Android Challenges Windows as World’s Most Popular Operating System in Terms of Internet Usage

[Zarathustra[H]]

So there you have it. This is presumably why Microsoft has been so worried, and has been so heavy handed in trying to force people into its ecosystem, rather than just trying to rely on a traditional operating system model. If current trends continue Q1 -Q2 some time of 2017 will be when Android dethrones Windows as the top operating system used for web browsing.

Personally I find it disconcerting that so many are content with such an inferior user experience of using a tablet or a phone instead of a real computer. I only browse on my phone to distract myself when I am out of the house and waiting for something. When I am at home, 100% of the time I go to my office and use my real computer instead.

"In North America Windows (all versions) maintained its lead across all platforms with 40.7% share in February followed by iOS (24.9%) and Android (20.3%). It’s a similar story in Europe where Windows (51.8%) is more than twice the level of Android (23.5%). However, in Asia, Android is now over 50% (51.8%) compared to 29.8% for Windows."

 

[sboucher]

Wait until full on AR comes along in the way of Magic Leap.. It's only going to get worse

 

[Shotglass01]

Personally I find it disconcerting that so many are content with such an inferior user experience of using a tablet or a phone instead of a real computer. I only browse on my phone to distract myself when I am out of the house and waiting for something. When I am at home, 100% of the time I go to my office and use my real computer instead.

Personally, I use the phone at lunch to read #fakenews since I don't have another option. Android. Sounds like MS has a problem. And, I don't think 10 will fix it. The real issue is phone use. People love their phones.

 

[Nenu]

Simples.
Android users are bored of their games so use more bandwidth to alleviate the boredom.
PC users are loving their games and VR, less time for movies/youtube.

 

[Nytegard]

I still think tablets & smartphones are our future over traditional PCs. Big multinational corporations who control access to everything we can use, why wouldn't they want it? The Nintendo Switch going to being a dockable tablet over just being a console is the first major step. Some people might like the traditional PC, but really, how many people need them if your phone does everything you need?

 

[heatlesssun]

I'm guessing a huge chunk of mobile web browsing is for porn. Pornhub got like 2/3rds of it's traffic from mobile devices last year.

 

[Deleted member 93354]

They are different tools for different purposes.

Android: low power low resource apps on a portable device with limited threading support.
Windows: Services, Professional heavy duty data entry apps, Professional editing tools, computationally heavy task, with preemptive multi-tasking, advanced scheduling and thread pools.

Best tool for best task. This is an apples and oranges comparison.

 

[heatlesssun]

Personally I find it disconcerting that so many are content with such an inferior user experience of using a tablet or a phone instead of a real computer. I only browse on my phone to distract myself when I am out of the house and waiting for something. When I am at home, 100% of the time I go to my office and use my real computer instead.

I browse a great deal with my Surface devices in tablet mode, good size screens with touch and desktop capabilities if needed.

 

[OregonLAN]

I find nothing unusual about these statistics. Microsoft use to have a foothold on the Internet because they controlled most of the PC market. PCs were the only device that was fully capable of browsing the Internet. Fast forward 10 years and now everyone is carrying a smartphone in their pocket...

 

[Domingo]

I use my phone to browse the internet roughly 50/50 with my home and work PC's. For me it comes down to whether I'm actually interacting or just browsing. I can browse just as quickly on my phone, but obviously I can type much faster on a real PC.

 

[Shmee]

When you look at the stats this makes sense. China and India make up most of the Android use, and budgets are tight in both of those areas, so spending money on a full blown PC doesn't make any sense when you can browse the internet and get email on a $100 tablet.

 

[Insula Gilliganis]

I posted this image below (from Mary Meeker's 2013 "The State of the Internet") back in a May 2015 thread and repost here just to illustrate that this erosion of the Windows OS has been going on since around 2006. I wrote 22 months ago..

What Microsoft really needs to worry about is their eroding dominance on what people use to get on the Internet. 6 years ago (April, 2009), 9 out of 10 people accessing the Internet did it through Windows.. now that figure is 4 out of 10.

I haven't seen Mary Meeker update this info but doubtful the trends have changed any..

