Windows surpassed by Android?

[Zachary Boddy]

Maybe they can actually get security updates to more of the Android devices out in the wild at some point. the way it is now I'd say more than 50% of the Android devices in the world are either no longer supported by Google (older Andorid versions) or no longer/never were supported by their hardware manufacturers.

It's far more than 50% I'd guess. The vast majority of Android phones are lost in limbo. Quite a few of them are cut off the moment they're released (but of course the people buying them don't know that). Fragmentation is Android's biggest hurdle.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Android is successful because Google lets anyone who fancies it use Android however they want. Any OEM can install Android on their phone and alter it to fit their own needs. That means there's a plethora of cheap Android phones by obscure OEM's that sell in droves because they're cheap and run Android.

Yes. And if that model works -- and if proliferation is the goal, it does -- it arguably is the most successful platform currently.

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Yes. And if that model works -- and if proliferation is the goal, it does -- it arguably is the most successful platform currently.

Android is the most successful OS in certain ways. If you're looking at sheer install numbers, then yeah it definitely dominates. If you look at profits or cohesion, iOS has you beat. I could go on and on "Android is better here, iOS is better here, Windows is somewhere in the middle."

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Android is the most successful OS in certain ways. If you're looking at sheer install numbers, then yeah it definitely dominates. If you look at profits or cohesion, iOS has you beat. I could go on and on "Android is better here, iOS is better here, Windows is somewhere in the middle."

I don't think we disagree. IOS is a money making machine.

 

[editguy]

It might be a concern if it could be a replacement for Windows in all areas. But it can't. Here's an example. No on is editing video professionally on Android. That's just one example of many where Android can't be a replacement. I personally don't own any Android products. The closest I come is an emulator that I use to play a game.

 

[editguy]

People keep referring to Apples' doom but they keep getting richer and richer. They are the most valuable company and have made more in the last 2 years than in a long time. Their app store is booming despite the lower market share. You go after the rich and you make money. Who cares about 80% market share when such a small minority are actually making app purchases. Typically likely the flagship users with Samsung units.

I don't believe Apple can be used as a model for what works. They are unique in the corporate world in that they have a cult-like following and have for decades. People with a religious-like zeal that will never consider any other company because they actually believe that there is something unique about Apple products that can't be duplicated or bested by any other company. If it was something that could be done by any company, some company would have accomplished it by now. I do agree that, for this reason, the doomsayers are kidding themselves if they believe that Apple is going down. The evidence is that their followers will buy whatever they produce without ever questioning whether there is something else that's better (and I'm not saying that all Apple users are like this, but a large chunk of them are and Apple can rely on that).

 

[Laura Knotek]

I don't believe Apple can be used as a model for what works. They are unique in the corporate world in that they have a cult-like following and have for decades. People with a religious-like zeal that will never consider any other company because they actually believe that there is something unique about Apple products that can't be duplicated or bested by any other company. If it was something that could be done by any company, some company would have accomplished it by now. I do agree that, for this reason, the doomsayers are kidding themselves if they believe that Apple is going down. The evidence is that their followers will buy whatever they produce without ever questioning whether there is something else that's better (and I'm not saying that all Apple users are like this, but a large chunk of them are and Apple can rely on that).

I don't think that is the case. The folks I know who prefer MacOS are photographers, graphic designers and musicians. MacOS works better for their needs. It has nothing to do with them following Apple as if it were a religion.

 

[davidhk129]

Why do we need to be concerned ?

Will Microsoft go belly up because of that ?
I doubt that.

Will it affect our daily use of computers running Windows OS ?
I don't think so.


Are we going to buy more computers than we need to just to help Microsoft on its market share ?
I don't think so.

Are we going to set up a Save Microsoft Campaign worldwide to stomp the onslaught of Android ?
It will never happen. Dream on.

So, why should we be concerned ? As if we don't have other more important matters to be concerned of in our lives.

 

[tgp]

I don't think that is the case. The folks I know who prefer MacOS are photographers, graphic designers and musicians. MacOS works better for their needs. It has nothing to do with them following Apple as if it were a religion.

Indeed. And even if it were true, Apple earned it, fair and square.

 

[anon(50597)]

I don't think that is the case. The folks I know who prefer MacOS are photographers, graphic designers and musicians. MacOS works better for their needs. It has nothing to do with them following Apple as if it were a religion.

I agree, there are some professional examples where you are correct. Graphic design is one of them. But a large sample of mobile users are caught up in the hype. Not that the iPhone is a bad product, its not. But its also not as special as many have been led to believe. Their marketing scheme is second to none as evidenced by the numbers.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

 

[editguy]

I don't think that is the case. The folks I know who prefer MacOS are photographers, graphic designers and musicians. MacOS works better for their needs. It has nothing to do with them following Apple as if it were a religion.

