Let's say you're looking for a new cell phone! Which one should you buy? Short answer: ALL OF THEM! Long answer: this post!
First things first, what kind of OS are you looking for? Each of the big 3 has it's own strengths and weaknesses.
Windows Phone has two big things going for it. First, it's easy to use. I would say it's nearly as easy as iOS. The interface is very simple, and if you've used Windows before, it's going to have a lot of familiar icons. I frequently hear people complain that they've used an iPhone before and adapting to Windows takes a time, so it's not very easy. My response to that is that the first time I used iOS, the standard by which easy smartphone is set, it took time to adapt to it. You can learn the basic ins and outs of a Windows phone just as quickly.
Second, it's lightweight. Microsoft has had the advantage of entering a developed smartphone market. They already knew where the pitfalls were and how to avoid them. The raw specs of the most advanced Windows phones are relatively modest by Android and iOS standards, but almost all their devices run everything smoothly and get close to the top end of smart phone battery life. This is a very polished OS that both looks and feels nice.
The downside to Windows Phone is what gives it a lot of its advantages: it's arriving late to the game. That means that as far as app selection goes, it's going to lag behind its well seasoned competitors quite a bit. Sure you won't have any issues getting the Facebook app, or downloading the newest entry in Rovio's emotionally unstable poultry series, but if you want to do something a bit more unsual (like scan for hidden wifi networks), you may just be out of luck on that.
As far as brands go on this, Nokia has far and away the widest selection available, including some specialized models with very nifty features, most of which can be had for free with a two year contract on the the carrier of your choice. If you'd like to get a very powerful phone with the Windows experience and upfront cost isn't your primary concern, I'd look into the HTC One M8 Windows version.
Next up is iOS. This is the go to OS for most new smartphone users. While I would personally argue that Windows phone is just as easy to pick up, it doesn't yet have the reliability and built in reputation of iOS. One of the main things this OS has going for it, is that it's very gradual in it's changes most of the time. It has grown quite a bit as an operating system, but it's still something you could pick up and use in the most recent version jumping straight from one of the much older versions. It's also extremely secure and stable and runs very well on it's hardware (mostly because the software is designed by the same people manufacturing the phone) without much lag, even if you are running it on a several generations old iPhone.
These two things are also the main detractors for this OS. Both Microsoft (Windows Phone) and Google (Android) are always looking to keep the interface looking new and up to date. If this means that they need to move the buttons around, or even change how many there are, they'll do it. Apple wants to make the new version as close to the previous as possible, which means that it's easy to adapt to, but won't get a lot of groundbreaking innovations either. The other downside to their upside is that you don't get a lot of customization options. Apple has a very firm idea of what features on the phone you should be able to mess with, and you aren't allowed outside that box unless you jailbreak the phone. And if you're going to all the trouble to jailbreak the phone, you may as well go with Android.
If iOS is your choice of OS, you have your pick of manufacturers as long as you pick Apple. Unless you have a need for the newest features that are exclusive to the newest model (and there is always at least one, so be sure to check) I actually recommend going one model down. It will still perform very well with the newest iOS release and you avoid having to throw as large a pile of money at it. There is usually a free iPhone option with two year contract, but I would advise against that (since it's usually two or even three generations old) unless you have very low needs out of your phone's performance, otherwise you'll find yourself desperately wanting to update less than a year in.
Android, Google's brain child. Android currently has the largest chunk of the smartphone market running their OS, and with good reason. The Android OS is very flexible and powerful and has been around a long time. If you can think of something your phone's hardware should be able to do, someone has almost certainly written an app to let it do that. Also, nearly everything can be customized on an Android phone with just the standard software, and if you want more access (and are technically inclined or know someone who is) you can load custom designed versions of the software onto your phone. Google's general philosophy is "Forbid Nothing."
As with the other two, it's greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness. The very open platform and ease of customization can leave the phone vulnerable to malicious software. The number of customization options available can also lead to a bewildering number of ways that some feature you like can be disabled or one you hate could be enabled. Some users prefer to give up a little bit of freedom on options to avoid having to mess with those options.
Android's other downside is that for quite a while, it was very hard on hardware. The newest phones ran the newest Android version just fine, but the older phones could barely limp along, and even the newest phones would sometimes need a battery charge two or three times throughout the day just from the amount of things Android did in the background. Both of these problems are fading out or at least becoming less severe with the newer versions of Android.
Android is also the OS where you will have the greatest selection of brands and models in phones. Samsung has built up quite a name for themselves over the years, but the downside of that is that they know it, so their phones tend to be nearly as expensive as Apple's (although they exert less price control over the cell carriers so you can usually still wind up cheaper after a two year contract is thrown in). HTC has shown themselves to be a quality manufacturer and on their newer phones even offer a free screen replacement should you break it in the first 6 months after purchase and I am personally a fan of the front facing speaker design which is great for music and movies. LG is also a strong contender, turning out high quality phones with comparable specifications to Samsung for a significantly lower price. Finally, Motorola is going be the brand to get if you want a mostly unchanged experience from the Android that Google envisions with the greatest options for customization, since Motorola was recently purchased by Google. The extra advantage Motorola gets with this is faster updates from Google; the less that's changed, the less that has to be adapted after the update comes out.
So if you're aiming at a new phone this Christmas, you now have a pretty good starting point for your selection. Don't be afraid to jump between brands. The modern age of cloud storage makes it pretty easy to jump back and forth with a minimal loss of data. Regardless of whether or not you get an Android, Google is your friend for figuring out your new phone, or even picking one out. See what reviewers think of the one that's caught your eye, and see if anyone else can give you a tip on increasing the delay of the stupid screen lock. My last and most important piece of advice is exclusively for new smartphone users. If you don't know what phone to get, get the same one a friend has. That way you at least know someone to give you a hand on figuring out all the quirks.
