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Just completely out of curiosity, what would it take to run any Microsoft application on an Android tablet? I'm guessing just loading a version of Windows 7 onto a tablet is out of the question, since it can't handle touch-capability. Would it be theoretically possible to write a Windows emulator or run-time environment that would allow you to, say, download Eclipse on a removable memory device, plug in a key board and mouse, and program right from your tablet? I know Microsoft is coming out with their Surface Pro that will run Windows 8 with full touch capability and have access to Microsoft's app market, but I much prefer Android in general (I prefer Java over C++) and Android's app market. That's why I was wondering.

pnuts
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rphello101
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  • Microsoft is a company using many technologies. Please specify which technologies you're talking about. Plus this question might get closed.. – shkschneider Oct 19 '12 at 15:32
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    If you're talking about standard desktop-grade MS stuff, then it's going to perform like a dog. Desktop stuff is invariably Intel x86, and Android devices are invariably ARM-based. The translation/emulation overhead will absolutely KILL performance and torture battery life to death, then beat it with a rotten fish for good measure. – Marc B Oct 19 '12 at 15:35
  • @MarcB, that's exactly what I was looking for. I was referring to desktop-grade MS stuff (as you put it). I simply wondering what it would take to get a tablet to either be or simulate a legitimate computer. – rphello101 Oct 19 '12 at 15:41
  • emulation's well understood, but when you're doing full-on instruction set translation, it gets painful. ARM's fast for what it does, but it's not fast enough to translate x86 on the fly and still perform "well". – Marc B Oct 19 '12 at 15:43

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is just a thought but you should check if there is any project similar or based in the winehq.org libraries, as android is linux based something like that might work with an extra layer to handle the touch input, using an emulator for the whole SO might be too expensive in resources for some tables out there to handle.

jeruki
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  • Many programs you download from the internet offer a Linux-based version as well, right? And Android is Linux based? So would it be more possible to run a Linux version of a standard desktop program on a tablet? – rphello101 Oct 19 '12 at 15:43