There are two types of devices which are common in the market and out in the computing wild which might be almost similar in terms of their size and hardware capabilities but are from different vendors and run totally different operating systems. Android devices are designed to run the android operating system while windows mobile devices are used to run the windows operating system for mobile devices. IN terms of hardware architecture, both devices are similar as they have the same set of hardware components and their capabilities are not any much difference from each other. However, the differences and similarities between the two platforms is what make the world of mobile computing very interesting.
Android devices run the android operating system and all the applications that are designed to run on these devices are designed using language and software patterns which are dictated by the hardware vendor. Android programs can be written in Java or C and are specialized for the embedded features within these devices. The programs are able to work with all the sensors in the device and can be specialized to take advantage of features such as the camera and the gyroscope to detect when the user has tilted the device as well as taking images or streaming video.
Windows Mobile devices are designed to run the Microsoft windows operating system for mobile and all the applications that are designed for the device have to be up to Microsoft standards. The applications for the windows mobile devices are available through the windows app store and are compatible only with the windows mobile devices. The devices also have networking capabilities built into them to tap into the power of Azure cloud and Office 365 for increasing the productivity of their users. In a sense, the devices work around the Microsoft computing platform and are specialized for running windows software applications.
Android applications are not able to be run on the window mobile devices whereas the windows mobile applications cannot be run on android devices. This is a clear difference and a definite separation of concerns for someone who is looking to make a choice between the two devices. Applications usually take advantage of the underlying hardware architecture and are optimized to make full advantage of the platform that they are designated to run on. This is the reason each hardware architecture has a specific set of rules for how software should be run on it.
In conclusion, there is a difference between windows mobile and android devices not only in terms of their hardware specifications, but also in how they run their different software as well as the performance differences brought about by underlying operating system differences. An android device can run an application written for the device while a windows mobile device will only run an application that has been written in a language that the operating system can understand. This is what makes the difference between the two devices and the reason one cannot choose any of them without understanding the difference.
