VMware MVP weds Windows CE and Android in unholy matrimony on dual-boot N800

This is just too good. We knew VMware was working on this sort of thing, but watching it in action is almost too much magic for our fragile hearts to comprehend. VMware MVP lets you run multiple mobile operating systems on a mobile device as virtual machines. It works exactly as you might hope something like this to work -- you can switch between operating systems on the fly, with full graphics acceleration and touchscreen interaction. You can even view both operating systems running simultaneously (in this case Windows CE 6 and Android), with info on just how much power each OS is swiping from your poor little mobile CPU. Performance isn't perfect, of course, but as mobile hardware gets better and the desire for multiple mobile operating systems on the same device becomes unbearable, we see good things happening here. VMware expects to release the software in 2009, video is after the break.

[CMoebius Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:31AM]

How about Android running on an iPhone next. :D

[arash Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:49AM]

iphone have not even multitasking and you want multi operation system? can we start with copy/paste?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:59AM]

we have multitasking, just not for 3rd party apps, get it right, it still does all the calendar alerts, music, phone, emai,l text app updates etc in the background, and why the hell would ya wanna run android as virtual machine on an iphone?

[LondonConsultant Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:03PM]

I want to see Windows 7 running on a StarTAC...

[atomb52 Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:11PM]

If you install Backgrounder on a jailbroken iPhone then you can run any app in the background and if you install clippy then you will have true copy/paste as well!

[frauhottelmann Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:38AM]

Is this running under Symbian or is it like its own OS?

[barry99705 Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:49AM]

It's running the same as their Esx hypervisor. The Nokia boots vmware's custom os, then boots other os's in emulation.

[Kamokazi Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:41AM]

Normal Business Model:

1) Notice Problem
2) Find Solution
3) Profit!

VMWare/Underpant Gnome Business Model:

1) Find Solution/Underpants
2) ???
3) Profit!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:44AM]

I wouldnt consider the NokiaN800 exactly a phone, sure you can use skype or SIP service, but how many phones do you know that run a full Linux Debian distro with firefox3, OpenOffice, GIMP, hydrogen (beat making), VLC etc...

This is just virtualization on an ARM cpu which has been done almost a year ago by Xen.

Nontheless, it's still pretty cool. Now would VMware please hurry up and make this available for free on http://maemo.org/downloads/OS2008/.

[Ravnos Posted Feb 27th 2009 2:14PM]

Are you talking about running those things out of the box? Because most of the apps you listed haven't been ported to Maemo, and getting them to work from vanilla Debian ARM packages is a hassle at best. However, I do know that Debian can be installed on the N-series after the fact, and so by the same standard, the G1 meets your criteria.

[barry99705 Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:48AM]

It's not "dual boot"! It's running both at the same time. My old N800 "dual booted" maemo off internal memory, or debian off a sd card.

[Menos Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:50AM]

so i just got my xperia x1 from amazon yesterday and guess what

im sending it back for a full refund. reason? windows mobile.

with this being my first winmo device (and after having andorid on my tmoble g1) i can see how much of a failure it's become in comparison with android and... (dare i say this) iphone osx. so much so that its pushed me to reject what is so far the most high end cellular device available in the market at the moment.

microsoft. look at what thou hast wrought upon the mobile industry. i will never buy another windows mobile phone again (unless by some miracle you pull off wonders and magic and engadget unicorns with windows mobile 7. i will now await whatever further awesomeness is to come in future android handsets.

[frauhottelmann Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:59AM]

You are sending it back after 1 day???
Oh boy you haven't experienced the full might of Win Mo after weeks...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:07PM]

Wow. What a solid, compelling, well thought out argument. You made some real fine points there. Oh wait, no you really didn't.

WinMo is a business tool first. If you're buying a phone strictly to jerk off to all the latest fart apps, then WinMo is not for you. Yes, it CAN play fart sounds, but you can also run a small company with it.

Stop typing please.

[Menos Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:38PM]

wow, didnt mean to attract so much negative attention. fart apps? such trivial pursuits are by no means close to what i plan to accomplish with a cell phone. eyecandy? sony's interface took care of that (although, even with 128mbs dedicated to video memory any animation performed ended up choppy and laggy). my discontent is simply based on the erratic behavior of the os and lack of innovation in the way it operates in comparison to that of its competitors. perhaps you're right, though. perhaps im just too used to android and i'm not giving it a fair shot. i will however say that microsoft could have done a much better job with this os and in my honest opinion should give it a much needed upgrade. but please, explain the positives/full might of windows mobile that i may perhaps keep my ericsson instead of returning it.

[Andir Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:46PM]

For the record, just about every WinMo phone I know locks up when you answer if you set a custom ring tone. I could care less how many apps there are for it if it's going to lock up and require a reboot when I try to answer a call with a custom tone. If they can't even get that right, I'd hate to see how many other times I could get it to freeze up.

[Andir Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:49PM]

Correction, I couldn't care less.

[trevr Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:52PM]

sorry, id take android over windows mobile anyday. dont just take my word for it. look at the 50 billion comments complaining how the diamond and touch pro2 "need" android

[Sor1 Posted Feb 27th 2009 1:08PM]

m8 next next time have patient and SPB mobile shell v3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2AOukFSz5o&feature=related

i am so getting this version of mobile shell !!!