If you noticed, I said it didn't apply to everyone. But I don't think anyone can deny that Apple has a more loyal following than other corporations. I am a professional video editor and teach broadcast TV at the high school level. In the early days of Apple, they produced superior products but that hasn't been the case for some time now. A couple of years ago we got a new editing lab of iMacs at my school. In the first month, three had to be sent back because they would no longer boot up. Another had the screen fall off. That's superior quality? I have to constantly do forced reboots because of freezes. I'm forced to teach with FCPX because district administrators have the misconception that it is the industry standard. The fact is, there is no industry standard. Many NBC stations are using an NLE that is Windows only because it works better for broadcast and is less expensive than Apple solutions. In my personal business, I haven't used Apple products for decades because there are better, more flexible NLE's than FXPX that run on Windows. I can build a superior editing station cheaper than I can buy one from Apple. Apple no longer dominates in video work and it has lost a chunk of graphics because Adobe products run just as well on Windows as they do on OSX. Unfortunately, I know dozens of video editors and graphics artists that won't even look at anything besides apple because they have the mindset that I described in my previous post. I'm hoping that the Surface Studio opens some eyes. Not because I think that everyone needs to use Windows, but because we get better products and more innovation when there is good competition. Can anyone honestly say that Apple has been driving innovation in recent years? I stand by my previous post.

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Not overly surprised about Android surpassing windows in terms of Internet usage. Android is an extremely popular mobile OS that comes in many different forms of hardware and price points.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

If you read the article, the statistics are based on the devices that accessed internet

From experience I know there are people who have laptops or desktops but rarely access internet - I used to do that actually

Then of course there are phones that cannot access internet at all like simple feature phones - those wouldn't even be counted and they are still being used in significant amounts in developing countries

 

[techiez]

Sure, nowhere do I see MS should do that. Though that is the route they should take if they have a highly demanded product no one else has. MS shouldn't be in phones, period. They need the next best thing and then build their ecosystem with that. Then once they are established can they release other products like mobile phones.

They have the next best thing. Hololens, but somehow they have failed to take the consumer space by storm with it, they are happy to sell it to enterprises n thats abt it.

 

[envio]

Like all these statistics, you can make them say what you want, depending on your point of view. I guess for Microsoft, it's more about the perception being the reality.

I saw this on Twitter originally and at first I thought it was saying that Android (mobile) had overtaken Windows (desktop) which is not true. But the devil is in the detail as ever.

However it must be a worry for Microsoft that more stories will be generated and skewed in a way that paints a narrative of Windows becoming more irrelevant. If only they had maintained a broader mobile presence, things could and should be different.

 

[Greywolf1967]

Microsoft has Enterprise on lock and Android will for the most part always stay mobile. Yes iOS and Android are flooding into every company, but still only as a portable device.

I have a feeling Windows 10 on Arm has a shot at chipping away at iOS and Droid in the BYOD Enterprise market, but they have to market it right and get people to want to leave their trusted mobile companion.

They have to do a better job with Win10Arm than was done with RT.

All that aside with China pouring out cheep Android gear like water over Niagara Falls it was only a matter of time before more droid devices were touching the Net.

 

[PerfectReign]

This is exactly why MS is pushing cloud and services. They are done with capturing the desktop OS. They need to remain competitive in their apps (Office) and services (SQL, IIS...) as those are the next area. My two teenage son's already use Google Docs more than Office because that's what school uses. At the same time they spend most of their internet browsing on their LG V20 (Android) and Iphone respectively. My younger son uses his laptop for Skype and GDocs. My older one for skype, gdocs, and 3d CAD.

Sent from mTalk

 

[mjperry51]

I don't think that is the case. The folks I know who prefer MacOS are photographers, graphic designers and musicians. MacOS works better for their needs. It has nothing to do with them following Apple as if it were a religion.

Laura -- my wife and I own a design firm. She learned on Mac, and so that's what she uses. That said -- she's the "religious" OS person in the group. :grin:

 

[Chemy JMHT]

I think it will matter once Android become able to do heavy task, those that even Windows is doing with struggle, like work tasks and gaming.

Samsung is trying to reach a little bit of the desktop applications with Dext but so far is too limited and expensive, but I think it will be the future, it's not a problem for MS today but could be a problem tomorrow.

 

[Krystianpants]

They have the next best thing. Hololens, but somehow they have failed to take the consumer space by storm with it, they are happy to sell it to enterprises n thats abt it.

Well it's not ready for consumers. But I still feel they won't do it right. The hardware is just one side of things. It's why Apps are required to sell phones. In the beginning default apps were the seller. Giving us hardware without anything made no sense. But now you may see default apps as just an expectation, back then those few apps were a huge deal, especially on a phone.

Nintendo sells consoles with games. People wouldn't buy Nintendo if there was no games like Zelda or any other cool exclusives.

MS needs to not only perfect the hardware but partner with the right software developers to bring the consumers a solution that is a must have. Building an app ecosystem in the store right now sounds cool, but apps are apps. They will be expected on the hololens.

What Apple will do is likely come out with a better design, but also they will have a crazy game like Pokemon Go take advantage of it. It doesn't matter if MS's hardware is better, everyone will be raving about how well the hardware and Pokemon Go play together and how revolutionary it is. Meanwhile MS will have some overly technical game where you shoot stuff coming out of your walls.

My guess is Apple has already secured Niantic for pokemon Go on their future AR glasses. They are sinking so much money into the AR R&D. They have huge teams all working together. I believe MS will fail to see that part of selling AR to people. They will likely do something like a halo game which is just not going to be as popular. Heck, I don't care for Halo. In fact, I have Halo 5 and after a bit of playing I just stopped. I never liked the games for some reason.

If they want to catch a huge audience with it they need:

-A great multiplayer experience that they can create together with Nintendo using games like Mario for Mario party and smash bros.
-An exclusive game that brings the hardcore geek gamers like Half life 3.
-A game like pokemon Go to capture the rest of the world.

These 3 things and great hardware would create a revolution.