Although many people think that Windows is the most used operating system in the world, It’s actually Android that takes the top spot, and this is nothing new, in fact it has been happening (albeit with exceptions at some specific times) since mid-2017. The latest StatCounter data shows us that its market share in March 2024 is 43.53%, cf. to 27.34 for the cumulative total of all versions of Windows. And the difference is even more pronounced when we look at the data from Spain, where it is 54.35% for Android compared to 25.13% for Windows.

Global data

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – OS Market Share

Data on Spain

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – OS Market Share

It is of course true that these statistics only take into account devices connected to the Internet, but even so, the deviation from these figures does not seem to be significant, let alone change the order that the various operating systems occupy in this ranking. This is probably the clearest sign that we are living in the post-PC era that has been talked about for so many yearsbut it doesn’t really point to the disappearance of the computer, but rather to the fact that other devices like smartphones and tablets have become a great alternative.

So, and since we are talking about operating systems, although they are aimed at different platforms, it is worth understanding that they have many similarities in many aspects, from their technical substrate to the basic elements of their visual design. And yes, so that everyone can learn from the problems of the previous ones, thus avoiding possible problems and thus improving the experience of using them. And of course, place barriers to prevent the user from deleting the systemand even device deprecation is probably the clearest example of this.

“Format C:” command in MS-DOS/Windows It provokes reactions from cold sweat to laughter because it is theoretically able to eliminate the installation of Windows. However, it cannot actually be used for this purpose and for a long time, since Windows has the necessary protections in this regard. And the same can be said about Android if we try to remove the “Android system” and Google has taken care of its protection to prevent us from removing it by mistake (or out of curiosity) and in this way turning our smartphone into a very expensive paperweight..

However, it appears to be A user managed to bypass these restrictions on his Xiaomi smartphone and as you can see in tweet that was published, the result is exactly what was expected, with a message that also spares no drama (The system has been destroyed). And in case you were wondering, no, turning it off and on again doesn’t work. In addition, everything indicates that there is little left to do with the device, as it seems that Xiaomi itself has offered to replace it, not repair it.

The big question, of course, is How is it possible. As mentioned above, Android has the necessary security measures to prevent this, which makes us wonder if the problem is found in the specific version that this user was using. So we may have found a specific issue with this particular version for a Xiaomi device or even that the user was using a development version of it.

Be that as it may, if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you removed this crucial part of the operating system on a device (and in that case, you may be clear that you’re not the only one who has felt such curiosity) now you know that basically you won’t be able to. But just in case, and considering the result, you’d better not try it.