Dual Boot Installer Can Switch Between Android, Ubuntu

The good folks at Canonical have unveiled an Ubuntu dual-boot installer that’s sure to put a smile on the face of many an Android tinkerer. While Ubuntu’s mobile OS is still fairly young and needs a good deal of work before it’s a suitable replacement for Android, it still boasts a number of unique features and Canonical’s new product offers a streamlined way to get the best of both worlds.      

“With dual boot, switching between OSs had never been easier. No more key combinations or command line interfaces to jump into the next OS: on each side, an app with a simple user interface will enable you to boot back and forth at the tap of a button,” Canonical said.

Android Authority notes that Canonical’s dual-boot method has only been tested on the Nexus 4, however it should work on any unlocked device that’s compatible with Ubuntu. 

Although the Canonical app is designed for ease-of-use and simplicity, it seems that installing it is a completely different matter. For starters, you need to have a PC running Ubuntu to install the mod, as well as a working knowledge of command line codes. Canonical is upfront about this and says that dual booting is definitely not intended for casual users.

“Dual boot is not a feature suitable for regular users. It is recommended to be installed only by developers who are comfortable with flashing devices and with their partition layout. Dual boot rewrites the Android recovery partition and those installing it should be intimately familiar with re-flashing it in case something goes wrong,” the company said.

So there you have it: things can go wrong in the course of the installation and if you don’t know what you’re doing, they most likely will. All in all, Canonical seems like a bit more trouble than its worth unless you’re actively developing for the Ubuntu platform.