New to android, questions

[zoomzilla]

Hi all, I just bought the nexus 7 tablet and have a few questions. It seems that everything you can download has to be app based, only stuff you can get in the app market. Is there a way to download and install programs from the internet without using an android specific app? I am trying to download a program called streamtorrent, it has to be this specific program, not just any old video player. I downloaded the zip file and unzipped it but it didn't unzip any .exe file for me to run it with. Am I missing something about android capabilities?

 

[Wilkas]

Android files are .apk not .exe which I believe is only used with Windows or Symbian so I doubt it will work.

I used tTorrent but that doesn't have streaming, someone might be able to recommend one that does

 

[zoomzilla]

Thanks Wilkas, is there an app that will translate to .exe that you know of?

 

[Crashdamage]

is there an app that will translate to .exe that you know of?

No. Google's Android and Apple's iOS operating systems are completely different from Windows. You can't even install regular Windows programs on Windows Phone devices.

 

[chanchan05]

It also has to do with the CPU architecture the program supports. Windows programs use an x86 or x64 CPU architecture. Mobile devices like tablets use ARM based processors which aren't recognized by Windows programs. Rewriting a program to run on Android is basically making that program from ground up, not some tweak in the code.

The only tablets that will be able to run actual Windows programs is the Windows Surface Pro, to be available this fall and running Windows 8. Take note of the "Pro" moniker. There will be a cheaper Windows Surface version which will use ARM chips, and cannot run Windows programs because of that. The "Pro" tablet will use an x86 processor.