FINALLY!!!! We have arrived at the cusp of Androidism. It’s taken us
two years, nine months, two weeks, and a day to get to this point in the
process. At by this time tomorrow,
CodeWeavers will release the Tech Preview of
CrossOver Android
to the select users who signed up for initial access. Over the past
two years, nine months, two weeks and a day, the product has changed and
changed and changed again all in the hopes of somehow being useful on
Android devices.
Think about this…When this development
started, there were few, if any, Intel based phones. When this
development started, there were no Intel based tablets. There was no
X86 Android project. There were no Intel based laptops or clamshells.
Our development team essentially built a solution for a problem that
could not be solved or fixed. At best, they were building a
hypothetical solution to prove that it
could
be possible to run Windows based applications on an Intel Android
device. It’s like Henry Ford building a car for a population that
didn’t have roads; or Thomas Edison creating a light bulb for a
population that didn’t have electricity. And yet, here we are…
Allow
me to clearly state that like the first Model T’s and the very first
light bulbs, CrossOver Android is far from perfect. It will run a very
limited number of Windows applications (some because they just aren’t
supported yet on Android and some because Android doesn’t / won’t
support them at this time). The former implies that our support isn’t
good enough, yet. The latter implies that Android does not have some
key components, like OpenGL, to run some Windows applications. AND
there is a point to make that some devices just doesn’t have the RAM,
disk space, or processing power necessary to run a Windows application.
And some devices, like phones, just don’t have the physical screen
necessary to make running a Windows application all that appealing.
Needless to say, your ‘mileage’ as to how useful CrossOver Android will
be come tomorrow will vary.
So what do you
NEED to know to make the CrossOver Android Tech Preview as useful as possible for you at this time?
First, you need to confirm that you have an Intel based
device. The CrossOver Android Tech Preview will not run on an ARM
device. It will not run on an ARM device. It will not run on an ARM
device. Understand, I’d give an eye tooth for CrossOver Android to run
on an ARM device because, let’s face it, that’ roughly 90% of the market
today. Unfortunately, our tech just isn’t built that way. We hope to
have ARM Android support sometime next year, but it's far off on our
technology roadmap.
Second, you need to know where to find CrossOver Android. The .apk will be available on the
Google Play Store.
You will need to have provided us your Gmail address (the same one you
use for the Google Play Store) to be added to the Technology Preview.
We will then e-mail you a link tomorrow so that can ‘opt in’ to our
Beta. We think that it's best for us to present CrossOver Android in
the Google Play Store and most convenient for our end users.
Next, you need to know how to best install it on your
Chromebook. We have an awesome tutorial on exactly what you need to do to get this to work on a Chromebook. Get the CrossOver Android on
Chromebook Tutorial Here.
Note that on a Chromebook that process takes approximately an hour to
complete (this includes the time required to put your Chromebook in
Developer Mode). On an Intel Android device, the process is much
quicker.
Additionally, you can find out more about CrossOver Android on our
CrossOver Android Webpage.
Finally, you need to have an open mind. The
first Model T
didn’t race down the highway at 100 MPH. The first light bulb didn’t
last for 2000 hours before burning out. CrossOver Android is a Tech
Preview. It does some very cool things. It does run
Steam. It does run
Office 2010. It does run
Wizard101. It does not run EVERY WINDOWS APPLICATION KNOWN TO MAN.
So be patient with us. We
ARE
committed to making the software better and better and better with each
passing release. And maybe someday, CrossOver Android will race down a
highway at 100 MPH. Who knows??? When we first started development,
we didn’t even have a target device in mind (and look at where we are
today!!!). When we move from Tech Preview to possibly an Alpha and then
straight to a Beta and then to Release Candidate and then to version
1.0, who knows what we’ll be capable of doing? Heck this Androidism
thing might just be the start of a technology revolution. We may all be
on the front lines of the NEXT BIG THING. (I should probably trademark
Androidism now while I have the chance).
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
