Report Shows Windows Enterprise Devices Suffer More Crashes and Failures

Microsoft’s Windows platform is once again under scrutiny in enterprise environments, with a new report pointing to ongoing reliability and productivity challenges.

According to Neowin, a recent study from Omnissa highlights persistent issues affecting Windows devices across large organizations. The findings suggest that even minor disruptions can have a measurable business impact, with each incident causing up to 24 minutes of lost productivity.

Windows Trails macOS in Stability and Reliability

The report draws a direct comparison between Windows and macOS performance in enterprise use. Windows systems show significantly higher instability rates, including:

• 3.1 times more forced shutdowns
• 2.2 times more application crashes
• 7.5 times more application hangs

These issues contribute to a weaker overall digital employee experience (DEX), an increasingly important metric for enterprise IT teams. Omnissa notes that macOS achieves a 120% higher “DEX good score” compared to Windows systems.

Security and Update Gaps Raise Concerns

Beyond stability, the report highlights serious gaps in security and update adoption. In regulated industries, more than half of Windows and Android devices remain five major OS versions behind, increasing exposure to vulnerabilities.

In the education sector, over 50% of devices lack encryption entirely, raising concerns about data protection and compliance.

Omnissa also identifies broader enterprise challenges, including the rise of shadow AI tools, weak security hygiene, and the growing cost of maintaining aging hardware fleets.

Hardware Lifecycle Differences Add to Cost Pressure

Device longevity also plays a role in enterprise efficiency. According to the report, macOS devices typically remain in use for around six years, while Windows hardware averages just three years.

This shorter lifecycle increases replacement costs and operational overhead, further impacting the total cost of ownership for organizations relying heavily on Windows.

Windows Adoption Still Growing in the Government Sector

Despite these challenges, Windows continues to expand in certain sectors. Government adoption has reportedly doubled year-over-year, indicating continued reliance on Microsoft’s ecosystem for public sector infrastructure.

The Omnissa report draws from anonymized telemetry data collected in 2025, covering millions of devices across 26,000 enterprise customers in 17 industries. While not fully representative of all environments, the findings point to ongoing concerns around stability, security, and user experience in Windows deployments.

Microsoft has recently released two updates addressing the same sign-in issues across different segments. KB5085518 is targeted at enterprise environments, while KB5085516 is intended for home users.

Alongside these fixes, the company has also resolved Gmail synchronization problems in Classic Outlook, continuing its efforts to improve reliability across both consumer and business platforms.

These updates show ongoing efforts to improve reliability, especially for enterprise users, even as broader concerns around stability and user experience persist.