Running two platforms on one smartphone seems like a dream come true for many. Sometimes the hardest part about choosing a new smartphone is trying to decide between different operating systems. The topic of being able to dual boot platforms has long been desired in the smartphone community, but so far hasn't really been attempted on a large scale level for a number of reasons. Although we can be fairly certain that larger, more popular platforms like Android and iOS will never dual-boot right out of the box. However, just because iOS and Android won't be dual-booting on any hardware anytime soon doesn't mean that other operating systems aren't going to be trying to make it happen.
Yesterday I asked if you could ever see yourself switching to a completely different and new platform. We are already so embedded in our own platforms that we already have that it's hard to imagine ever having anything else come along that could possibly be better sometimes. In that article I mentioned two new platforms that have come out in the last year, Firefox OS and Sailfish OS, both of which are in their beginning stages. We already know that Firefox OS isn't planning on taking on the likes of bigger platforms, but Sailfish OS seems to have its sights set slightly higher, although in a different way. Instead of competing against Android, it seems like Sailfish wants to work together with Android by making the platform available for installation in existing Android hardware.
My fellow editor, Evan, mentioned the other day that he didn't think he really had a need for a device that dual-boots, but I'm sitting on the other side of the fence. I don't really prefer one OS over another constantly, although certain updates can provoke me to change my peferences. I also find myself bored with a platform that I've been using for too long. I don't necessarily want to change hardwares, just platforms. If I had a phone that would dual boot I would be able to switch back and forth whenever. Even if I didn't use one platform for months (or years?) at a time, I feel like having the ability to dual-boot between two platforms would reduce the desire for me to want to get a new phone (which happens quite often). In short, it makes me feel like I'm getting more out of my money if I get two different operating systems under one roof.
Jolla's Sailfish OS has interested me for quite some time now, and the fact that the operating system is already compatible with a good number of Android apps makes me think that there's a lot of room for Sailfish to grow in the future. On top of that, I also think that the platform has a good looking UI (something that I think a platform needs to have in order to initially draw people in). If I was able to install the operating system on my Android device and be able to use either/or I would be one happy camper. Although it might be awhile before we actually see Sailfish able to dual-boot on an Android device, it's definitely something that I'm interested in doing sometime in the future.
Overall I think that Sailfish is off to a good start in making a name for itself, even though it only recently launched. I'm excited to be able to use the platform sometime in the future regardless of whether it's able to dual-boot or not, but I think it would make things a lot easier for people if they were able to make it so that Androids could dual-boot the software.
What are your thoughts, readers? Would you want to have Sailfish on your Android device, or do you think that they would be better off being separate platforms on separate hardware? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Image via The Verge
