[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Etherous:
RogerPodacter, if we make the assumption that "Android OS" truly represents a collection of Operating System processes/services, then it would depend on those running in the background to keep the phone running. I would imagine the Nexus One is designed specifically for vanilla Android which means it maximizes the full potential of the basic software without the need for extra services to support the phone's hardware... this is why you can't just install it on, say, a Samsung Galaxy S2 which has more bells and whistles of a different nature (I dare say the hardware in the latter is far beyond the current native capabilities of 2.3.4 and is awaiting the arrival of 4.0 [ice cream sandwich] to reveal itself). "Android OS" is just that, it's the Operating System and *needs* to run to keep your phone alive.

lindsaytheflint, in continuing my thoughts from RogerPodacter, I agree with your statement that AOS usage really depends on what you actually want the phone to do inasmuch as it is what the manufacturer wants the phone to do. I believe manufacturers are pushing the current capabilities of the OS to its limits by pushing the capabilities of the hardware it runs on... that's the problem of having such an open design. In contrast, the iPhone is a closed development system with very exact specifications for its hardware that there is no need to chop and change kernel modules, seek different drivers, worry about various camera sensors focusing differently... It's a huge challenge for Android-centered manufacturers to make the current, limited software play nice. So you're right, there's a lot packed into the Android OS process, and different phones will report its usage differently depending on where your flavour of ROM is loading up its services.

With respect to the link, it makes sense that widgets (especially live updating ones) could lead to drain, and that could come down to how android deals with them, or even how android deals with them on a dual-core processor! Old MS Windows versions (and their legacy programs) had plenty of trouble handling certain functions on dual-core processors (even good-old hyperthreading) when they first came out.

kaassema, I noticed that others had mentioned the percentage-mistake, but I felt the need for it to have its own topic because the inconsistent reporting was driving me nuts, and that's why I believe it's important for people who say they have that bug to post those three pictures because one person's "light" usage could be another person's "heavy" usage and only a true indication can be followed in the numbers. Anyone keen on setting up a spreadsheet? :P

The fact that the phone's operating system runs while the phone is off can be attributed to a bug or simply a service that just has trouble finishing; that's why people/manufacturers keep chopping and changing different bits of code to make sure the phone does what you expect it to. Sure there might be an actual bug somewhere in one of the underlying services, or it might just be a very inefficient process that needs to be redeveloped because it doesn't play nicely with your phone/tablet's current hardware configuration. We can leave that up to the talented device-specific ROM developers to hunt for or just wait patiently for the ice cream sandwich release which is intended to have native support for all this wonderful hardware that currently exists... I feel like it's the Windows XP driver debacle repeating itself -- eventually there will be a stable-enough system that will run on any hardware with minimal tinkering.

I'm personally inclined to term the AOS issue as an incapability (instead of a bug) of the current Android version to run on far advanced hardware which has always been a problem in the computer industry... There are many angles to discuss this argument but they lay far outside the scope of this thread and I will not pursue them here :P

P.s , sorry for the long reply, you all had very valid points and wanted to address them all :)