Google Gives Boot to Dual-Boot Tablet Concept

Don’t get your hopes up for that hybrid Windows/Android tablet you were dreaming about—chances are, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

In what looks to be the final nail in the coffin for the previously rumored dual-boot Windows and Android tablet, Digitimes has reported Google (GOOG) is working to stamp out the possibility of such tablets ever seeing the light of day. Even though several companies have teased dual-boot devices for almost a year now, Google is firmly against pairing with a competing OS.

According to Digitimes, a hybrid tablet simultaneously running a Windows and Android OS would be great for Microsoft (MSFT) and chipset maker Intel (INTC), but would not be beneficial for Google. Since Android is already the dominant OS among tablet users, allowing consumers the option to choose between the two would only take away from Android’s market share. Google hasn’t become the top dog in the tablet market by giving the competition a leg up, and its dual-boot policy is certainly no exception.

This is bad news for consumers who were looking forward to the release of the Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300, which was supposed to launch at the end of this month and would be able to switch between Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2.2 within four seconds. Last year, Samsung’s purported dual-boot device was also cancelled without explanation, according to BGR.

While the possibility of a Windows/Android tablet is slim, it doesn’t mean that it could never happen. Since Microsoft doesn’t pose a significant threat to Google in the tablet market, who’s to say that the company may change its stance a few years down the road? As of now, there are certain ways to piece together a dual-OS system, including the recently released Ubuntu Linux tool for tablets and smartphones, even though it pales in comparison to the real deal. For now, true dual-boot tablets will have to remain the stuff of fantasy, as the big three OS developers continue to battle for supremacy in the mobile device market.