Measurements of online activity put Android ahead of Windows for the first time; Apple's OSes place distant third
Credit:
Magdalena Petrova
Android last month slipped ahead of Windows to become the world's
most popular operating system, an Irish analytics company said Monday.
"This
is a milestone in technology history," said Aodhan Cullen, the CEO of
Dublin-based StatCounter, in a statement. "It marks the end of
Microsoft's leadership worldwide of the OS market which it has held
since the 1980s."
StatCounter measures usage share -- a proxy for online activity -- by tallying the operating systems of the devices used to browse to its clients' websites.
According
to StatCounter, Android's usage share of all computing devices,
including smartphones, tablets and personal computers, was 37.93% in
March, just a hair ahead of Windows' 37.91%. It was the first time since
StatCounter began tracking usage share that Windows did not hold the
top spot.
StatCounter's
trend lines have been clear for some time: Windows heading down with
Android slowly moving up. (The combined usage shares of Apple's iOS and
macOS, the latter formerly labeled "OS X," have also been on a long
journey upwards, but have never broken 20%. For March, the pair
accounted for 18.3% of worldwide usage.)
But it wasn't that long
ago that Windows owned the lion's share of online activity. As recently
as January 2013, Windows accounted for 75% of all usage. Microsoft's
operating systems controlled 50% of usage share in July 2015.
StatCounter's
Cullen attributed Android's rise to the boom in Internet access from
smartphones as well as the huge numbers of Android devices now in use
around the world. Meanwhile, a multi-year slump in sales of traditional
personal computers left Android -- which plays virtually no role in the
category -- unscathed while hitting Microsoft hard.
Not mentioned by Cullen was Microsoft's disastrous attempt to become a major mobile OS player. After years and billions of dollars, Microsoft essentially tossed in the towel.
Different
measurements have pointed out Android's massive edge over Windows in
other areas. Research firm Gartner, for example, has regularly pegged
Android as the OS on the bulk of devices shipped each year. During 2016,
Gartner said Android powered 60% of all new computing devices -- mobile
phones, personal computers, and tablets -- while Windows accounted for
just 11%.
Some regions remain Windows strongholds, said
StatCounter. In North America, Windows' usage share of 39.5% topped both
iOS's (25.7%) and Android's (21.2%). In Europe, Windows' March share
(51.7%) was more than double Android's (23.6%) and nearly quadruple
iOS's (13.7%).
Asia and Africa, however, swing Android's way. In
the former, Android (52.2%) easily beat Windows (29.2%) in March, and
trounced iOS (8.8%).
Computerworld/Data: StatCounter
After years of chasing Windows, Android became the world's most
popular operating system in March. Apple's duo of iOS and macOS remain a
distant third. Courtesy = http://www.computerworld.com/article/3187286/android/android-grabs-most-popular-os-prize-from-windows.html?idg_eid=cec52b4a384f14f08f5e71034b1ac212&email_SHA1_lc=76ac1eede87d072d20b1293b82a5b1758d55be18&cid=cw_nlt_computerworld_mobile_wireless_2017-04-04&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Computerworld%20Mobile/Wireless%20Computing%202017-04-04&utm_term=computerworld_mobile_wireless
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Computerworld/Data: StatCounter 
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