Back-to-school Mac sales outgrew Windows PCs this year, even though Apple didn’t offer a free iPod touch and discontinued its education-focused white MacBook, says “AppleInsider.”

In talking about the back-to-school buying season, Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis with NPD Group, told “AppleInsider”that Apple’s year-over-year growth seen this summer was aided by weak comparisons from sales in 2010. “Apple grew much faster than the Windows notebook market did,” he said.

Baker said there’s no evidence that this year’s lesser back-to-school promotion, in which students and faculty receive an US$100 App Store gift card with the purchase of a new Mac, hampered sales. In years past, education buyers were given a free 8GB iPod touch. Read more at http://macte.ch/GGWJV .