Maru OS transforms your Android smartphone into a Debian Linux PC
Maru is a ROM for Android OS smartphones, when mounted only on Nexus 5, which provides users with a Debian Linux working environment when the terminal is connected to an external monitor via HDMI.
The boundaries of the traditional PC and smartphone categories become increasingly blurred as companies like Microsoft and Canonical intensify investment to introduce special operating modes that make smartphones and tablets can be used as potential substitute’s PC. The reference is to the now known Continuum Windows 10 Mobile mode and the first Ubuntu tablet recently presented that makes the possibility of being used as a PC one of its strengths.
Even Maru OS goes in the same direction as the convergence between smartphone and PC: it is a custom ROM based on Android Lollipop that provides users with a Debian Linux working environment when your smartphone is connected to an external monitor via HDMI connector. At the moment, the only supported device is the Google Nexus 5, but it is not excluded that, in the future, a greater number of Android smartphone will use the ROM.
The principle of operation is very similar to the Continuum of Windows 10 Mobile: the terminal project on the external monitor to a desktop environment, while the smartphone functions continue to remain usable and operating independently from the desktop.
The user can use the keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth, to manage the desktop environment, making the experience of actually similar use to that of a PC. Maru OS supports a suspension system of the desktop mode that allows you to pause and resume activity in the exact condition in which it was suspended. All resources are also shared between the desktop environment and the Android operating system: the data stored on the SD card, the WiFi and telephone connectivity.
And correct to point out that, at least for the moment, the use of Maru OS is not properly simple. The project is still in beta, which is carried out in private, and, like any custom ROM for Android devices. Installation is only recommended to a user more than ” modding ” experts. The ROM completely replaces the native and the installation causes a complete reset of the data. Users interested in trying Maru OS may try to become part of the beta test program by filling out the form at this address.
An appreciable project in its intentions, which, if well-developed and extended to a greater number of models, could give an edge to Android smartphone. Attempts to optimize the Google mobile operating system for the experience of desktops use have never been convincing, on the contrary, create a ROM that provides a desktop environment based on Debian Linux is undoubtedly more effective in view of the achievement of the much-coveted convergence. For more information on Maru OS it is advisable to visit the official website.
