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Linux is an example of Open Source software development and Free Operating System (OS).
Windows is the family of operating system (OS) from Microsoft, which is the most famous OS in the world.
Cost
Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows.
For desktop or home use, Windows can be expensive. A single copy can cost around $50 to $450 depending on the version of Windows.
User
Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.
Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.
Manufacturer
Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things.
Microsoft created the Windows operating system, but allows other computer manufactures to distribute their own computers with Windows pre-installed.
Usage
Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.
On PC's desktops, laptops, servers and some phones.
Development and Distribution
Linux is developed by Open Source development i.e. through sharing and collaboration of code and features through forums etc and it is distributed by various vendors.
Windows is developed and distributed by Microsoft.
GUI
Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. But there are millions of alternatives such as LXDE, Xfce, Unity, Mate, twm, ect.
The Windows GUI is an integral component of the OS and is not replaceable. This can be a con when it comes to Windows8's Metro.
File system support
Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS
FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT
Text mode interface
BASH (Bourne Again SHell) is the Linux default shell. It can support multiple command interpreters.
Windows uses a command shell and each version of Windows has a single command interpreter with dos-like commands, recently there is the addition of the optional PowerShell that uses more Unix-like commands.
Price
Free but support is available for a price.
$50-$450
Security
Linux has had about60-100 viruses listed till date. None of them actively spreading nowadays.
According to Dr. Nic Peeling and Dr Julian Satchell's “Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software” there have been more than60,000 viruses in Windows. Anti Virus cost about $20 to $400
Threat detection and solution
In case of Linux, threat detection and solution is very fast, as Linux is mainly community driven and whenever any Linux user posts any kind of threat, several developers start working on it from different parts of the world
After detecting a major threat in Windows OS, Microsoft generally releases a patch that can fix the problem and it can take more than2/3 months. Sometimes sooner, Microsoft releases patches and updates weekly.
Processors
Dozens of different kinds.
Limited but most (80%)
Examples
Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, Debian, Archlinux, Android etc.
Windows8,8.1,7, Vista, XP
Gaming
Very few games available natively. Some games can be played through Wine, but often not all features are available.
Almost all games are compatible with Windows. Some CPU intensive and graphics intensive games are exclusive to Windows PC's.
User experience
Although there are many GUI applications, most of the work is done through Terminal (a console window), and if a problem arrises GUI is rarely usable to fix them.
Everything can be controlled through GUI and incompatibility problems are rare.
Graphics performance
Because hardware manufacturers, such as NVidia, often do not provide documentation for linux developers, drivers cannot use full card performance.
Combined with newest DirectX versions and full graphics card support the performance is almost as good as it can get.
Company / developer
Linus Torvalds
Microsoft
Introduction (from Wikipedia)
Linux is a Unix-like and POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released
Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November20,1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS.
Available language(s)
Multilingual
Multilingual
License
GNU/Free
Proprietary
Supported platforms
All
PowerPC: versions1.0 - NT4.0; DEC Alpha: versions1.0 - NT4.0; MIPS R4000: versions1.0 - NT4.0; IA-32: versions1.0 -8; IA-64: version XP; x86-64: versions XP -8; ARM: version RT;
Default user interface
Gnome or KDE (Depends on distro)
Graphical (Windows Aero)
Preceded by
Basic Terminal (CLI)
MS-DOS
Source model
Open Source
Closed / Shared source
Update method
Many
Windows Update
Terminal
Multi Terminal Windows
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Well I can probably also give you5 reasons that Windows is better than Linux as well. But I can defiantly give you5 why Linux is better than Windows. 1. FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE AND FREEER. You can't beat a free operating system that you can use for almost any application. Just think if you needed to install500 OSes you cans save tens of thousands of dollars right there. (need I say more). 2. Plenty of free applications are available for Linux. This is also true for windows but Linux thrives on these applications. From simple office tools to powerful database servers, Linux is the leading platform for FREE industry strength applications. 3. Security. From the ground up Linux is built to be a multi-user system where windows is a one user system. Only an administrator or someone with administrative rights can install windows applications. However in Linux most applications can install and FULLY run inside each normal user’s directory w/ no problems. So if they get something real nasty like a virus it only has privileges to attack that user’s account leaving the system in tact. That is just one security feature that Linux has that Windows does not. 4. It gives you the power to do anything. I am a software developer so at times I need the power to go into the guts of the system and flex my muscle if you will. At times this can be difficult in windows, but w/ Linux usually it is little if any trouble. 5. Networking abilities. Usually out of the box once you install a Linux OS, if you have the network cable hooked up, it automatically configures everything and you are on line. No running wizards to configure your internet connection. 6. I know you said five but here is six. Efficiency, I have known Linux to run on very old and very little hardware w/ no problem. You can not put windows xp on a386 w/32 meg of ram and expect very much. Actually Linux does not need much more than350 meg of ram for anything while windows needs Gigabytes at times. I have never heard of someone complaining that their Linux box is SLOW! Google, Ask Geeves, CNN and even Microsoft uses Linux to power their systems. These guys are not dumb.
Basm Allah Alrahman Alrahim
All Operating system are powerful [ when you how know to deal with them ]
with Linux you have a very strong program called sudo or su [superuser = administrator ] , Linux forcing you to be professional
With windows you can be the only administrator and give the restrictions you want to the rest of users
MAC is stronger commercial Linux with more non free powerful tools
