A ndroid is an operating system like any other — apart from the fact that it is free and open source. For this reason it has distinct advantages over the competition, which may give it that competitive edge and result in it becoming a household name like Microsoft Windows is.
Price
Being free has obvious advantages — almost any device shipped to a consumer needs an operating system, something to make the machine usable. In most cases this operating system is Microsoft Windows, which costs around NT$4,000 a pop. This obviously adds to the cost of the machine, which makes it less attractive to customers. If a popular alternative were available for free, this would lower the cost of the PC and make it more attractive to the consumer.
Of course there are already free and open source operating systems (OS) out there that have yet to topple Microsoft — Linux and UNIX based operating systems such as Ubuntu, FreeBSD or Solaris to name but a few. Some of these are gaining momentum and indeed shipping for free with PCs, but none have yet to seriously challenge Microsoft’s Windows. Who can say whether in the next decade Microsoft will retain its desktop dominance? One of the largest stumbling blocks for a competing operating system is familiarity: Are users ready to move to something new? This may be tricky given that almost every computer user on the planet uses Microsoft’s OS.
Open source
An “open” piece of software is one where its code is all available online to download for free. This means programmers can read the internals of the OS and make changes themselves. This is important because any device that is produced needs an OS — but not all of them are suitable or compatible. An open OS can be made to work by a team of programmers, and then this OS can be shipped with the device with little or no licensing issues. Hundreds of dedicated programmers and managers can work together to improve an open OS, thus supporting more and more hardware — all the while this code is available for other developers to build on at no extra cost.
Android is Google’s own OS, which is currently targeted at cellphones.
Taiwan’s HTC is the first hardware manufacturer to put out an Android device — with many more coming in the next 12 months. The HTC Dream — also known as the Google G1 — runs the latest version of Android. The device is very capable and runs the OS nicely, with a little keyboard, trackball and touchscreen, which make using it not unlike a miniature PC.
Using an OS on such a small device can’t be much fun, unless, like Android, it has been optimized for use on small touchscreen devices. It’s much like the iPhone: touch an icon to select it, swipe your finger to switch to a different function.
Android has been designed with a slightly dumbed down feel from a “power user” point of view, but this allows users to get acquainted with the way it works more easily.
The easy to use personal organizer/cellphone feel captures what companies like Symbian have pioneered for years — a simple, logical and fast operating system for phones. You will have used Symbian OS if you have operated any of Nokia’s S60 devices.
Android builds on and improves on these principles and has a slightly more human feel, mostly provided by the novelty of the touchscreen. A list of 500 contacts can be navigated in seconds by toggling the list upwards with a slight hand movement.
Not just a mobile OS
It won’t be long before we see many more Android devices, and not just phones. Things like netbooks, Internet tablets and portable media players running Android have all been announced and confirmed by huge corporations such as Sony Ericsson, Archos, Samsung, Acer and Motorola, among others. None of these devices are available for review yet, but they will almost certainly be running Android version 1.5, which is the latest release from Google.
Many people would say that comparing Android to Windows is not really a fair comparison considering that Windows is a desktop operating system and Android is a cellphone operating system. But these lines are becoming blurred by the day. Android will be running on the desktop in the not too distance future. This is coupled with the fact that touchscreens are becoming very popular. Microsoft has admitted that the mouse will be dead soon, which paves the way for things like a touchscreen-only OS.
Android will dominate within the next decade. Each new small, cheap notebook is bound to ship with Android, leading to a lowered demand for Microsoft in the small PC market — even the iPhone could end up losing its cellphone market share without somehow allowing iPhone clones to be manufactured.
Google has once again chosen a model that holds the potential for a growth explosion. The aim is to get Google not just on our Web browsers but also into our pockets and rucksacks and ultimately on our desktop PCs.
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