Comparing Mobile Operating Systems

I remember visiting a mobile retail shop back in the year 2003 to buy a worthy replacement for my ailing cell phone. Having served me for more than 3 years, my Nokia phone had grown old and unresponsive. I had found the worthy successor, more by instinct than an educated decision, and I was out of the shop in less than no time. Yes, decisions really were much easier back in those years when the mobile market was dominated by just a handful of brands. But a lot has changed in the field of mobile technologies over the years. With it mobile operating systems have also taken a major paradigm shift.

Market Leading Operating Systems

The functions of cell phones differ according to which operating system they run on. Therefore, it has become one of the key factors that determine people’s choice. The leading Mobile operating systems in the market are mentioned below in order of popularity and some of their salient features are highlighted:

1. Android – This particular operating system seems to have taken over the world in a landslide. With the launch of the very first android phone, other major leaders in the mobile OS market were taken completely off guard and most did not know what hit them. Equally surprised were the users of Android who quickly regained themselves and changed their loyalties overnight. Android OS is used in smart phones of market-leading mobile manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. Google has allowed these brands enough liberty to tailor the OS according to their own unique taste and this has encouraged some really impressive and creative innovations in the Android OS. Android OS also does not necessarily need a high performance system to be able to run efficiently. Touch interface makes usage and various functions extremely easy and accessible and there are more eye-candy factors and transition effects than the user can possibly imagine. Touch screen interface has proved to be a major reason behind why users’ are so addicted to Android sets and it is particularly useful for gamers as it takes the whole concept of gaming to an entirely new level. With all these features, it is little wonder that Android is currently leading the market in operating systems. Furthermore, the global Android market gives users the choice of downloading more than 170,000 applications and games. This is the second biggest mobile applications market after the iMarket for the iPhone.
2. iOS for iPhones – Ever since its first appearance on the global stage in the year 2007, the iPhone has been recognized for its unique aesthetics and design. However, the operating system of iPhone has played an equally important role in its popularity. iOS is snappy and colorful adding eye-candy to the interface. It is also extremely fast and smooth in operation and can run a large number of applications at the same time. Touch interface support makes the iOS extremely easy to use and commands are fast and easy to give. The on-screen QWERTY keyboard adds convenience rather than a 3X4 keypad. iPhone manufacturers have also established an online iApplications market where users can download more than 370,000 iOS compatible applications and games. This iMarket also offers users access to multimedia such as high quality videos and music.
3. Windows Phone 7 – Microsoft soon realized that it was losing its share of the mobile market and knew it needed to make some drastic overhauls in its existing Windows OS. Unlike its major contender Apple, which is only compatible with Apple manufactured iPhones, the Windows Phone 7 OS is being provided to leading mobile brands like Samsung, HTC and LG. News has it that even Nokia has planned to use Windows Phone 7 OS in its latest smart phone. Windows 7 OS once again has a touch interface and supports touch input. It offers various new, never-heard-before technologies such as 4-point input multi-touch capacitive screen. The interface is highly responsive to user commands. Perhaps one of the best things with the Windows 7 OS is that most Microsoft Windows features will be available to the user out-of-the-box. This means that they will not have to make expensive purchases simply to edit their documents or set their email clients. The Windows 7 OS also supports accelerometer functions and has a pre-installed a digital compass for navigation.
4. Blackberry OS – Although not in the league of Android and iOS, Blackberry OS has managed to maintain its grip on the market which could partly be because of its popularity among businessmen. Whatever the case, Blackberry has put on its thinking cap in time and switched to a touch interface supportive OS of the likes of Android and iOS. Although it lacks the various functionalities of the two major market leaders, Blackberry boasts a good large display with a quick-response input method using SurePress Technology.