Android OS Surpasses Microsoft’s Windows In Terms Of Usage For First Time

Google’s Android operating system has long been the dominant one in the mobile space, but now it’s becoming the leader in the PC world as well, pushing out Microsoft and its OS for the first time ever.

Research firm StatCounter released data on Monday (April 3) that finds that Google’s Android has overtaken Microsoft Windows as the most popular operating system (OS) in terms of total internet usage. And that’s across desktops, laptops, tablet and mobile combined. In March, Android worldwide OS internet usage was 37.93 percent, which puts it slightly ahead of Microsoft, which in March came in at 37.91 percent.

“This is a milestone in technology history and the end of an era,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO of StatCounter, in a press release announcing the new research. “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 percent of global internet usage share only five years ago.”

Cullen said the main drivers of the shift is the growth of smartphones accessing the internet, a decline in sales of traditional PCs and the impact of Asia on the global market. Windows does maintain its dominant position in terms of the worldwide OS desktop market, where it had 84 percent internet usage share last month.

“Windows won the desktop war, but the battlefield moved on,” said Cullen. “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).”