A sweeping review of millions of corporate computing devices has painted a troubling picture of Windows reliability in the enterprise. Omnissa, the digital workplace management firm spun out from VMware's end-user division, released telemetry data collected across 2025 showing that Windows PCs experience significantly more instability than their Apple counterparts.
The State of Digital Workspace 2026 report analysed data from millions of Omnissa-managed enterprise endpoints between January and December 2025. The findings highlight a reliability gap that should concern organisations investing heavily in Windows infrastructure.
The numbers are stark. Windows users experience 3.1 times more forced shutdowns than Mac owners, 2.2 times more app crashes, and 7.5 times more app hangs. Beyond crashes, the update picture is even more striking. Macs receive software updates 1.5 times faster than Windows machines, and iOS devices update 8.1 times faster than Android systems.
The patching performance difference reflects architectural decisions. According to the research, macOS uses centralised, less disruptive update controls compared to the bifurcated approach Windows employs through on-premises and cloud-based update mechanisms. This matters enormously in industries handling sensitive information. The dataset includes enterprise environments across the globe and 17 industries, including high tech, retail, healthcare, financial services, education, and government.
A particularly troubling finding emerges around security compliance in critical sectors. Industries like healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and education ranked lowest in maintaining device updates and ensuring data protection, with more than 50 per cent of Windows and Android devices in regulated industries such as healthcare and pharma being five major OS updates behind. This creates genuine risk in environments where data breaches carry severe consequences.
Device longevity data also favours Apple. Organisations purchasing Macs are investing in six-year assets, while those purchasing Windows PCs are investing in three-year assets. Only 2 per cent of Windows machines in Omnissa's dataset reach six years of service, compared with 11.5 per cent of Macs.
Yet the broader picture remains complicated. Despite these reliability advantages, Windows dominates enterprise software compatibility. Many specialised applications in legal, accounting, healthcare, and manufacturing either require Windows or deliver significantly richer functionality on the platform. Organisations cannot simply abandon Windows; doing so would mean rewriting workflows or purchasing expensive compatibility software.
The report also identified surging adoption of virtual desktops, with 36 per cent year-on-year growth. Usage of AI assistant apps grew nearly 1000 per cent in 2025 across all major operating systems, revealing a growing gap between the tools IT deploys and the ones employees actually use. This points to a broader tension: employees are adopting tools outside official channels, creating shadow IT risks that no single operating system can solve.
The data suggests that organisations face genuine trade-offs. Standardising on macOS would improve device reliability and security patch speeds, but it would break compatibility with legacy applications. Remaining primarily Windows-based sacrifices reliability for software continuity. Some organisations are responding by adopting hybrid approaches, allowing mixed environments and accepting the management complexity that entails.
What the Omnissa report ultimately reveals is not that one platform has "won." Rather, it exposes how institutional decisions made years ago around software ecosystems continue to constrain current options. For organisations planning multi-year device refresh cycles, the reliability gap between platforms cannot be ignored. Yet neither can the hard constraint of existing software dependencies.