What is Android??
How Does Android Operating system evolved?
Android was an advance OS which was actually developed for DIGITAL CAMERAS. But, The founder Andy Rubin then realised that the market for digital cameras was not large enough. So, The company diverted their effort to produce a new open source operating system(based on Linux kernel) for smartphones. this aspect totally convinced Larry Page(Founder of the Google search engine) and gave birth to the Mobile division in Google. After that Android Inc. was acquired by Google Inc. on August 17, 2005 with Andy Rubin, Rich miner and chris white and many others.
Later on they started developing the the stack of android and they build the Operating System from stack. With huge efforts of Rubin and all his workers in Google they built the first version of Android which was called as Alpha version and the released a beta version to that later on they released their their first version of android.
version 1.0:
After all the attempts google released their first version on october 22nd 2008. Android 1.0 was a great first start, but there were still so many gaps in functionality. Physical keyboards and tons of hardware buttons were mandatory, as Android devices were still not allowed to be sold without a d-pad or trackball. Base smartphone functionality like auto-rotate wasn't here yet, either. Updates for built-in apps weren't possible through the Android Market the way they were today. All the Google Apps were interwoven with the operating system. If Google wanted to update a single app, an update for the entire operating system needed to be pushed out through the carriers.
Version 1.1:
the android platform was updated for the first time in February 2009. This update was not a revolutionary update. It just included all the patches for the long lengthy bugs list.
As Everyone knows that Each android major release is named in Alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat and they started that from now..
Version 1.5 Cupcake:
After a flop update of android version 1.1 they updated the android with major features. Google has started to name their major releases with dessert or sugary treat and named this update as cupcake. Here are some of the major features which are added are as follows and was tested on second android device HTC magic without a hardware keyboard. This update was released in april 2009.
Version 1.6 donut:
The fourth version of Android 1.6, Donut launched in September 2009, five months after Cupcake hit the market. Despite the myriad of updates, Google was still adding basic functionality to Android. Donut brought support for different screen sizes, CDMA support, and a text-to-speech engine.
version 2.0 - Eclairs
After 41 days of donut released the next android version 2.0 was released and named it as Eclairs(alphabetic E). This major update was a very big update for android and was launched in october 2009. this version was tested on THE MOTOROLA DROID the first "second generation" android device.
Version 2.2 Froyo
Android 2.2 came out four months after the release of 2.1, in May 2010. Froyo featured major under-the-hood improvements for Android, all made in the name of speed. The biggest addition was just-in-time (JIT) compilation. JIT automatically converted java bytecode into native code at runtime, which led to drastic performance improvements across the board.
version 2.3 Gingerbread
Gingerbread was released in December 2010, a whopping seven months after the release of 2.2. The wait was worth it, though, as Android 2.3 changed just about every screen in the OS. It was the first major overhaul since the initial formation of Android in version 0.9. 2.3 would kick off a series of continual revamps in an attempt to turn Android from an ugly duckling into something that was capable of holding its own—aesthetically—against the iPhone.
version 3.0 Honeycomb
By Google's own admission, Honeycomb—released in February 2011—was rushed out the door. At this time Google made wrong step and launched this OS which was only designed for Tablets(bigger size devices). This doesn't work quiet enough as Google thought it would but it made manufacturer to hope for launching large screen devices. the physical buttons have been removed in the version of android so we can call it as "Death for Physical button operating system". THis was tested on Motorola XOOM a 10-Inch tablet.
Version 4.0 Ice cream Sandwich
ICS was Released in October 2011, Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, got the OS back on track with a release spanning phones and tablets, and it was once again open source. It was the first update to come to phones since Gingerbread, which meant the majority of Android's user base went almost a year without seeing an update. 4.0 was all about shrinking the Honeycomb design to smaller devices, bringing on-screen buttons, the action bar, and the new design language to phones.
Version 4.1 Jelly Bean
Android Jelly Bean was the next version after the Ice Cream Sandwich. It comprised of the versions 4.1 - 4.3.1. The version 4.1 was announced at the Google's I/O developer conference in June 2012, then later 4.2 and 4.3 were released on October 2012 and July 2013 respectively. Jelly Bean update was mainly focused on improving notifications, that lead to the introduction of "Quick Settings" and "Expandable Notifications".
Version 4.4 KitKat
Version 5.0 Lollipop
Android 5.0 Lolipop (5.0 – 5.0.2) was released in June 2014 in the Google I/O and it was the 11th major version of Google's Android OS. Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 were the device to get the Lollipop update when it rolled out first. Lollipop was main focussed on "Material design" and it is the first OS which is intentionally made for all devices including cars and TV's. The Latest of Version of this OS is 5.0.2 but it is only running on Nexus 7(2013).
Conclusion:
I've learned through my research that Android is a much more diverse operating system than iOS and Windows Phone Mobile. Android has grown rapidly over the past 4 years becoming the most used smartphone operating system in the world. It's because Android doesn't release 1 phone from 1 company with 1 new OS every year, but countless phones from numerous companies, adding their own twist, throughout the year, developing gradually day-by-day. Android's ability to customize is unparalleled compared to Apple's and Microsoft's software allowing the user to change and customize nearly every aspect of Android which most iPhone and Windows 7 users wouldn't dream possible. I am not one to say that Android is better or worse than one OS, but is unique and incomparable to other mobile operating systems.
