Why the Safest Endpoint Strategy Is No Longer Windows Everywhere

How Windows Became the Default Answer to Every Question

To be honest, Windows has earned its place.

For more than twenty years, it has been the anchor for businesses. Around it, IT departments have set up processes, built teams, and forged careers. Images were perfected, packaging plants industrialized, and group policies refined to an art form. Control was the goal, and Windows achieved it.

Even today, Windows runs on about 70% of enterprise devices. The problem isn’t that Windows is obsolete, but that it’s overprescribed.

Most employees no longer need the features Windows was designed for.

Across all industries, data shows that about two-thirds of employees are operational or frontline workers. Their daily reality is simple: five to nine applications, most of which are already web-based or SaaS-enabled. CRM, ticketing systems, HR portals, internal workflows—all are accessible through a browser.

Yet IT departments continue to provide them with a full Windows device, complete with VPN, update cycles, and operational complexity originally designed for engineers and developers.

This mismatch is the first flaw in the foundations of DEX.

The Detours We Took: VDI and DaaS

When the limitations of physical Windows terminals became apparent, the industry didn’t abandon the model—it replicated it.

VDI promised centralized control and security. Later, DaaS promised cloud elasticity and economics. Both added value, especially for regulated environments and legacy applications.

But they also revealed a harsh reality.

A Windows session is still a Windows session, whether it runs on a laptop, in a data center, or in the cloud. Cost models improved, infrastructure evolved, but the delivery paradigm remained the same.

In many organizations, VDI and DaaS now cost two to three times more per user than physical endpoints, while continuing to serve users who only need a browser and an identity.

At this point, the question is no longer technical, but architectural.

The Quiet Rise of the Web Endpoint

What changed everything didn’t happen with a keynote speech. It happened quietly.

Applications stopped being installed. They started being accessed.
Authentication shifted from devices to identity.
Updates became continuous, rather than quarterly.

Progressive web apps became “good enough,” then “better,” then invisible, which is the greatest compliment technology can receive.

In organizations that turned to web-first delivery, something unexpected happened. Application delivery times went from weeks to hours. Integration time fell below one hour. Terminal operations decreased by 40 to 60%.

Not because IT worked harder, but because complexity disappeared.

For employees, the terminal ceased to be a computer. It became a secure window for working.

Why Fear Still Wins the Argument

And yet, many decision-makers hesitate.

Not because the model doesn’t work, but because the exception continues to prevail over the rule.

“What about that legacy application?”
“What if a user needs Windows tomorrow?”
“What if the auditors ask questions?” “

These concerns are legitimate. But they are often used to justify keeping everyone on the most complex model available.

Fear thrives when strategy is built around extreme cases rather than averages.

Where Digital Employee Experience Finally Comes Into Focus

This is where DEX ceases to be a buzzword and becomes a design principle.

A mature DEX strategy does not eliminate Windows. It shifts its focus.

Windows becomes one tool among many, used where it creates value, not where it creates habit.

The web and PWAs become the norm for everyday tasks.
VDI and DaaS become targeted solutions, not universal answers.
Identity becomes the control plane.
Experience becomes the metric.

The endpoint landscape ceases to be binary and begins to be intentional.

The Role of IGEL: Making Simplicity Operable

This is also where many strategies fail, not in terms of vision, but in terms of execution.

Managing a mixed device fleet is daunting for IT departments, unless simplicity is built in from the outset. This is where IGEL quietly comes into its own.

IGEL does not compete with Windows, VDI, or DaaS. It stabilizes them. It creates devices that are secure by design, specifically designed for access rather than ownership, and predictable in their operation.

In web-centric scenarios, IGEL makes the browser and PWAs essential. In virtual scenarios, it offers one of the most consistent user experiences available. In both cases, it reduces the attack surface of endpoints and extends the hardware lifecycle well beyond that of traditional PCs.

More importantly, it allows organizations to modernize without imposing radical transformation.

Fear fades when change seems reversible.

The Real Risk Is Standing Still

The most dangerous assumption in EUC today is that doing nothing is safe.

It is not.

The cost of heavily Windows-dependent environments continues to rise. Security risks increase with complexity. Talent is drawn to cloud-native environments, not image engineering. And business units will always find faster ways to evolve, with or without IT’s help.

The organizations that are breaking free aren’t the boldest. They’re the most pragmatic.

They’re stopping asking how to protect the past and starting to design solutions that fit the reality of work.

Closing Thought

End-user computing doesn’t need a revolution.
It needs permission to evolve.

Progressive web apps, identity-based access, and platforms like IGEL don’t remove control—they redefine it.

And in a world where experience equals productivity, this change is no longer optional.