Microsoft Windows is Still King

Written by Jackie Ross

The new iPhone will be revealed in a matter of days and the media has gone Apple-mad – even though a series of leaks mean we already know pretty much everything there is to know about the device. You would be forgiven for thinking that Apple was the biggest player in business IT.

But the stats don’t lie. Behind the hype, Microsoft is still king by some considerable margin.

Windows is the business choice

Microsoft dominate the world of business IT. According to the latest report from Statcounter, Microsoft Windows runs on 82.45% of the world’s desktop computers. Mac OS, the operating system used by Apple computers, accounts for just 12.64%.

Although perfectly capable for some business tasks, Mac OS and Apple computers can be too expensive to justify for many organisations. Windows offers an acceptable user experience at a lower cost – which is why it continues to dominate in the corporate environment.

But it’s not just cost that keeps businesses coming back to Microsoft. Having dominated the corporate IT landscape for more than 20 years, Windows has become the default platform for business-related applications. Many software vendors target their applications at Windows first because they know that is where they will find the majority of their business.

Second, almost everyone entering the workforce has grown up using Windows PCs, either at home or at school. By using Microsoft products, employers can ensure the learning curve is dramatically reduced and that new workers are productive from day one.

Stick with what you need

Intense media attention around the new Apple products may encourage business decision makers to reconsider their choice of Windows desktop computers. But as long as the tools and software continue to “do the job”, there’s no need to swap – no matter what is revealed on September 12^th.

To learn more about getting the most from your Microsoft Windows network – and Shackleton’s hype-free IT support and advice – please get in touch.