Could Google Android overtake Microsoft Windows by 2016?

A new claim from research firm Gartner suggests Google Android may finally overtake Microsoft Windows as the dominant operating system for computing devices by as early as 2016.
According to Gartner, this year alone is expected to end with an impressive 608 million devices running Android. This is nothing short of amazing when you consider that Google’s OS has only been around since 2008. How many Windows devices does the company predict for this year? About 1.5 billion, that is including Windows 8 PCs and tablets.
Okay, so we’ve seen massive Android growth in four years, does that really mean Google can jump above Microsoft in another four? While Android growth isn’t slowing down any time soon, it’s really hard to say for sure. For starters, we don’t truly know how the public will respond to Windows 8, RT and Windows Phone 8. If these new efforts from Microsoft don’t take off, Google Android is pretty much guaranteed to eventually jump above Windows. On the other hand, Microsoft Surface and other Windows 8 efforts could slow this growth down a little.
How many devices does Gartner believe Android will have by 2016? The research firm seems to think there will be about 2.3 billion Android devices versus about 2.28 billion computing devices that will run Windows.
Keep in mind that analysts make predictions all the time. Some of these come true, some don’t. Gartner in particular is known for making pretty bold claims. Still, the evidence we’ve seen so far certainly adds some credence to this particular claim. Microsoft has yet to show us that they can truly be successful in the mobile sector. Unless the Redmond giant can convince consumers that they can in fact compete in the mobile world, Android’s market penetration will only continue to rise dramatically.
It is 2012 and the world has finally woke up to the realization that they don’t need Windows to enjoy the Internet or great applications. This doesn’t mean Windows or Microsoft is bad per say, it just means that they have to compete even harder if they want to stay relevant in a changing world or they will risk falling behind for good.
What do you think, is this prediction on the money or will Microsoft’s current efforts prove to be a major game-changer?