[Alan Strangis Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:51PM]

@ Andir3.0: Almost every? Hmmm... I've NEVER had a WM device lock up when a call comes in. In fact, since the last revision of WM5, and throughout WM6 - 6.1, my phones have been way more stable than my multiple browser crashes a day iPhone (and I actually gave that almost 2 months before ditching it for a Touch Pro).

Anyone who returns a phone the same day they buy it must suffer from ADHD.

[skyblaze Posted Feb 27th 2009 4:03PM]

anyone who returns a phone the day they buy it simply doesnt like it :\

im surprised you havent told some of these people to "perish" yet, menos XD

by the way, android ftw :)

/relevant comment

[Hackettman Posted Feb 27th 2009 6:12PM]

No need to down winmo just because you didnt like from what Im getting the look of it. I run my business and keep tabs on my day job from my phone. Several email accounts all outlook (which as far as I see is industry standard for most markets) and plenty of little fun things I put on it so when I do have down time I have something to play with. Straight out of the box. No apps no real time needed and VERY little tech expertise.

Its a strong os. Just doesnt have the fashionable attitude that most of the others have. Which is all I can see from the other os's with limited use of them.

Whats kept me away from phones like the G1 and iphone? Android and iphones os.......

[StanO Posted Feb 27th 2009 7:00PM]

Sorry Greggo, until WinMo can support SIP (or any other widespread business IP-telephony protocol) at least as well as the uncrippled Symbian 60 phones do, it can't be called a business tool. So you can view/edit Word/Excel documents on it, big deal -- non WinMo phones have been doing it for years.

BTW, tons of the small devices are coming out with the CPUs similar or better to what's installed in Nokia N800, if VMWare can offer a virtualization software for them, it's nothing short of a break-thru.

[theefman Posted Feb 27th 2009 11:55AM]

Didnt take long for someone to turn up bashing Windows Mobile, did it? And as usual its the usual anti-MS rant from someone who probably hasnt explored the REAL functionality of WM vs basing their impressions on the lack of eyecandy.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:08PM]

amazing. vmware does it yet again.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 12:18PM]

WinMo is for technical people... I bought my first WinMo phone a month ago after having an iPhone 3g and I could not be happier... I bought an HTC Tytn II and unlocked it and cooked my own ROM and installed Warcraft II, Worms world party, I love the outlook in WinMo (blows my iPhone away), I love mobile office, I love that I can tether my phone without "jailbreaking", I love the fact that I can send more files/exe's from my phone through outlook in emails, I love the whole PC feel, and It's been an great experience so far even though my phone is unstable at times. My WinMo phone is not perfect... come on nothing is... but my iPhone crashed a lot too with FAR less flexibility in how I wanted to configure my phone/os... I've tried android on my phone too! But at the same time I understand how WinMo can put people off... If you are not technical then you will not enjoy the WinMo experience AT ALL... Dreadful.... But for the techie its great fun!

[Menos Posted Feb 27th 2009 1:15PM]

thank you. i really appreciate your input... kudos. +1

[breaklaw Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:24PM]

There's two different kind of people in this world. Windows Mobile is for guys like us, locked down, dumbed down and handicapped is for guys like them. They will never understand, there's no use in even trying to convice them.

[pk Posted Feb 27th 2009 8:24PM]

breaklaw, that's a very naive and pessimistic way to look at it. I like the iPhone OS more than WinMo and I can fully understand his point of view. Not everyone who doesn't like WinMo is dumb. Some people just like things simple and not have to go around and edit everything.

[Eternity Posted Feb 28th 2009 11:28AM]

All you people going about windows mobile have not seen the light yet. If you need a big screen then fine keep your winmo if android isnt your cup of tea. But if you don't need a big screen well... once you go Symbian you never go back. I dare anyone questioning this to toy with the Nokia E71. A "business phone" for all your "serious business users" (in deep serious "business voice").It wasn't named phone of the year last year for nothing. As a matter of fact if you read the reviews the general consensus is that it is... dare is say "Perfect". Like any OS it has a small learning curve but you will find yourself getting stuff done easier and faster than winmo without even needing a bunch of third party apps taking up space and memory in your system. Not that they would even remotely bog it down being that it handles memory exemplarily. Also if you prefer functionality over all the eye candy and hoopla this is your device. Not to mention the oh so excellent sip stack as stated before. If you travel internationally and as a "business user" want to save money getting an SIP provider is the way to go.

[zerverize Posted Feb 27th 2009 1:13PM]

vmware rocks!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 1:26PM]

Heard that the footprint is also pretty small, which is nice on mobile devices.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:01PM]

Wow, VMWare is killing it!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:05PM]

Yeah.. the idea sounds real nice.. But how much power is a mobile device going to need to virtualize an os...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 3:24PM]

Running a OS onVirtual Machine sound unappealling. It'll be cooler if someone developed a true bootloader

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 7:35PM]

is this coming to a blackberry storm

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2009 7:35PM]

i wonder if instead of using vmware mobile to run somethin like android we could use it to run the iphone os other devices

[FILA Posted Feb 28th 2009 1:38PM]

i like how she says yea we can play solitaire while waiting for Android to load but when she went to click on the cards, they were frozed, lol