the1kingbob :
All of those changes were 4.x? 4.x is all 4.x, they have done updates to that version of android. Apple releases iOS4, iOS5, iOS6, and now iOS7. They are claiming a new OS when in reality it is an update with a new 'big feature' (i.e. siri and imaps) and a few 'smaller' features that are usually more useful (i.e. pull down notification center, lock screen updates... ty android). In terms of OS advancement most people agree that android has passed iOS. I will give you that iOS run buttery smooth most of the time on their devices, but android runs great on all the nexus devices. I don't mean to bash viewsonic, but they have little business trying to make a tablet. Your tablet is chunky because it is a tegra 2 platform put together by viewsonic. 2.3 ran great on my nexus S and its just a single core 1Ghz A8 and still runs great on 4.2.2(rooted).
If 2.3 ran great and 3.x ran great then they wouldn’t need project butter using your logic… Everything was perfect. The whole point of Project Butter was to improve the user experience. I’ve seen phones/tablets with 2.x and 3.x – I’ve rooted them for friends and they weren’t smooth.
the1kingbob :
For android we went from 2.x to 4.x (3.x was for tablets). The changes between the two are night and day. Hell, even the jump from ics to jelly bean was a huge jump in refinement, efficiency, and stability. Nonetheless it is truly only an update, an update on 4.0.
As for keeping things as they ever were, that is honestly just dumb (you can ask blackberry how that philosophy worked out).
Those changes were necessary, Android looked dated, one of it’s biggest criticisms was that iOS on the iPad looked like a proper OS, meanwhile 2.x and even 3.x looked like a phone OS on a tablet.
I agree 4.0 onward is a huge improvement but it was needed. iOS didn’t need to update as it was already doing it’s job on phones and tablets.
the1kingbob :
I can blame the manufactures, they are the ones that are responsible for the phone. How can google be expected to support and update so many different platforms made by so many different companies all around the world?
How? Well, Microsoft has been doing it for, what 20+ years. And there are more PC hardware versions (CPU/motherboard/accessories/GPUs/etc.) than every piece of Android hardware ever built… Far more.
By your logic, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, etc should control Microsoft Windows updates because it's running on their hardware, shipped from the factory...
You want an everyone can participate model (essentially what MS-DOS, and Windows offered every manufacturer vs. Apple’s closed system) You need to make sure it works and updates properly. In this case, I think we don’t give Microsoft enough credit – ALL those different hardware run the same OS essentially and that’s where some of the major issues arise – It complicated.
The point is that MS doesn’t make Dell control the updates; MS does the updates because it’s proper for the OS publisher to do so.
Additionally, This is the primary reason Android OS is panned by Government for use in defense and intel – (I know a few people who test tablets/phones for secure use at the Navy). Their logic is: Relying on manufacturers to provide updates isn’t acceptable for security and reliability.