Google's Android platform is undoubtedly the fastest growing smartphone operating system in the world. It is no surprise that the HTC Desire operating system is based on version 2.1 of Android, which is definitely the latest and arguably the greatest product of Google's Android labs. It is no secret that the HTC Desire is based on basically the same hardware platform as Google's own Nexus One handset and so the implementation of Android here should be natural and complete. For anyone who is unsure about what Android can offer and whether the Desire is for them, read on.

If you want to search through the data which you have stored on the Desire, then it is a simple case of double tapping the physical search key below the screen. This will bring up a search bar and the onscreen keypad. The function will trawl through your music, videos, pictures, emails, messages and anything else for terms related to whatever you choose to enter and it will also let you search the web. If you have an email you are looking for and you cannot remember when it was sent but you have an idea of the subject, then this little search function will help you find it in seconds. Touches such as this make the HTC Desire operating system feel a lot smarter than its rivals.

The world of mobile applications has ballooned in size over recent years ever since the iPhone and the App Store made it essential for rival firms to offer their users the chance to download their own bite size mobile programmes. The HTC Desire operating system gives it access to the Android Market, which is, as the software platform itself, the fastest growing service of its kind. The Android Market cannot quite compete with the App Store in terms of sheer app numbers, but current estimates say that about 35,000 apps are stocked in its virtual shelves. This is thousands more than its nearest rival and as the popularity of Android grows, it makes more business sense for developers to migrate to making apps for the HTC Desire and other Android-based smartphones.

The HTC Desire operating system is compatible with a number of new features and one interesting option is something called Live Wallpapers. These are touch-sensitive, fully interactive backgrounds that can be applied to one of the seven homescreens. You can get live wallpapers that shoot out bursts of light across the screen when you press them and others that react to the time of day.

The operating system of the HTC Desire is not the same plain vanilla platform that the Nexus One is stuck with. It has been completely remodelled in-house by HTC with its own Sense interface to tweak, tinker and overhaul the standard system with new services and snazzy interface additions. You get more homescreens to customise, more widgets to play with and more social networking support than you can shake a stick at. The weather widget is perhaps the most impressive of the HTC custom range. It gets you location by triangulating your position based on your cellular signal, which means that the GPS does not need to be activated. It then tells you how the weather is, but it also shows you what the weather is doing. This means that sunny days will place a sheen to your homescreen, whilst fog will cloud up the display a little. Rain and lighting have their own obvious effects to show off. It sounds pointless, but it feels a next generation feature. If you want to check out every homescreen at the same time, the HTC's Leap View, which is accessed by pinching your fingers together on the multitouch sensitive screen, will let you see all seven in miniature.