Ralph Fox wrote:

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

Thanks for the detailed info. I'll get on it.

John