Between Donut, Eclair, Froyo and Gingerbread, Google's Android mobile operating system has received a number of substantial upgrades over the years. Unfortunately, not all devices have been made to support these updates, leaving many users with one or several generations old software. Worse yet, many new devices aren't being released with the latest version of Android.

Naturally, many users are unhappy with the results, and Michael DeGusta has created and posted an infographic highlighting how much of an impact Android fragmentation has had over the years.

As you can see, the results are not pretty.

Credit: TheUnderstatement.com

The infographic was paired with extensive research conducted by DeGusta, which reveal some startling facts. Of the eighteen recent Android devices discussed, seven have never ran a current version of the OS, ten of the eighteen were at least two years behind the most recent OS within two years of being introduced, and sixteen of the eighteen are unlikely to ever be updated to use Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich, which releases next month. By comparison, Apple's iPhone series has remained consistently up-to-date with new software releases, up to three years after they were originally introduced.

On the bright side, it seems that flagship Google devices like the Nexus One fared quite nicely, so Nexus S and future Galaxy Nexus owners shouldn't feel the woes that others experience, but that's just one line of devices out of many.

For everyone else, Android fragmentation is a persistent problem.

To see more of DeGusta's findings, head over to TheUnderstatement.com.