What will android need to do to overtake apples OS?

I would say, that if they have a smooth rollout without any major glitches, they will have success. If the phone is buggy and requires updates all the time, it will fail. There will still be the naysayers, that say nothing can compete with the iPhone. We will see soon, Wont we?

I am thinking Google is already smart in the ways of providing what the User wants. So, I doubt there will be major glitches (fingers crossed).

But MHO about "What will Droid need to do..."

Just make sure that the open apps/devs keep rolling. That will overpower them.

They could stand to learn from a few mistakes the Apple store has made in regards to apps being turned down, or released premature, pricing, etc.

my biggest worry is that despite the large amount of removable storage available on the droid, its 512MB of RAM will not be able to hold as many apps as someone with a 2 year contract may want. i have an iPod touch and the apps are very easy to use. I have never used android, but I'm excited to see how it stacks up. i just dont want the droid to run slow or hit a memory wall 6 months into using it.
also, the touchscreen sensitivity on the iphone is remarkable. i hope the droid is comparable.

Only part of the app is stored on the Bios, the big part of the app is stored on the Micro Sd

so without the micro card in the slot I won't be able to run the app? if I lose the card will I need to re-download the app? and if that's the case, how will android ensure that I dont have to pay a 2nd time?

Not sure exactly if the whole app will install on the onboard memry if it does not detect a Micro Usb Card. I am not sure why you would run the phone with a SD card in it though?

The micro-SD card is internal on the Droid so it won't fall out or anything...

I'm not sure the whole battle is decided by DROID. Yeah, the DROID is a direct match-up against the iPhone, and it's unlikely Apple could or would start offering many varieties of iPhones. Meanwhile, there are going to be dozens of Android phones. This is why Apple can't really "win", no matter what they do.

But for the DROID to beat out Apple, well, some of that tech and some of that talk. I did this, twice... I was there at the tail end of the 8-bit computer wars. Apple and Commodore won... I was designing computers for Commodore. And over the next generation... I was a hardware engineer a number of the Amiga computers, which started out way ahead of the Macintosh, technologically, even if the first Amiga came a year later ... with real multitasking in 256K.

First thing to realize about Apple... they have won most of their business by [a] not being stupid, when pretty much everyone else has been, and really good marketing (which is part of [a], but distinct enough to mention separately). It hasn't always or even often been technology winning when Apple wins. The original Macs were just horrible designs, but they went their own way, and time proved it was the right concept.

The DROID is, at least this week, in the Amiga's position... better hardware (though not as dramatically so), but also a few other strong things. Android is the big one.. in that, we're not Commodore here, we're more like MS-DOS was back in 1983, when Apple was kind of the "serious" 8-bit world, and Commodore had just about conquered the games aspect. The IBM PC was originally an even worse chunk of hardware, but it had too big advantages: the math chip, which accelerated Lotus 1-2-3 to run 100x faster than VisiCalc on an Apple or Commodore, and well, anyone could eventually make one. That last one is the strength of Android... every cell phone company except Apple, RIM, and Nokia is working on Android.

So some of it will be advertising. Right now, the weird stuff might have been ok, but only a little of that. Commodore's first ads for the Amiga were weird, and not so effective, simply because no one understood them. I'm a bit worried the first two DROID ads are too similar. I do like the "Misfit toys" ad... that's setting it up in the consumer's mind that this is a competition against Apple, which, at this point, is a good meme to establish. After that, though, I think they'll need to show off just why DROID is better than iPhone. In simple terms... the techies already know the story (including the fear of running out of internal flash... iDon't have that issue).

My old Amiga 500 is still my favorite computer that I've ever owned...my old C128 is second.

I loved my Amiga 500 and 3000, you brought back good multitasking memories there LOL

and people forget the Iphone isn't the prefect phone is has it's problems also.It also crashes and needs to be restarted. I think just the fact that the world is looking for another hero to over come is just the beginning and Iphone's biggest flaw is that it is on AT&T network.

part of the iPhone's success is that consumers needn't be tech-savvy to use it. those early to market were able to show their friends their cool new toy, and those whom they showed - in turn - went and got their own devices. that word of mouth, viral type of behavior is what turns a lot of profit for apple, in my opinion. people were clamoring for the iPhone because there was nothing like it, it was a status symbol. with a little bit of show and tell among us who were first to market with the DROID, i think the popularity of the phone and the capability of android 2.0 and beyond will catapult it to the top, so long as development remains up to date, google keeps on top of umdates (so far so good), and verizon remains the top service provider.

This is absouletly correct. The iPhone sales well because anyone can use it. i can give one to my grandmother and she will be able to get rolling. May not be able to download any apps, but she can get it to sync with her PC and make a call with no problems. Now if i gave her a droid she like a lot of us wouldnt be able to get any music on it. One thing you have to realize is that the most popular phones out today arent smart phones they are the regular joe blow flip phones like the Razr, because my grandparents could care less what kind of processor was in a phone. They want to be able to make calls and they can.

Another thing is brand loyality. Apple has some of the most loyal customers around and they will cut you down if you talk bad about them. Hell the new iMACS are shipping DOA on arrival, and an update to OSX 10 destroyed some compability with intell processors, but did you hear about that? No why because MACs are the most "Dependable Trouble Free computers" when in fact all PCs have problems. Because you have this die hard following. Steve jobs was able to say we have invented this technology that will allow you to send a pic via a SMS...i will call it MMS, and people are amazed. Steve could crap in a box and call it the iCrap Mac with jaguar 15X and people would by it.

Until android improves the ease of use and gets some die hard fanboys they wont be able to overtake the iPhone.

Sorry so long.