Jide Technology, which has previously made headlines for creating a Microsoft Surface-like tablet, on Monday announced that it is making available a beta version of Remix OS, a customised version of Android, for the desktop platform. The beta release includes a number of new features including support for 32-bit machines, a feature that makes it possible for users with old laptops to run Remix OS.

The company last month had announced the release of the alpha version of Remix OS. The beta version brings several improvements to it such as support for dual-boot, and the ability to receive OTA updates and over 50 major bug fixes. But the biggest attraction is Jide's decision to add support for 32-bit SoC models. As computers become old, their processing power starts to diminish and they can almost certainly not work efficiently with new operating systems. Remix OS can bring life to many such desktops and laptops.

"Thanks to the support and feedback from our generous community, we've been able to speed up the development of the Beta version," said David Ko, Co-Founder of Jide Technology in a statement. "Now with OTA software update support, users can begin to rely on Remix OS for more daily activities without the worry of a new update wiping their data. This update will help us to charge towards the eventual stable release later in 2016."

For a refresh, Remix OS is an Android 4.3 Jelly Bean-based operating system which supports Google Play store. It offers multi-window support, a feature that is currently not available on most Android devices. It is fairly light too. Anyone can download the system image and put it on a USB 3.0 FAT32-supported flash drive with 8GB of minimum storage capacity. Remix OS reminds us of CloudReady, a Chrome OS-based operating system that is also aimed at getting more out of old laptops and machines.

Jide, which came into existence in 2014 and hit the news for making devices such as a Microsoft Surface-lookalike tablet and the Remix Mini PC, appears to be pivoting into the software business.