The rivalry between Windows and macOS is sometimes summarized as a war of preferences. In the business world, it becomes a question of lost time and decreased productivity. This is precisely what the State of Digital Workspace 2026 report published by Omnissa highlights.
This study is based on anonymized telemetry data aggregated from millions of enterprise devices using Omnissa solutions over a twelve-month period in 2025.
The conclusion is striking. macOS outperforms Windows on certain indicators. These differences affect what costs a company without always appearing in the typical dashboards. We are talking about interruptions, forced restarts, frozen applications, and loss of concentration after incidents.
Old Macs remain productive
Apple machines seem to remain in service for longer. The report indicates that 11.5% of observed Macs were still in use beyond the sixth year, compared to only 1.8% of Windows PCs. This is not a judgment on the quality of all Windows PCs, as the Microsoft ecosystem covers a vast array of hardware and configurations. But in a real professional setting, the measured longevity difference is clear.
However, this figure says something important in the world of work. A workstation that lasts longer without leaving the fleet reduces pressure on renewal cycles, migrations, and especially hidden costs associated with replacement.
More efficient maintenance at Apple
The second difference is in the speed of updates. Omnissa claims that macOS is updated 1.5 times faster than Windows. In detail, 77% of Macs were on the latest system version, compared to 51% of Windows PCs. By adding the immediately preceding version, this goes up to 89% for macOS and 77% for Windows.
For a company, this is an important criterion. A up-to-date fleet reduces the window of exposure to vulnerabilities and limits the maintenance of old environments that have become difficult to secure. The report also highlights that some critical sectors, such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and retail, remain particularly behind on Windows.
Windows suffers from invisible interruptions
The toughest point for Windows comes in the employer experience. Omnissa indicates that Windows devices experience 3.1 times more forced shutdowns, 2.2 times more application crashes, and 7.5 times more application freezes than devices running macOS.
These are arguably the most important figures in the report, as they affect daily use and productivity. A forced restart or a frozen application is not just an IT incident. It is a mental break in work and a sudden halt to productivity.
Employees are less satisfied on Windows
The report also reinforces this trend on the DEX score, the employee experience indicator used by Omnissa. On desktop, the percentage of devices classified as “Good” reaches 65% on macOS compared to 54% on Windows. Conversely, the “Poor” category represents 5% on Mac and 15% on Windows.
Again, this does not imply that all Windows workstations offer a poor experience, nor that all Macs are flawless. But on the scale of millions of devices, the trend is there and raises questions.
Omnissa also points out an alarming situation in terms of security. There are reportedly 20% of non-encrypted government workstations and over 50% in education. The document also emphasizes blind spots around unauthorized applications, unapproved AI usage by companies, and the increasing fragmentation of work environments.
