Android has replaced Windows as the world's most popular operating system according to an analysis carried out by the research arm of independent web analytics company StatCounter.
In March 2017, Android marginally took the lead of the worldwide OS internet usage market share with 37.93% of users using its operating system to access the internet, whereas Windows was not far behind, with 37.91%. This covers total internet usage across desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile combined.
Aodhan Cullen, CEO at StatCounter, declared the stats as "a milestone in technology history and the end of an era." He added that "It marks the end of Microsoft's leadership worldwide of the OS market which it has held since the 1980s. It also represents a major breakthrough for Android which held just 2.4% of global internet usage share only five years ago."
Cullen outlined that the reasons for the breakthrough were the growth of smartphones to access the internet, a decline in sales of traditional PCs and the impact of Asia on the global market.
Despite this, Windows still dominates the worldwide operating system desktop market, which covers PCs and laptops, as it held 84.34% of the usage share as of March. What's more, despite Android's combined platform victory, Windows is still dominating usage in Europe - with 51.7% market share versus Android's 23.6%. Whereas the story is very different in Asia, where Android leads with 52.2% market share, significantly overshadowing Android's 29.2%.
Cullen claims that "It will be difficult for Microsoft to make inroads in mobile but the next paradigm shift might give it the opportunity to regain dominance. That could be in Augmented Reality, AI, Voice or Continuum (a product that aims to replace a desktop and smartphone with a single Microsoft powered phone)."
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Tiny11 review: Windows 11 with only 2GB of RAMReview A version of Windows 11 for older machines that don't meet the full requirements
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux becomes foundational operating system for Cohesity Data CloudNews New strategic partnership between Red Hat and Cohesity aims to drive innovation in the data security and management space
-
Ubuntu shifts to four-week update cycleNews Critical fixes will also come every two weeks, mitigating the issues involved with releasing prompt patches on the old three-week cadence
-
AlmaLinux follows Oracle in ditching RHEL compatibilityNews Application binary compatibility is now the aim with 1:1 now dropped
-
How big is the Windows 10 cliff-edge?ITPro Network With some comparing the upcoming Windows 10 end of life to Windows XP, we ask members of the ITPro Network for their insight
-
Everything you need to know about the latest Windows 11 updates - from bug fixes to brand-new featuresNews Two new cumulative updates are on the way and will be installed automatically on Windows 10 and Windows 11 machines
-
How to download a Windows 11 ISO file and perform a clean installTutorial Use a Windows 11 ISO to install the operating system afresh
-
We could all benefit from better Windows and macOS accessibility featuresOpinion Today’s accessibility features can help you work through a nasty injury, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement
