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Why does it have to be machine specific. Ex. Nexus One
I've got an Apad that has 1.5 installed. Why can't I just grab 2.2 and install it like linux. It would be nice if Google went this route. The software should just recognize the hardware and install the appropriate hardware drivers and applications.

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Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware in some way, within the scope defined in the faq. – BloodPhilia Jul 13 '10 at 16:25
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Jul 9 '10 at 16:36

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closed as off topic by BloodPhilia, Gnoupi Jul 13 '10 at 16:54

Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware, within the scope defined in the faq.

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The kernel - the core of the operating system - is specifically setup for one type of chip architecture/one CPU. So, a Mac from three years ago had a PPC chip, and a PC had an Intel chip; software from one was hard to get to the other. Now that Apple moved to Intel as well, you can easily dual boot Windows on any Apple laptop.

The operating system has to support the hardware. A general operating system - one that supported many hardware setups, while being optimized for none of them - would be possibly hundreds of times slower than one done the way they're done.

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