Android-x86 7.1-r1 Quietly Crept Out Last Month

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Android-x86 7.1-r1 Quietly Crept Out Last Month

The Android-x86 port of the Android Open-Source Project for running on x86 Intel/AMD PCs and devices is now up to running on the "Nougat" code-base for its stable release...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Android-x86-7.1-R1

[Azrael5]

is it possible to install it over the current android of the own smartphone?

[Michael]

is it possible to install it over the current android of the own smartphone?

Are there any real Android x86 smartphones still out there?

[Azrael5]

Are there any real Android x86 smartphones still out there?

how to know if the android OS is 32 or 64bit? I assume that it is 32bit when memory is limited to 3GB.

EDIT: My android is 32 bit 6.0 RELEASE.

[Michael]

how to know if the android OS is 32 or 64bit? I Asume that if memory is limited to 3GB it is 32bit.

We are talking x86 hardware, not ARM stuff. I haven't heard of any Intel Atom powered smartphone designs in many years now as Intel left that space. For the few designs that may have gotten out there, I think they all ended up being 64-bit capable.

[andrei_me]

The last smartphone with Intel that I remember were an Azus and a Motorola "something i" was the name, nowadays the only intel powered android devices that I remember are some tablets

[starshipeleven]

is it possible to install it over the current android of the own smartphone?

No. Android in a smartphone is customized to each specific device, you cannot install a generic Android on it.

Also, this Android is compiled to work on PC hardware, using x86 CPUs. Smartphones have ARM CPUs. Even if you installed it in your phone it will never work because it has an ARM CPU.

If you want to upgrade your device's firmware, look for custom ROMs (custom firmware) for it. Currently the most popular project for that is LineageOS, that supports many devices and provides firmwares for them. But many devices are not (and will never be) supported.

[ruthan]

Is it working still only on Intel GPUs?

[aht0]

No. Works on older Radeons at least. Had it installed on Asus eeePC (Radeon HD6xxx)

[Faalagorn]

For the few designs that may have gotten out there, I think they all ended up being 64-bit capable.

To clarify, while the CPUs are (always?) 64-bit in those, the UEFI is 32-bit most of the cases, making it somewhat PITA to install 64-bit OS on them – but possible with some fiddling with modified GRUB (any other bootloaders support mixed-mode 32/64-bit UEFI?). Though as Michael said, you get to see them only in 2nd market nowadays, but after some fiddling they can run a fully-fledged Linux 64-distro on top, which is quite nice.