The Operating system is a base infrastructure software component of a

computerized system. It controls all basic operations of the computer (or other
electronic devices such as PDA, smartphone, etc.). The Operating System
allows the user to install and execute third-party applications (commonly called
apps for short), usually adding new functionality to the device.
Among the most popular computer operating systems are Microsoft's Windows
and Apple's Mac OS, along with the various distributions of Linux.
The most popular OS's for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are
Apple's iOS and Google's Android and they are the only ones that still show
growth. Down the ranks there are RIM's BlackBerry OS and Microsoft's
Windows Phone. Symbian holds a distant fifth place, while merely a year ago it
was still the most widely used mobile OS.
Symbian held its top position for years but its market share has been slowly
fading away ever since touch-operated smartphones became the norm and
Symbian failed to deliver an intuitive touch UI. Almost ten years ago, Microsoft's
Windows Mobile was a strong player too, offering the first touchscreen
smartphone experience with the PocketPCs powered by their OS.
Today mobile devices with a proper OS are called smartphones and users have
a wide choice of applications, such as games, productivity apps,
communication or social media apps, digital maps, etc.
Standardized operating system platforms make it possible to provide a
consistent user interface (and experience) across devices from different
hardware manufacturers. Yet, Android smartphone manufacturers like to
customize the user experience so each offers a slightly modified version of the
stock Android UI.
While the major players these days are clear, over the years we've seen the
emergence of numerous mobile OS projects including but not limited to Palm's
webOS, Samsung's Bada OS, Nokia's Maemo OS, Nokia's MeeGo OS, LiMo
OS, Tizen, BlackBerry's Playbook OS and more recently, the Jolla's Sailfish OS
and Mozilla's Firefox OS.

Android is a Linux-based smartphone operating system and software platform

created by Google.

Android beta
The beta release of Android OS was released on 5 November 2007. The first
SDK was released a week later, on 12 November 2007.

Android 1.0
Android 1.0 was the first commercially available release of the OS. It was
available on the pioneering device - the T-Mobile G1 (released October 2008
in the US and the UK) along with the Android source code.

Android 1.1
Android 1.1 was pushed out on 9 February 2009, coinciding with the
announcement of theHTC Dream, an internationally available twin of the TMobile G1.

Android 1.5 Cupcake

Android 1.5 Cupcake was released on 30 April 2009. It was the first major
Android overhaul and it also was the first Android release to be pet-named after
a dessert - a tradition that has been kept alive ever since. Every subsequent
Android release was named after a dessert, whose name started with the next
letter of the alphabet.
Version 1.5 Cupcake introduced the software on-screen keyboard to Android
and allowed the production of touch devices sans QWERTY keyboards such as
the HTC Magic (announced February 2009). Equally importantly, it enabled
Android smartphones to shoot video.
Along with that, v. 1.5 Cupcake added support for third-party software
keyboards, third-party widgets, stereo Bluetooth, copy and paste in the web
browser, screen auto-rotation, and an option to upload media to YouTube and
Picasa.

Android 1.6 Donut

Android 1.6 Donut was released on 15 September 2009. It added text-tospeech, updated Android Market now offered app screenshots, and it

introduced support for WVGA screens. The camera became faster, and the
gallery, camera and camcorder got deeply integrated with each other.

Android 2.x Eclair

Android 2.0 Eclair SDK was released on 26 October 2009. Android 2.0
introduced multiple account sync, Microsoft Exchange email support, Bluetooth
2.1, the Quick Contact feature, showing a pop-up for call, SMS and email, as
soon as you tap on a contact's avatar. The camera received new features such
as flash support, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect and
macro focus. The web browser UI was updated and some new features were
added such as double-tap to zoom.
We saw the much overdue native support for multi-touch interaction with
software. Live wallpapers were first introduced with Eclair, as well. The UI was
redesigned, there were multiple performance improvements and we welcomed
the support for more screen sizes and resolutions.
Google Maps Navigation was also introduced alongside Android 2.0 Eclair,
quickly turning into a key selling point for Android smartphones in the supported
countries.
Android 2.1 was a subsequent release, which was dubbed Eclair, too, as it
wasn't a major update in terms of functionality. This sort of minor upgrades
between major releases became commonplace in future versions.
Along with Android 2.1 Eclair Google introduced its first Nexus devices as well.
Manufactured by HTC, but sold directly by Google, the Google Nexus
One was released in January 2010 and in May 2010 it also became the first
phone to be updated to Android 2.2 Froyo.

Android 2.2.x Froyo

Android 2.2 Froyo SDK was released on 20 May 2010. Froyo brought
significant performance improvements over Eclair. Storage access and
applications became faster thanks to the added JIT compiler. The web browser
got a speed boost too, courtesy of the new JavaScript engine.

Android 2.2 Froyo also introduced push notifications, USB tethering and Wi-Fi
hotspot functionality, an updated Android Market with automatic updates and
batch install. The web browser could use embedded file upload fields. For the
first time users could officially install applications to the external memory. The
Adobe Flash support was another major new feature of the web browser.
Minor revisions were later released as updates such as Android 2.2.1, 2.2.2,
and 2.2.3.

Android 2.3.x Gingerbread

Android 2.3 Gingerbread SDK was released on 6 December 2010. This
Android release offered an updated user interface and even better performance
optimization.
It added native support for SIP VoIP internet telephony, improved text input and
keyboard accuracy, enhanced copy/paste functionality (word-by-word
selection), Near Field Communication (NFC) support, new audio effects such
as headphone virtualization and bass boost, new system-wide download
manager, and native support for a front-facing camera.
Developers also received a number of under-the-hood enhancements, giving
them lower-level access to audio, graphics, and inputs, plus concurrent
garbage collection for increased performance and native support for extra
sensors such as gyroscopes and barometers. All this allowed devs to write
faster native code.
Newer phones, which came out of the box with Gingerbread, now used the
newer ext4 file system.