 

[Wrecked Em]

I bet if you measured the actual time spent online, Windows machines would be pretty flat over the last decade. With the advent of phones, people now have more opportunity to go online.

 

[euskalzabe]

I doubt MS has been "worried" for the past 5 years. NOW that the train is about to hit them they may worry, but ever since WP was released they weren't worried, they were arrogant. That's blatantly obvious in that they've ALWAYS kept charging for WP OS, same thing with WinRT for developers of their tablets.

I have been a heavy user of Samsung Focus, Lumia 620, Lumia 920, Surface RT and Surface 2, and I'm mad as hell that they botched their chance to make these systems succeed. They could have given the walled-garden version of Windows for FREE and encourage adoption, but no, they had to milk every dime out of it even if it stifled adoption until it eventually died. Now they're about to try again with Windows Cloud, they had better learned their lesson and NOT charge for ARM versions - give those for free so machines become cheaper (heck, let anyone install it for free on old machines) and charge the customer only to unlock the possibility of emulating x86 software.

That's a winning strategy. That's why Android has taken over the world. I've been an ardent follower of MS, but I'm done. Windows 10 all the way for my desktop/laptop, but my phone is now Android and my tablet an iPad.

 

[JosiahBradley]

I primarily use my phone. The only time I'm using a PC is at work (where I also use a Linux machine) and to play video games at home. For everything else I use my Nexus.

 

[heatlesssun]

That's a winning strategy. That's why Android has taken over the world. I've been an ardent follower of MS, but I'm done. Windows 10 all the way for my desktop/laptop, but my phone is now Android and my tablet an iPad.

I don't think there was much doubt about mobile taking over consumptive tasks like web browsing. However productivity is still a sore spot for mobile and one reason why mobile OS tablets aren't doing so great where Windows tablets are continuing to grow even though Microsoft has failed with phones. If you're browsing the web for porn, shopping, etc. a phone works fine. Taking an online class, doing real research and work, phones still aren't there and may never be there until they become more like desktops.

 

[ole-m]

I doubt MS has been "worried" for the past 5 years. NOW that the train is about to hit them they may worry, but ever since WP was released they weren't worried, they were arrogant. That's blatantly obvious in that they've ALWAYS kept charging for WP OS, same thing with WinRT for developers of their tablets.

I have been a heavy user of Samsung Focus, Lumia 620, Lumia 920, Surface RT and Surface 2, and I'm mad as hell that they botched their chance to make these systems succeed. They could have given the walled-garden version of Windows for FREE and encourage adoption, but no, they had to milk every dime out of it even if it stifled adoption until it eventually died. Now they're about to try again with Windows Cloud, they had better learned their lesson and NOT charge for ARM versions - give those for free so machines become cheaper (heck, let anyone install it for free on old machines) and charge the customer only to unlock the possibility of emulating x86 software.

That's a winning strategy. That's why Android has taken over the world. I've been an ardent follower of MS, but I'm done. Windows 10 all the way for my desktop/laptop, but my phone is now Android and my tablet an iPad.

II find it hard supporting Windows 10 now, so much ads and bloatware with my Win10 Pro retail and not to mention how much slower than Windows 7 it is...

 

[naib]

I find nothing unusual about these statistics. Microsoft use to have a foothold on the Internet because they controlled most of the PC market. PCs were the only device that was fully capable of browsing the Internet. Fast forward 10 years and now everyone is carrying a smartphone in their pocket...

And Microsoft/Windows could have had that market but they fscked it up... I have a win10 mobile for work and well... the only good thing about it is it seemless interfaces with exchange and can make calls... for a smartphone Android (as the OS) and OEM's blew them away

 

[ole-m]

I don't think there was much doubt about mobile taking over consumptive tasks like web browsing. However productivity is still a sore spot for mobile and one reason why mobile OS tablets aren't doing so great where Windows tablets are continuing to grow even though Microsoft has failed with phones. If you're browsing the web for porn, shopping, etc. a phone works fine. Taking an online class, doing real research and work, phones still aren't there and may never be there until they become more like desktops.

