A total of 8,000 Chromebooks will be purchased to replace Windows units

Jun 10, 2014 14:55 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is one of the few companies that have actually tried to make fun of the Chromebooks, saying that they're not “real laptops” because they do not run Windows, but it seems like revenge really is a dish best served cold.

Australian supermarket network Woolworths is purchasing a total of 8,000 Google Chrome OS devices in order to give up on most of its Windows PCs across the world, in a move that would include several manufacturers.

“We’re about to roll out 8000 Chrome OS devices starting in the second half of the year,” Woolworths program director Deon Ludick told The Australian. “It’s to replace a large part of our PC desktop fleet with Chrome OS.”

One of the reasons why such a large company decided to move from Windows to Chrome OS is the security offered by the latter, even though nobody can't deny that Microsoft has also significantly improved its operating system in the last couple of years.

Gartner research director Gunnar Berger told the same source that despite what Microsoft says, Chromebook adoption is on the rise, especially in the education sector where more schools and universities are making the move from the expensive Microsoft software to this entirely new concept.

The same is happening with companies across the world which are discovering the benefits of Chromebook, he said, with security indeed being among the most important factors behind a decision to step away from Microsoft software.

“Organisations that have moved to more web-based applications may find this approach very attractive. It’s a compelling solution for an organisation that may be aggressively moving off of Windows,” he said.

Chroomebooks are undoubtedly gaining traction lately and Microsoft is yet to find a really effective way to tackle this new growing issue that might affect sales of Windows laptops. Several large companies, including Microsoft partners, have already launched Chrome OS devices and their efforts in this particular area are very likely to increase as demand for such units continues to grow.

One of the reasons behind this sustainable growth is also the retirement of Windows XP, as Microsoft no longer provides support for the OS launched in 2001 since April 8.

Moving to newer operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 is considered a more expensive process, so consumers prefer to buy a new Chromebook in order to avoid a new end of support that would soon give them no other option than to purchase new hardware.