- Outdated devices increase instability and seriously endanger business security.
- Windows and Mac laptops face uneven adoption of updates across global organizations
- Application crashes and forced shutdowns disrupt workflows and employee productivity
Many workplace devices run outdated software, exposing businesses to stability issues and security breaches that can disrupt workflows.
New data from Omissa has revealed that update adoption differs across platforms, and delays in patching often result in inconsistent performance across mixed fleets of business laptops and desktops.
The study finds that businesses often view Macs as an asset for six years, while Windows PCs tend to be replaced after about three years.
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Differences appear in the life cycle of devices
The data identifies clear differences in stability between operating systems used in businesses: Windows devices experienced 3.1 times more forced shutdowns and 2.2 times more application crashes than macOS systems.
Additionally, Windows environments experienced 7.5 times more application crashes, increasing the likelihood of repeated workflow interruptions.
These disruptions have a measurable impact, with employees needing up to 24 minutes to refocus after each interruption.
Such disparities reinforce the need for granular telemetry data to guide device acquisition decisions and ensure business laptops meet employee needs.
Delays in applying updates also affect endpoint protection in organizations, potentially influencing upgrade decisions.
The study found that more than 50% of desktops and mobile devices for education are unencrypted, while patching gaps persist in healthcare and pharmaceutical environments.
These conditions indicate that outdated systems are not only less stable, but also less secure, especially in industries with strict compliance requirements.
The rapid adoption of AI tools adds additional pressure to already outdated systems, as their usage has increased by almost 1,000% over the past year, introducing more demanding workloads to enterprise environments.
These workloads rely on stable, updated systems to operate efficiently, meaning older devices are more likely to experience performance issues and instability.
“The central question is how to eliminate blind spots fast enough to keep pace with AI, platform diversity and distributed work,” said Hemant Sahani, vice president of product management at Omnissa.
“The convergence of DEX, security and management telemetry provides essential context that helps teams bridge the gap between what they assume about the workspace and what the telemetry shows is actually happening.
The combination of delayed updates, varying failure rates across platforms, and increasing workload demands puts additional pressure on enterprise devices.
Most organizations operate a combination of aging systems and newer deployments, with inconsistent maintenance across Windows and macOS environments.
But as AI tools become more common in everyday workflows, the limitations of outdated devices may become more visible and it may be time for an upgrade.
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