I wouldn't call Microsoft's pc's a tablet, it more a computer with detachable Keyboard - And it works kinda in tablet but it's only truly usable in laptop form.
The hardware is top notch tho

 

[heatlesssun]

II find it hard supporting Windows 10 now, so much ads and bloatware with my Win10 Pro retail and not to mention how much slower than Windows 7 it is...

Windows 10 much slower than Windows 7? Across the board that's just not the case.

 

[Alia Nexis]

I think this has less to do with the fact that Android is overtaking Windows, and more the fact that as a culture, we have had an exponential rise in smartphone utility and ubiquity. Everyone's got a phone, and likely a dataplan, so they are more likely to use it on the go, away from a PC.

 

[heatlesssun]

I wouldn't call Microsoft's pc's a tablet, it more a computer with detachable Keyboard - And it works kinda in tablet but it's only truly usable in laptop form.
The hardware is top notch tho

The touch apps compared to Android and iOS aren't there but a Windows tablet is just as usable for web browsing as iOS and Android using Edge in particular but touch in Chrome on Windows is pretty solid these days as well.

 

[heatlesssun]

I think this has less to do with the fact that Android is overtaking Windows, and more the fact that as a culture, we have had an exponential rise in smartphone utility and ubiquity. Everyone's got a phone, and likely a dataplan, so they are more likely to use it on the go, away from a PC.

Phones are the new PCs as those are the computing devices every always has near them so they're going to get the most use from most people. When you have to d heavier lifting or want a bigger screen you go to a laptop.

 

[ecmaster76]

Graph is somewhat misleading

Windows use hasn't really declined its that just that the number of people with smartphones has exploded and most of them have Android.

 

[sadsteve]

I don't use my phone to browse at all. In general, I don't like phones. I've got one for emergency purposes but when I get home, it gets turned off (battery lasts more than a week!). I use a pay-as-you-go plan and by NOT using cellular data I pay ~$70 a 'year' for my cell phone usage. I'm definitely a PC-aholic for my computing and entertainment needs.

 

[MavericK]

This doesn't surprise me at all, nor should it anyone. In terms of internet usage/browsing, it makes total sense that people whip out their smartphone to do so rather than sit down at a Windows machine.

 

[sadsteve]

This doesn't surprise me at all, nor should it anyone. In terms of internet usage/browsing, it makes total sense that people whip out their smartphone to do so rather than sit down at a Windows machine.

Doesn't make sense to me. Why would I want to browse on 4.3 inch screen when I've got a 24 inch monitor (2 actually) that I could be browsing with?

 

[Nytegard]

Doesn't make sense to me. Why would I want to browse on 4.3 inch screen when I've got a 24 inch monitor (2 actually) that I could be browsing with?

Because people are on the move. If you take a subway into work, you can browse the internet on your phone. If you're worried about your company snooping your web history with your work laptop? You can browse the internet on your phone. If you're at the movie theater, same thing (though, one day I hope these people get kicked out). Etc.

 

[sadsteve]

Because people are on the move. If you take a subway into work, you can browse the internet on your phone. If you're worried about your company snooping your web history with your work laptop? You can browse the internet on your phone. If you're at the movie theater, same thing (though, one day I hope these people get kicked out). Etc.

I"m 6 miles from work, so I'm really not on the move. The vast majority of my time is at work or at home and I have large monitors and fast internet at both locations. I always have a book in my motorcycle saddle bags so if I feel the need for entertainment (waiting on dentist/doctor, etc) I'll just read the book. In general I'd much rather read a book than watch some video on the web.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

I posted this image below (from Mary Meeker's 2013 "The State of the Internet") back in a May 2015 thread and repost here just to illustrate that this erosion of the Windows OS has been going on since around 2006. I wrote 22 months ago..



I haven't seen Mary Meeker update this info but doubtful the trends have changed any..

That's really interesting. Despite all the talk about iPad's and iPhone's it shows Apple being fairly stable over the years, with the big difference in latter years being Android. Granted, that chart ends 5 years ago. A lot can happen in 5 years.

 

[chenw]

What Microsoft is doing here is, essentially, putting a cast on your leg when it's your arm that's broken.

