‘End of an era’: Windows usage falls behind Android for first time in 'milestone in tech history'

Devices running Google's mobile OS accounted for just 2.4% of global internet usage five years ago

It shows just how dramatically usage habits have shifted since the emergence of the smartphone (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

Android has surpassed Windows as the world’s most popular operating system for internet usage for the first time, according to new statistics.

Google’s mobile OS topped the worldwide OS internet usage market share in March with 37.93%, reports web analytics company StatCounter, which included data across the desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile.

Windows-running devices, meanwhile, accounted for 37.91% of internet usage last month, putting it marginally behind Android.

It’s a hugely significant milestone, which shows just how dramatically usage habits have shifted since the emergence of the smartphone.

According to StatCounter, Windows’ global internet usage share was 82% in January 2012, compared to 2.2% for Android.

“This is a milestone in technology history and the end of an era,” said Aodhan Cullen, the CEO of StatCounter.

“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% of global internet usage share only five years ago.”

Last month, Mr Cullen described the idea of Android catching up to Windows as something that would have been “unthinkable five years ago”.

Interestingly, Windows is still top of the charts for internet usage in Europe, with a 51.7% share, and North America, with a 39.5% share. In these two regions, Android devices account for 23.6% and 21.2%, respectively.

However, in Asia, Android is on 52.2% compared to 29.2% for Windows, reports StatCounter.