You may have used many mobile devices from many different companies, but today we will tell you something about their operating systems and what’s running them. You may find it interesting that there are so many unknown mobiles OS in the market and how they run your smooth smartphone and the glossy touchscreens.
Today we will show what’s been popular in the last year, and you will not be surprised to see Android beating iOS again. The age old Symbian has almost gone and with the new release of Windows Phone, we will see another giant organisation competing to be on top.
Top Mobile OS Comparisons
Android OS
In the later half of September 2008, Android OS was released by Google. The naming convention of Android OS updates has been alphabetic till now. Names that are based on food items and delicious desserts, sweets like – Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop. Google made this operating system on the open source platform and hence made it possible to have the largest number of apps in their Play Store.
Android from the first day was quite promising and had some great looking interfaces and it made it possible to gain huge popularity in no time. Google Play is one of the biggest repositories of Apps for mobile devices and has millions of apps. It has been a serious threat for iOS.
Smartphones like HTC, Samsung and Motorola have incorporated Android as their primary OS and they have gained tremendous success with them.
Apple’s OS – The iOS
Just a few months before Android got released, iOS was introduced and since then it has gained several upgrades and millions of apps in their App Store. Unlike Google, Apple did not make their mobile OS an open source and they focused more on performance than appearance. Moreover, we never saw too much difference in iOS appearance since 2007. Although Android has more users right now and has more apps in their database, I consider iOS more robust and user-friendly, making it the best operating systems in the world right now.
iPhone, iPads, iPod has been used in their series of devices and the most recent development has been Apple’s iWatch. iWatch is a wrist watch made on the same OS.
Windows OS
Windows OS is another super-duper operating system gaining popularity in recent times. It is not that user-friendly for a newbie to use, but once you get hold of it, you will love it.
However, recently Windows 7, 8 and later got a new look and a huge change to the old Windows made it possible for some new interfaces. Also the fact that Nokia and Microsoft joined hands made it possible for Windows OS to become a great favorite of the new user base.
Nokia’s Lumia series is based on Windows OS and is doing pretty good. Many of the users feel that Windows is better than iOS and Android.
Blackberry OS by RIM
RIM (Research in Motion) owns Blackberry OS that was released in 1999. Blackberry has always been quite different from other operating systems; it has a trackball for moving to and on the menu and keyboard that’s qwerty.
It is also closed source OS and similar to Apple’s iOS. Due to its closed nature Blackberry is also immune to all sort of viruses and malware.
Devices like Blackberry Bold, Curve, Torch are among oldies that remain popular till now.
Sailfish OS
Sailfish OS is another major mobile OS, but its that popularly known.
Sailfish uses Linux as its operating system which is based on a Qt user interface. A Caretaker company Jolla handles its smooth running. They have been working with software developers and engineer that are former Nokia guys. As Nokia decided to leave it in support of Windows Phone.
As its Linux-based many phone vendors are supporting it. It will take the time to build their user base, right market share for them is almost a minute. Its only way up is to keep improving and stay in the market for a few years.
Firefox OS
Firefox web browser is the well known product of Mozilla; they want to be in the game of powering smartphone devices. Although it will be tough, they have been too serious on making Firefox OS as a home name.
They plan to deliver something extra and want to provide a web identity to users, which will be located on any Firefox OS powered device. The real view looks similar to Google’s Chromebook where the OS is not that important, but the critical aspect is what all can be achieved with this.
Google wants to be in the PC market, and Mozilla is trying to capture the smartphone and tablet devices. Firefox is already powering thousands of apps and has been on the market with multiple partners, plus they are introducing a smartphone that’s only $25.
I am sure Firefox OS will be a huge success in few years, but right now they are not even close the third position.
Ubuntu Touch-enabled tablet
Ubuntu’s founder Mark Shuttleworth has done something that’s quite a trick. He made major phone carriers and hardware producers to partner with him, before any release.
All platforms will be able to use this operating system that’s called Ubuntu Touch, which will only make this OS a hotshot in smartphone and tablet arena in no time.
Ubuntu has Verizon, Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom already on board, and I think this OS can take on Android and iOS in future, so look out for the Ubuntu Touch.
Samsung’s Tizen
Powering Smartwatches, Tizen is also a Linux-based OS and has no one attached to them. They do not work with partners and are not looking for one.
A surprising thing with Samsung is that it is already a major vendor in the smartphone market, second to Apple. They already have Android phone in the market that are doing pretty well, and still they have made Tizen OS for their Gear Smartwatch.
This is something that’s not understandable. As you can always modify Android versions as they have been doing before, and a company like Amazon has also shown that Android can be changed in a way that can be more personalized for a business of Amazon scale. Then what’s the need for making Tizen?
Tizen has to be in OS market as Samsung with so many successes on Smartphone market cannot be beating about the bush. They will be hitting hard the Android market soon, and they already are providing awesome apps for the Gear Smartwatch.
It will be a smart and bright future if they continue to stay on top of their game. Let’s see what happens and which mobile operating systems will shatter the market with new innovative approaches.