Not only that it doesn't solve their fundamental problem (they are not leaving Windows for Android, they are leaving PCs for smartphones), they also made the matters worse by failing to capitalise on the Smart market and shooting themselves in the foot for PC market.

The death of PC will, ironically, be caused at least partially by Microsoft.

Maybe Steve Ballmer is partially to blame? He didn't even entertain the idea that Smartphone market would ever take off when the first iPhone was released. Had they worked on a mobile ecosystem earlier than they did, I'd imagine the Smartphone market would be a 3 way war, not a 2 way war.

 

[MavericK]

Doesn't make sense to me. Why would I want to browse on 4.3 inch screen when I've got a 24 inch monitor (2 actually) that I could be browsing with?

Mobility? Desktop PCs are overall in decline, in favor of laptops/tablets/smartphones. Just seems to be the way things are going.

I don't disagree at all that a larger screen is a better experience, but for a lot of people it would seem that their phone is good enough.

 

[chenw]

Don't underestimate the "you can surf whenever, whereever" feature of mobile devices, for a lot of them, the small screen will become a non-issue as they get used to it.

 

[leathco016]

Scary but accurate. I use a tablet in bed when I want to browse, but it is a Windows tablet (Dell Venue 8 Pro). I am VERY tempted to swap it to a GPD Win however.

 

[ChadD]

Desktop computers are heading to niche status. Nothing any company does at this point is going to change that.

MS Windows based hardware in the consumer space will be a historic foot note mostly probably within a single digit number of years from now.

All those "windows" hits include all windows computers including laptops. I think we all know google is going to push into that market in a major way in the next few years. Chromebooks are just a start. At some point google is either going to supercharge the chrome OS... or people won't care. When they start selling chromebooks with heavier more laptop like specs, I have no doubt they will drop those windows numbers even harder. At some point it will snowball against MS. Either the majority of users will simply be fine with their phones as many kids under 25 currently are... or Android will push into the full featured laptop space in some new form and from their Windows will drop hard.

My guess is in 4-5 years Apple and MS draw even in the consumer space. With Android and Chrome... or some hybrid of the two being the worlds majority run OS in all classes from Phones to desktops.

 

[Deleted member 204526]

The means web designers will put even less effort into making sites look good in both mobile and desktop browsers.

 

[Tsumi]

I highly doubt that people are ditching PCs to browse the web on their phones. More likely, people are using their phones to browse the web when on the go, but as soon as they're stationary (i.e. home or work) they'll be back to browsing the web on their PCs. With most people having both a smartphone and a PC of some sort (laptop, Windows tablet, desktop), I would expect mobile OS's and desktop OS's to share an almost even 50% split, because people use both at the same time.

 

[ole-m]

The touch apps compared to Android and iOS aren't there but a Windows tablet is just as usable for web browsing as iOS and Android using Edge in particular but touch in Chrome on Windows is pretty solid these days as well.

it's very Meh still, I feel like having a touch device as Android and making that work for desktop is a lot easier than making windows work for tablet\phones.
I've tried android desktop and somehow it work's, it's very very easy to code for it...

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Personally I find it disconcerting that so many are content with such an inferior user experience of using a tablet or a phone instead of a real computer. I only browse on my phone to distract myself when I am out of the house and waiting for something. When I am at home, 100% of the time I go to my office and use my real computer instead.

That is exactly me as well, I almost never use my android phone, only the few times I'm like picking up a pizza and waiting for it to be baked or the very few times a year I travel by train (2-3 or so). I barely ever install any special apps to it either. ^^ That's also why I tend to buy cheaper china phones for 110~$150 where you get decent specs for the price since I have no need for premium phones.

 

[dgz]

Windows 10 much slower than Windows 7? Across the board that's just not the case.

Try running 10 on older hardware. I've seen it with my own eyes. Someone was dumb enough to install it on some poor new guy's PC. It was unbearably slow even though W7 was running like a champ. W10 is only "faster" on newer machines.

Real life Windows fenobis are such weirdos. I couldn't stop laughing at our "expert"