ChromeOS vs Windows 11 SE: Which One Wins in the Classroom?

For years, the battle for the classroom has been a fierce competition between Google and Microsoft. On one side, you have the lightweight, cloud-native ChromeOS powering millions of Chromebooks. On the other, Microsoft’s various attempts to counter this dominance, most recently with Windows 11 SE. As an IT professional following this space, I’ve watched the strategies evolve. But a recent development has changed the landscape entirely, making the choice for schools clearer than ever.

The big news is that the fight is effectively over. Microsoft has announced it is ending support for Windows 11 SE, with updates ceasing in 2026. This move signals a significant defeat in its direct war against Chromebooks and reframes our entire comparison. Instead of just asking which is better, we now have to ask: why did one succeed so thoroughly that the other was pulled from the market?

The Core Philosophy: Cloud-Native vs. Trimmed-Down Desktop

The fundamental difference between these two operating systems lies in their DNA. Understanding this is key to understanding why we’ve arrived at this point.

ChromeOS: Built for the Web from Day One

ChromeOS was designed from the ground up as a Linux-based, cloud-first operating system. Its primary function is to run a web browser, Chrome, securely and efficiently. This approach has several key advantages for the education sector:

• Simplicity and Speed: Chromebooks are known for their incredibly fast boot times and a simple, uncluttered user interface that is easy for students and teachers to learn.
• Lightweight Performance: Because the OS is so lightweight, it runs smoothly on affordable, low-cost hardware.
• Centralized Management: Everything is designed to be managed through the cloud via the Google Admin Console.

Windows 11 SE: An Experiment That Didn’t Pan Out

Windows 11 SE was Microsoft’s answer to ChromeOS. It wasn’t a new OS built from scratch, but rather a streamlined, education-focused version of the full Windows 11. The goal was to create a distraction-free environment on low-cost devices. Microsoft removed features like widgets and limited app installations to only those approved by IT admins.

However, the core issue remained: it was still a version of Windows. Despite being streamlined, it was often too unwieldy and heavy for the low-cost hardware it was intended for, leading to poor performance—the very problem it needed to solve to compete with Chromebooks.

Device Management: The Unsung Hero of EdTech

For any school district, managing hundreds or thousands of devices is a monumental task. The ease of deployment and management is arguably as important as the device’s functionality.

Google Admin Console: The ChromeOS Powerhouse

A huge part of ChromeOS’s success is the Google Admin Console. It allows IT administrators to deploy and manage devices, users, and apps from a single, web-based dashboard with relative ease. Setting policies, pre-installing apps, and securing devices can be done at scale, which is a massive selling point for under-resourced school IT departments.

Microsoft Intune for Education: Powerful but Complex

Microsoft’s solution is Microsoft Intune for Education. It’s a powerful and comprehensive mobile device management (MDM) tool that offers granular control over devices and apps. For schools already heavily invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, Intune is a familiar and robust tool. However, with the discontinuation of Windows 11 SE, its primary role in managing this specific, simplified OS becomes moot for new deployments.

The Application Story: Flexibility vs. A Walled Garden

What can students and teachers actually do on these devices? The application ecosystem is another critical point of comparison.

ChromeOS: The World of Web and Android Apps

Chromebooks provide access to a vast universe of educational tools primarily through web apps. If it runs in a browser, it runs on a Chromebook. This includes the entire Google Workspace for Education suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Classroom) and countless other online resources. Furthermore, most modern Chromebooks can also run Android apps from the Google Play Store and even Linux applications, offering incredible versatility. While some offline functionality requires setup, essential apps like Google Docs and Gmail have robust offline modes.

Windows 11 SE’s Curated Approach

Windows 11 SE took a more locked-down approach. To maintain a distraction-free environment, it did not allow users to install their own apps. Instead, IT administrators had to approve and deploy specific applications—including both web apps and select desktop apps like Zoom or even the Chrome browser—through Microsoft Intune. This offered control but lacked the inherent flexibility and lightweight nature of the ChromeOS model.

Performance and Price: Where the Race Was Truly Won

Ultimately, the education market is incredibly price-sensitive. An OS must not only be affordable to license but must also perform well on hardware that fits tight school budgets.

This is the single biggest reason for ChromeOS’s dominance. Because it is so lightweight, it delivers a fast and fluid experience on laptops with modest processors and minimal RAM. This allows manufacturers to produce effective Chromebooks at very low price points, making 1:1 student-to-device initiatives feasible for more schools.

Windows 11 SE was intended to run on these same low-cost devices, but it struggled. Reports consistently showed that even this “streamlined” version of Windows was too resource-intensive, leading to laggy performance. When a device designed for simplicity feels slow, it fails its primary mission.

The Final Bell: A Clearer Path Forward

With Microsoft officially sunsetting Windows 11 SE, the debate has reached a natural conclusion. The experiment to create a trimmed-down version of a desktop OS to compete with a true cloud-native OS has failed. This leaves schools that adopted Windows 11 SE with a difficult transition ahead, as they will need to migrate to another operating system once support ends to continue receiving security updates.

For any school or district looking to make a new purchase decision, the choice is now less complicated. ChromeOS remains the undisputed leader in the education space for its combination of low cost, simple management, robust security, and excellent performance on affordable hardware. The market has spoken, and the future of classroom technology, for now, remains firmly in the cloud.