Which mobile operating system is the best?

Check out the operating systems of your phones. These determine how well your device handles calls and data or the ease with which you can access different aspects of your phone. Here's a lowdown on the five mobile brains in the market.

ANDROID V2.2

Looks
With small icons on the homescreen, the main menu looks neat and feels user-friendly.

Ease of Use
Android is easy to use. Any application in the main menu can be dragged and added to the homescreen.

Let Down
Upgrading to new versions lies in the hands of the handset vendor. ice.

Application Store
Android Market is the second most popular mobile applications store with over 1,20,000 apps.

Customisation
Android facilitates one of the most customisable interfaces. You can add a shortcut for any application or add a widget on the homescreen itself.

What's new
The most important feature of the 2.2 upgrade is the ability to download thirdparty applications on the phone's external memory.

Courtesy: Gadgets and Gizmos 

iOS

Looks
Apple's proprietary operating system for iPhone marked some changes in terms of design. Earlier where one could only change the wallpaper on the lock screen, the upgrade offers the alternative of selecting wallpaper for the homescreen.

Ease of Use
With iOS, one doesn't have a main menu or application launcher. All apps stay on the various panels (homescreens). With folders, it is relatively easier to locate a particular application.

Let down
Multitasking arrived on the iPhone with iOS4 but it doesn't fall in the league of the Symbian or the Android. Third party applications can only be downloaded from the App Store.

Application Store
Third-party applications existed but Apple brought them under one roof.

Customisation
Earlier, only 16 applications used to sit on every panel along with the four static ones at the bottom. With iOS 4 you can create folders and add up to 12 apps to each.

What's new?
Other than few additions on the homescreen and folders, multitasking has been introduced in the iPhone that runs on the new iOS 4.

Courtesy: Gadgets and Gizmos 

BLACKBERRY OS 6

Looks
Not everyone can take to the BlackBerry OS and the same is true even for its new OS 6. With just a few applications sitting on the homescreen and rest hidden under the main menu, people often take time to get used to the OS.

Ease of Use
Unlike all the other mobile OSes for touch phones, BlackBerry's OS 6 is designed to work on both touch and non-touch phones.

Application Store
BlackBerry App World is the official place from where you can search and download apps on the phone. It is full of work-related, utility apps. But one can also explore and dig out free apps.

Customisation
With the OS 6, things have undergone a change. The shortcut row on the homescreen has now become a part of the menu tray that stays open. The top of the display is occupied with basic notifications

Let Down
For multitasking, one has to go to options and select 'switch application'. This is a time consuming process. The small icons in the main menu are dull and boring.

What's new?
Categories have been assigned to the phone's main menu. The five categories-All, Favorites, Media, Downloads and Frequent-don't constitute a user-friendly way of searching for applications.

Courtesy: Gadgets and Gizmos 

WINDOWS PHONE 7

Looks
The big tiles on the homescreen look innovative and the bright colour palette makes it stand out. Big font size is used to make reading visually simple and easy.

Ease of Use
Along with the fresh appeal, the OS is finger-friendly. All apps are arranged alphabetically in the main menu, including the ones downloaded from Windows Marketplace.

Application Store
The official application store on board is Windows Marketplace. Just like the phone, even this store has a new look and feel. Not many applications are listed

Let Down
Microsoft has missed the most important feature that was present in the initial versions of the OS-multitasking. One can go back to the last application by hitting the Back button but doesn't support true multitasking.

Homescreen
Small icons in the 'start' menu and 'today' screen that used to adorn the earlier WinMo have been replaced with big, square shaped tiles.

What's new?
WP 7 has looked beyond simple contacts, gallery and music and has introduced hubs. The usual phonebook is now called 'people hub' and integrates the phone's contacts with Facebook.

Courtesy: Gadgets and Gizmos 

SYMBIAN 3

Looks
Unlike Windows Phone 7, it didn't undergo a complete makeover and still resembles the earlier S60 platform. With small icons on the homescreen and in main menu, a similar-looking user interface, it remains the same.

Ease of use
Unlike other mobile OS where users take time to get used to the device, Symbian 3 will be simple to operate.

Application Store
The official application store for Nokia phones is the Ovi Store. One needs to create an Ovi account to log in and download apps.

Let Down
Even with noticeable differences, this OS lacks finesse and requires more work. The OS isn't really smooth and is outdated in comparison with the others.

Customisation
Symbian S60 supported just one homescreen; Symbian 3 allows up to three homescreens. Each screen comprises six slots for adding widgets and shortcuts.

What's new?
First, this upgraded OS brings the much-awaited capacitive touch technology to the Symbian platform. Though the S60 5th edition was meant for touch phones, it wasn't finger-friendly and used resistive touch. Using Symbian 3, one can access multitouch and pinch and zoom at different places like the image gallery, web browser and emails.

Courtesy: Gadgets and Gizmos