There have been several stories recently about companies switching from Windows to Macs, see the IBM test case. However, on the opposite side of the fence, there appears to be growing number of anecdotal cases with spurned Mac users switching back to Windows after the seemingly blatant disregard for professional considerations from Apple. Seems that, while Mac engineers were perhaps revealing in the stories of Windows to Mac switches, some of the higher-ups were a bit disconcerted about the number of switch stories of Mac to Windows by professionals, and for good reason.
In what feels like an apology tour, Apple held a small press briefing with TechCrunch to squelch the growing tide of frustrated professional Mac users who are considering a jump to Windows or even Linux (in some cases), and in doing so, the company inadvertently revealed how popular Microsoft’s single Windows 10 OS is compared to the sum total of the company’s Mac users.
During its meeting with TechCrunch, Apple touted that the company is servicing nearly 100 million Mac users. Without Apple clarifying the numbers, we’re left to assume that the 100 million Mac user number is the totality of all active Mac users ranging as far back as a decade or more in some cases. Apple also reiterated that Macs sales are mostly comprised of MacBooks which account for 80 percent of all Mac shipments and desktops only accounting for 20 percent of all sales. On the flip side, Microsoft’s 3-year-old Windows 10 operating system reached 400 million users last time the company offered usage numbers.
While Windows 10 holds four times the market share over the entirety of Mac usage, it must be noted that the comparison isn’t as black and white as the numbers would imply. Microsoft is listing any device running Windows 10 (or a version of it) as part of its usage numbers which would include Xbox One users and the handful of Windows 10 Mobile holdouts out in the world, whereas Macs are strictly a desktop deal.
With that being said, Windows 10 on the desktops is unquestionably outpacing Apple’s active Mac users by a wide margin and by the Apple’s backward acknowledgment, offering a much more flexible environment for professional than current Mac offerings. Combined with hardware OEMs catching up to Apple’s highly touted industrial design for laptops, Apple could witness more of its relatively small user base find newer pastures in Windows 10 land.
