After dominating the world for the past three decades-plus, Windows is no longer the most widely used Operating System in terms of Internet usage. That honor now goes to Android according to the team at StatCounter. In their latest report, Android passed Windows by .02% to take over the top spot. The report measures the Operating Systems in use globally to access the Internet and this is the first time that Windows has been beaten – by anyone.
The report reflects what many have seen for a long time: The world is going mobile and with Android dominating the mobile landscape as far as install base, it isn’t shocking to see it take over the #1 slot when it comes to Internet usage. It also reflects a fundamental shift in how we get to the information we need in our day-to-day lives. Mobile search has continued to climb as the most common way people access information so this report fits that trend too.
I should make it clear that this report is about Internet usage only. Windows still dominates the desktop OS rankings with some 84% of Internet usage from desktop devices in March. Interestingly, the report also points out that in the US, Windows still lead in Internet usage as it did in Europe. Asia was the swing vote for Android.
In North America Windows (all versions) maintained its lead across all platforms with 39.5% share in March followed by iOS (25.7%) and Android (21.2%). It’s a similar story in Europe where Windows (51.7%) is more than twice the level of Android (23.6%). However, in Asia, Android is on 52.2% compared to 29.2% for Windows.
Regardless of how you slice it, the news is a turning point for mobile computing as well as desktop computing. To read the full report, head over to StatCounter.
Clinton, first time to your blog and noticed that our interestes overlap a lot – Google, Android, ChromeOS etc.
Great news to hear the Android dominance, it is the time now to refine it further so the quality and user experience is second to none. Cheers. Will aim to be regular and contribute.