Phoenix OS 3.6.1.564 for PC

Phoenix OS 3.6.1.564 is an operating system for ordinary PCs based on Android-x86, from the Phoenix OS Team. It boots Android directly on a computer and adds a desktop-style interface with a start menu, a taskbar and resizable windows. The package listed here is used on Windows PCs to install it next to Windows; before you download Phoenix OS, note that this build is old and updates have not appeared for a long time.

Overview

An Android emulator such as BlueStacks runs inside Windows as a program. Phoenix OS takes a different route: it is an operating system in its own right. You install it on a partition or a USB drive and pick it at startup instead of Windows. Because Android then talks to the hardware directly, apps and games can run more smoothly than in an emulator on the same machine, and older laptops sometimes feel faster with it than with Windows. The desktop layer made it popular with people who wanted to use Android apps with a keyboard and mouse, turn an old netbook into a simple Android machine or test apps on real x86 hardware. The downside is hardware support. Drivers for Wi-Fi, graphics, touchpads and sleep mode come from the Android-x86 project, and on many modern PCs something does not work. The Android version underneath is also old by today's standards, so newer apps may refuse to install.

Is it still maintained?

The version in the catalogue is 3.6.1.564, and no newer releases have appeared for years. We do not treat the project as officially closed, since there has been no announcement, but you should expect no security updates. That matters for a whole operating system far more than for a single app: do not use it for banking, email or accounts you care about. The official site, phoenixos.com, may not always be reachable.

Installation in brief

1. Back up your data; changes to partitions and the boot menu can go wrong.
2. Run the installer from Windows and choose a drive or partition with enough space.
3. Restart and pick Phoenix OS in the boot menu.
4. If Secure Boot blocks it, you may need to adjust firmware settings; change them back if you remove Phoenix OS.

The download is about 634.85 MB according to catalogue data. Trying it from a USB drive first is safer than installing to the internal disk.

Pros and cons

• Pro: runs Android apps natively on a PC.
• Pro: desktop interface with windows and a taskbar.
• Pro: free.
• Con: no updates for a long time, no security patches.
• Con: patchy hardware support on modern PCs.

Alternatives

For running Android apps on Windows without changing the boot setup, our listings include the emulators BlueStacks, LDPlayer, NoxPlayer and MSI App Player. To write installation media for other systems, Rufus is the standard tool.