, it is better to copy the code from there):
menuentry "Remix OS" --class android-x86 (
insmod part_gpt
search --file --no-floppy --set = root /remix/system.img
linux / remix / kernel root = / dev / ram0 androidboot.hardware = remix_x86_64
androidboot.selinux = permissive CMDLINE
initrd /remix/initrd.img
} - Save your changes and close the editor.
- Enter one more command in the console - sudo update-grub
- Now, after rebooting, there should be a line in Grub with the launch of Remix OS 2.0. The system should work.
5. Another way to install from under Windows
Also, the community has found another way to install Remix OS 2.0 on a hard drive using Windows and getting a dual boot.This requires:
- Create a new partition on a disk with a volume of at least 8 GB and file system FAT32. You can do this with a simple tool in Windows by typing "section" in the Start menu search. Name the section REMIX_OS.
- Download the Remix OS 2.0 image (in the first section of the article), if you haven't already, as well as the EasyBCD program.
- Completely unpack the Remix OS 2.0 image (via WinRar) and copy all the files from it to the partition that you created earlier.
- Install the EasyBCD application and launch it.
- In the program, select the menu “Add New Entry” → ISO.
- In the "Portable / External Media" section in the Name field, enter Remix OS and click on the "Path" button and select the Remix OS 2.0 image you downloaded.
- Then click “Tools” → “Restart Computer”.
- Voila, you should see a dual boot menu on screen - Windows or Remix OS. The system should work.
6. Install on a virtual machine
If you do not want to install Remix OS 2.0 on your hard drive at all and risk the stability of other operating systems in case something suddenly goes wrong, then you can use a virtual machine, namely VirtualBox.Instructions for installing Remix OS 2.0 in VirtualBox (assumes that you already have a virtual machine program and a system image):
- Start VirtualBox and call the menu for creating a new virtual machine. Call it any name, select the type Linux and the view "Other Linux 64-bit".
- Allocate half (recommended) of your RAM to the virtual machine.
- Create a new virtual disk for the system, allocate 16 GB of memory for it.
- After completing the creation of the machine, start it and when choosing the disk from which it will boot, select the Remix OS 2.0 image.
- If everything goes well, you will see a menu for choosing between Guest and Resident modes. Select Guest, but press Tab instead of Enter. After that, a line with text will appear at the bottom. Into it after recording DATA_IN_NEM = 1 need to add vga = 791
- Then press Enter.
- Remix OS 2.0 should appear on the screen.
What you need to know about Remix OS 2.0
Remix OS 2.0 shell is well optimized for working with a mouse and keyboard. Basic keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + C / V / Z / X, Alt + Tab, Alt + F4 and others are supported. The Num Lock buttons with the entire number pad and Caps Lock work correctly.
How to install Google Play and its services on Remix OS 2.0:
- Download setup file
