On Sun, 7 Apr 2019 06:52:36 -0000 (UTC), Yes wrote:

I'd like to run a version of android (yet TBD) in a VM on my pc. I
have Windows 8.1 64-bit Pro with Hyper V.

I've run across mention of BlueStacks (umulator) and PrimeOS as well as
others. BlueStacks seems to get the most favorable recommendations for
ease of use and installation. PrimeOS seems to be a full-fledged
android OS. Both can access Google Play Store - important to me
because the app I want to use is only available there as far as I can
tell.

My main concern is that I want to keep everything sandboxed as a
precaution against malware. The info I've found so far about PrimeOS
suggests that you have to set it up either on a bootable USB drive or
as a dual-boot option. Neither of those options really appeal to me.
I haven't found anything discussing if it can be run as a VM using
Hyper V.

Remix OS was another recommendation except that one review said that it
hasn't been updated since early 2018 and appears to be no longer being
developed.

Is BlueStacks a sandboxed application so that malware would not get
spread to my pc?

Can PrimeOS be run as a VM in Hyper V?

Thanks


I run Android-x86 in VMware Workstation Player. Android-x86 can access
the Google Play Store.

* Android-x86 -- http://www.android-x86.org/releases

The latest release is Android-x86 8.1 R1 (Release 1) in January this
year.

Remix OS used to be based on Android-x86. Android-x86 is still
being developed.

Notes:

1. I use the .iso image to install Android-x86 in VMware, with
these VM settings
* Memory: 2GB (for the 32-bit version)
* Virtual disk: IDE, 24GB (size ~ a modern Android phone's internal storage)
* Guest OS: "Other Linux" (VMware doesn't have "Android" as an option)

There are also VM images of Android-x86 available from
https://www.osboxes.org/android-x86/. OSBoxes doesn't have
the Android-x86 8.1 Release (R1) yet, only the beta "Release
Candidate" (RC1).

2. For 8.1 R1 in VMware, I had to set a VESA mode in Grub to get a
better screen size. This was a one-time set-up. You might not
have to do this in Hyper V. I did not have to in 7.1 R1.

Links:
* Setting a VESA mode when you boot the VM:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-x86/SbYkHRXkv54
* Making it permanent (I used Antony Stone's method):
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/android-x86/YBcBkK3Aapk


--
Kind regards
Ralph
🦊