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 MacOS, 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 Mobile. Symbian holds a distant fifth place, while it wasn't that long 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.
More recent Blackberry phones use the Android OS with added Blackberry security features.
On October 8th 2017, Microsoft stated that whilst they will support the Windows Mobile platform, they will cease development on any new features.
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.
Related terms:
A-GPS (Assisted GPS) | A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) | AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) | Accelerometer | Airplane Mode | Alarm Clock | Alphanumeric | AMOLED display (Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) | Analog | Android | ANT+ | Antenna | Aperture | APN (Access Point Name) | Apple AirPlay | Apple AirPlay 2 | Apple iOS | Apple iOS 1 | Apple iOS 2 | Apple iOS 3 | Apple iOS 3.2 (iPad Only) | Apple iOS 4 | Apple iOS 5 | Apple iOS 6 | Apple iOS 7 | Apple iOS 8 | Apple iOS 9 | Apple iOS 10 | Apple iOS 11 | Apple iOS 12 | Apple Pay | aptX | Audio Jack | Auto Focus | AVRCP (Audio/Video Remote Control Profile)
Bada OS | Band | Bandwidth | Bar | Base Station | Battery Charging | BeiDou Navigation Satellite System | Benchmarking | Biometrics | Bit | BlackBerry OS | BlackBerry Playbook OS | Bluetooth | bps (Bits per Second) | Brand | Broadband | Browser | Byte
Calculator | Calendar | Call Alerts | Calling Plan | Camera | Capacitive Touchscreen | Car Kit | Carrier | CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) | CDMA2000 | Cell | Chipset | cHTML (Compact HyperText Markup Language) | CIF (Common Intermediate Format) | Clamshell | CMOS (Complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor) | Color depth | Concatenated SMS | Connected GPS | Construction | Corning Gorilla Glass | CPU (Central Processing Unit) | Crosstalk | CSTN (Color Super Twisted Nematic) | CTIA | Custom Ringtones | CyanogenMod
D-Pad (Direction Pad) | Data Disclaimer | DC-HSDPA (Dual Carrier or Dual Cell High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) | Digital Zoom | Display Type | DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) | DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine) | Downlink - Definition | DRM (Digital Rights Management) | Dual-band | Dual-Mode | Dual-SIM | DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) | Dynamic Memory
EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) | EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) | EGPRS - Definition | EGSM (Extended GSM) | Email client | Emoji | EMS (Enhanced Message Service) | eSIM | EV-DO | EV-DV - Definition | Exchangeable Covers | External Antenna Jack | External Display - Definition
FCC (Federal Communications Commission) | Feature Phone | Femtocell | Firefox OS | Firmware | Fixed-Focus | Flash Memory | Flight Mode | Flip-Down Phone | FM Radio - Definition | FM Transmitter | Form Factor | FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) | FPS (Frames Per Second) - Definition | Frame Error Rate | Frequency | FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Galileo (Global Navigation Satellite System) | GB (Gigabyte) | Gbps (Gigabits per second) | Geo-Tag | GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) | GPRS | GPS (Global Positioning System) | gpsONE | gpsOneXTRA Assistance Technology | GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
H.263 | H.264 | H.265 | Half-QWERTY Keyboard Layout | Handwriting Recognition | Haptics | HEVC | Hot Spot | Hot Swap - Definition | HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit Switched Data) | HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) | HSDPA+ (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access Plus) | HSP (Headset Profile) | HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) | HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) | Hz (Hertz)
iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network) | Image Signal Processor (ISP) | IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) | IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) | IP (Internet Protocol) - Definition | IP Ratings | IrDA (Infrared Data Association)
Land Line | LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) | LED (Light-Emitting Diode) | Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) | Li-Polymer (Lithium Polymer) | LiMo OS | Linux - Definition | Location-Based Services (LBS) | Lock Code | Long SMS - Definition | Long Term Evolution (LTE) | Loudspeaker
Macro | Maemo OS | Magnetometer | mAh | Mass Storage Mode | MB (Megabyte) | Mbps (Megabit per second) | MeeGo OS | Megapixel | Memory Card Slot | Memory Effect | Messaging | MHz (Megahertz) | Micro USB | microSDHC | Microsoft Exchange (Server) | MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) | MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) | Mil-Spec (MIL-STD) | MIMO | Mini-USB | miniSD | MMC | MMCmobile | MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) | Mobile Games - Definition | Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) | Mobile IM (Instant Messaging) - Definition | Mobile WiMAX | Mobility DisplayPort (MyDP) | Models | Modem | Monochrome | MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) | MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) | MPEG-4 Video | Multitouch Input Method | Music Playback Time (Battery Life) | Music Player
NAND Memory | Network Capacity | NFC (Near Field Communication) | NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) | NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) | NOR Memory | Numeric Keypad
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) | OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) | Optical Zoom | OS (Operating System) | OTA (Over-The-Air) | OTG
Packet Data - Definition | Pager | PC Sync | PCS (Personal Communications Service) | PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) | Percentile Rank | Phone Book Access (PBA) | Phone Life Cycle | Phone Physical Attributes | Phonebook | PIM (Personal Information Manager/Management) | PIN Code (Personal Identification Number) | Pixel | Pixel Density (Pixels Per Inch) | Polyphonic Ringtones | POP3 (Post Office Protocol) | Port | Predictive Text Input | Price | PTT (Push-To-Talk) | PUK Code (PIN UnlocK Code) | Push - Definition
QCIF (Quarter Common Intermediate Format) - Definition | Quad-band - Definition | Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) - Definition | QVGA (Quarter Video Graphics Array) | QWERTY Keyboard Layout
RAM (Random-Access Memory) | RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System) - Definition | RDS (Radio Data System) - Definition | Resistive Touchscreen - Definition | Resolution | Ringer ID - Definition | Ringing Profiles | Ringtone - Definition | Roaming | ROM (Read-Only Memory) | RS-MMC (Reduced-Size Multi Media Card) | RSA (Rural Service Area) - Definition | RSS (Rich Site Summary) - Definition | Ruggedized (Rugged) - Definition
S60 User Interface - Definition | SAP (SIM Access Profile) | SAR (Specific absorption rate) | Screen Protection - Definition | SD (Secure Digital) | Secondary Camera | Sensors | Side Keys | SIM - Definition | SIM Lock - Definition | Single-Band | Skin | Slimport - Definition | Smart Watch | Smartphone | SMIL | SMS (Short Messaging Service) | SNS (Social network service) | Soft Keys | Soft Reset | Speed Dial | Stand-by time (battery life) | Stereo Speakers | Streaming Video | Stylus | Sub-QCIF | SVGA | Symbian | SyncML
Talk Time (Battery Life) | TCP/IP - Definition | TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) | TEST | Tethering | Text messaging (texting) | TFD (Thin Film Diode) | TFT (Thin Film Transistor) | Theme | To-Do list | Touchscreen | Trackball | Transflash | Transflective | Tri-band
UFS | UI (User Interface) | UIQ | UMA | UMTS | Unlocked Phone | Upload | UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) | USB (Universal Serial Bus) | USB On-The-Go | USIM
VGA (Video Graphics Array) | Video Call | Video Codec | Voice Dialing | Voice Mail - Definition | Voice Memo - Definition | VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) | VPN (Virtual Private Network)
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