A developer got Googlebook OS running on Apple Silicon, but it's far from ready for daily use
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.
TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust.
In a nutshell: Developer Skylar Taylor-Barrick has managed to get Googlebook OS running on Apple Silicon Macs using a virtual machine that supports GPU acceleration and a working Chrome browser. The project, called gbos-vm, lets Mac users try Google's Android-based laptop operating system without buying a Googlebook. It remains an experiment, though, with bugs and security limitations that make it unsuitable for everyday use.
The graphics support is a key part of the work. Googlebook OS uses Vulkan, while Apple's graphics system uses Metal. The project bridges the two graphics APIs so the virtual machine can use the Mac's GPU instead of relying on the CPU to render the interface.
That required more than translating graphics commands. Android shares graphics buffers between OpenGL ES and Vulkan using a Linux mechanism macOS doesn't...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.techspot.com. To see the full text click HERE
