In 2020, Chromebooks Out Sold Macs And Ate Into Windows Market Share

Chrome OS is fast becoming the preferred operating system among computer users. According to a report by GeekWire based on numbers provided to them by IDC, Chromebooks outsold Macs consistently in 2020. This placed Google’s operating system in second place, just behind Microsoft’s Windows, relegating Apple to third place.

Based on the acquired data, it looks like Chrome OS has been consistently chomping at Windows’ market share. The pandemic may have played a hand in this. Since most students have had to attend classes online, there was little choice but to turn to an affordable computing platform to get things done.

When it comes to learning, Chromebooks are the preferred option. They are relatively inexpensive, secure and offer administrative options that are good for fleet deployment. Chrome OS requires only modest hardware to run properly, which is why Chromebooks are mostly offered with Celeron processors.

They are far smoother in terms of performance when compared to Windows machines with similar hardware. It’s also a cloud based OS, so there’s little chance of losing or corrupting data, which includes homework. It’s for this and other aforementioned reasons why the education sector favors Chromebooks over all other computing platforms.

Unlike Windows, Chrome OS comes with a full suite of apps that include alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. As such, it’s a lot more cost effective to purchase a Chromebook compared with Macs or Windows machines. Macs have always been expensive, Windows is somewhere in the middle, but Chromebooks are cheap and seem to be staying that way.

IDC’s data does prove the rise in popularity of Chrome OS. However, Mac and Windows machines are still far superior. They can do a lot more, have a far greater app ecosystem and aren’t limited by the availability of an internet connection. In the business and general computing sector, there’s little need for Chrome OS.

But that might change, as the current generation of students, who are now familiar with Chrome OS, begin joining the job market. That is when we will see Google encroaching into Microsoft’s market share and its bread and butter – the business sector.