Ok, prob. wrong forum, but....

Edward78 · 18 Jun 2013 at 14:28

Is the OS in a smartphone hardwired, or is it like it is on a computer?

ChocolateStarfishRammer · 18 Jun 2013 at 14:31

I assume you mean is it written into a chip permanently. In which case no.

eddyc · 18 Jun 2013 at 15:08

Have a look at XDA Developers.

Huge amounts of information on changing the OS of your phone.

muon · 18 Jun 2013 at 15:28

Edward78 said:
Is the OS in a smartphone hardwired, or is it like it is on a computer?

Nope you can install as you want, but unless it's pre-packaged to work with your hardware it's a bit difficult. Windows, Linux etc. are created to work with almost everything.

Then there is the ARM and x86 problem.

Myshra · 18 Jun 2013 at 16:23

For the most part it's like a PC except that it uses NAND Storage for the HDD (A sorta slow SSD). Apple iOS will only run on iOS specific hardware but Android will run on practically anything with ARM based processors.

Edward78 · 19 Jun 2013 at 13:59

Any place with info on how to install any Mobile OS you want? For reg. people, not devs.

Myshra · 19 Jun 2013 at 14:06

It's virtually impossible due to the signed bootloaders used for iOS/Windows, for Android it's a case of overwriting the current one then making sure you have the required compiled OS. In either case - because you're not specifying the OS involved/model of phone/requirements I'm going to say this is probably beyond your current level of expertise.

It's not possible to run iOS on Android if this was the goal.

ng93 · 19 Jun 2013 at 14:16

You can install any OS you want providing that the phone's bootloader is unlocked. However you can't just go and download a generic copy of an OS and install it as you would on a PC, it needs to be specifically packaged for your phone, which is certainly not something regular people can do.

Or in other words, it depends on what phone you have and which OS you want to install.