I'm newly out of contract with my horrific local cellphone provider and will probably be going back to AT&T or maybe Sprint. I have had iPhones now since the 3. I kinda' like the new Samsung Galaxies. iPhones generally handle 2 to 2.5 major IOS updates with no trouble. The .5 is for when the phone will take the next major update but the older phone lacks newer hardware to take full advantage of the whole IOS update, but what it can handle, it will handle. The one time I had an Android I was seriously disappointed by the fact that the OS it came with was not only not the latest Android OS, but the phone would not upgrade to even the next OS, let alone any subsequent major upgrades. Is this still the case with Android phones? If I get a slick, Star Trekie Samsung Galaxy am I stuck with whatever OS it comes with even while the next OS is being raved over all over the internet? I'm neither a brand whore nor a sheep. I buy in accord with my personal needs as a consumer and OS support is a deal or deal-breaker for me. Your experience?
Short answer: no Long answer: maybe. Unlike the iOS system Android is made for many different hardware profiles. This means that (especially in the early days) it is entirely possible to have a phone with hardware that can't handle certain Android features. But good news! Most phone producers have gotten the lead out and are pushing the limits of what droid is capable of. This means that the newer OS upgrades will be able to take advantage of these. My G2 for example had a processor capable of running faster then Jellybean is able to make it run. There is of course a singularity where your phone will become too old to run, but that's at least two years off, four at the maximum. And having used AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, I would rather cut off my hand at the elbow than go back to Sprint. Sprint doesn't even own their own towers, they're piggybacking on Verizon towers, so you might as well just get the better service with Verizon.
