The mobile smartphone and tablet industry seems to have a very prominent divide , with lots of consumers having their favorite operating system and stick to hardware which is powered by their chosen OS. Obviously fans of Apple iOS use the iPhone an iPad devices , where Android lovers have a wide range of hardware to choose for due to the fact that the OS is available to multiple manufactures . But what happen if you are a die hard fan of iOS , or Windows Phone but you still want to sample the delights that Android Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer. I personally a iPhone user for many years and will continue to be.

But recently after getting my first taste of Android , i an severely tempted to shell out for a second device so that i can have the benefits of both the devices.

For those who can't or won't purchase a second device the why not run Android 4.0 in virtualization on your desktop or laptop in order to see Ice Cream Sandwich experience first hand ?

Android 4.0 is an Operating System with its own rights , but instead of running it on a dual boot setup , we install and run ICS within free of charge virtualizaton application known as Virtual Box.

Virtual Box runs like any other application or program on your system , but offers the benefits of being able to install a secondary OS within it which can be invoked quickly by the user . 

For those who Die Hard iOS and Windows Phone fans out there , this is a perfect way to experience the delights of Android .

Follow the steps below to fulfill your dreans :

Step 1  - Head over to the official Oracle VM Virtual Box site and download the relevant Virtual box binary for your computers operating system (Windows/Mac/Linux/Solaris)

Step 2 - Find the saved location of the downloaded Virtual Box binary and install as would with any other native application making sure to follow on screen prompts and instructions.

Step 3 - Head over to the VMLite website and download a copy of  the ICE CREAM SANDWICH which has been preconfigured for virtualization and features seamless mouse support for navigation . The download weighs in at 88 MB in size .

 

Step 4 - Locate the download ' Android-v47.z' and etract the content from within .

Step 5 - Once the Android-v47.z has been opened , locate a file from within the archive called 'Android-v4.vbox' which as you can tell by the file extension is a pre configured Virtual Box File . 

Step 6 - Double click on the Android -v4.vbox file which will load the virtual box application and boot up the ICS file .

Step 7 - When the boot menu is presented in Virtual Box, press 'start' on the top toolbar and then if required select the 'Android Startup from /dev/sda' option .

Step 8 - All steps are complete. Android 4.0 ICS should now be booting up allowing you to enjoy that Android goodness.

Windows and Linux users may find that an alternative , specific version Android 4.0 may be required which can be found by visiting the Android Page *86 . The performance of Android ICS virtual installation will not be as smooth as intended on an actual device built for purpose , but it gives good feel of the OS with apps being able to launch as well as widget customization. 

I hope you will definitely love that !!!! Enjoy