[the_arun]

My observation is - It is the ecosystem that is sticky not just the OS.

[empyrrhicist]

You can install Google Apps as a regular set of user apps rather than a system-level admin monstrosity, and it mostly works - Play Store included.

Whether or not that defeats the purpose is an exercise left to the reader.

[Aachen]

You're not the first to notice! It's called the network effect