Windows Vs Linux
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Windows v/s Linux Basic points of comparison TTooppiic LLiinnuux WWiinnddoowwss Price The majority of Linux variants are Microsoft Windows can run between available for free or at a much lower $50.00 - $150.00 US dollars per each price than Microsoft Windows. license copy. Ease Although the majority Linux variants Microsoft has made several advancements have improved dramatically in ease of and changes that have made it a much use, Windows is still much easier to easier to use operating system, and use for new computer users. although arguably it may not be the easiest operating system, it is still Easier than Linux. Reliability The majority of Linux variants and Although Microsoft Windows has made versions are notoriously reliable and great improvements in reliability over the can often run for months and years last few versions of Windows, it still without needing to be rebooted. cannot match the reliability of Linux. Software Linux has a large variety of Because of the large amount of Microsoft available software programs, utilities, Windows users, there is a much larger and games. However, Windows has a selection of available software programs, much larger selection of available utilities, and games for Windows. software. Software Cost Many of the Although Windows does available software programs, utilities, have software programs, utilities, and and games available on Linux games for free, the majority of the are freeware and/or open source. Even programs will cost anywhere between such complex programs such as $20.00 - $200.00+ US dollars per copy. Gimp,, OpenOffice, StarOffice, etc are available for free or at a low cost. Hardware Linux companies Because of the amount of Microsoft and hardware manufacturers have Windows users and the broader driver made great advancements in hardware support, Windows has a much larger support for Linux and today Linux support for hardware devices and a good will support most hardware devices. majority of hardware manufacturers will However, many companies still do not support their products in Microsoft offer drivers or support for their Windows. hardware in Linux. Security Linux is and has always been a very Although Microsoft has made great secure operating system. Although it improvements over the years with security still can be attacked when compared on their operating system, their operating to Windows, it much more secure. system continues to be the most vulnerable to viruses and other attacks. Open Source Many of the Linux variants and many Microsoft Windows is not open source and Linux programs are open source and the majority of Windows programs are not enable users to customize or modify open source. the code however they wish to. Support Although it may be more difficult to Microsoft Windows includes its own help find users familiar with all Linux section, has vast amount of available online variants, there are vast amounts of documentation and help, as well as books available online documentation and on each of the versions of Windows. help, available books, and support available for Linux. 1] Worldwide usage Windows Linux Estimated Desktop Usage 92.00% 1.02% Share Pre-installation Pre-installed by default on almost Pre-installed by default on very few all new desktop PCs new desktop PCs. However, Ubuntu is now available on all System76 computers, some Dell Computers, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop on some Lenovo ThinkPads. Recently many more Linux-based low-end consumer laptops have been introduced. Server revenuemarket share 7.3% 33.8% Top 500 Supercomputer 1.0% (absolute 5) 88.6% (absolute 443), the 14 fastest operating system family supercomputers run Linux share 2] User interface Windows Linux Graphical user The Windows Shell. The window manager interface is the Desktop Window Manager on Windows Vista, and a Stacking window manager built on top of GDI(Graphics Device Interface) in older versions. The desktop environment may be modified by a variety of third party products such as WindowBlinds; or completely replaced, The KDE Plasma Desktop for example by Blackbox for Windows, A number of desktop environments are or LiteStep. With Windows Server 2008 and available, of which GNOME and KDE are later, there is also the option of running the most widely used. By default, they use "Server Core" which replaces the standard as their window window manager with the command managers Metacity and KWinrespectively, prompt. The graphics drivers, subsystem, though these can be replaced by other and core widgets are included with all window managers such as Compiz Fusion. installations, including those used as Other desktop environments and window servers. managers includeXfce, LXDE, Enlightenment, Xmona d, Openbox, Fluxbox, etc. The X Window system runs in user-space and is optional. Multiple X Window system instances can run at once, and it is a fully networked protocol.. Command-line interface A sample Windows PowerShell session A sample Bash (Bourne-again shell .) session The Command Prompt exists to provide Linux is strongly integrated with the system direct communication between the user and console. The command line can be used to the operating system. A .NET-based recover the system if the graphics subsystem command line environment called Windows fails. A large number of Unix shells exist; PowerShell has been developed. It varies with the majority being "Bourne shell from Unix/Linux shells in that, rather than compatible" shells, of which the most using byte streams, the PowerShell pipeline widely used is GNU Bash. Alternatives is an object pipeline; that is, the data passed include the feature-full Z shell; as well as between cmdlets are fully typedobjects. shells based on the syntax of other When data is piped as objects, the elements programming languages, such as the C shell, they encapsulate retain their structure and and Perl Shell. Many applications can be types across cmdlets, without the need for scripted through the system console, there any serialization or explicit parsing of the are a lot of small and specialized stream. utilities meant to work together and to integrate with other programs. This is called the toolbox principle. 3] Accessibility and usability Windows Linux User Focus Mostly consistent. Inconsistencies The quality of graphical design varies between appear primarily through backports desktop environments and distributions. The —software ported from newer two biggest desktop environments operating systems to older ones. For (GNOME and KDE) have clearly defined example, software ported from interface guidelines, which tend to be followed Vista to XP must follow the Vista consistently and clearly. These provide guidelines, those of the newer consistency and a high grade of system (IE7 and Windows Media customizability in order to adapt to the needs Player 11 are examples of this). of the user. Distributions such However, Microsoft continually as Ubuntu, SuSE, Fedora or Mandriva take pushes for consistency between this one step further, combining well- releases with guidelines for functioning usability and safety. However, interface design. The latest are inconsistencies may appear, since GNOME- Windows Vista User Experience based programs, following different guidelines. Their focus is on guidelines, look notably different consistency and usability, but with from KDE programs. There are other increased concern for safety in new environments/window managers, usually versions. Third-party applications targeting professionals or minimalist users, may or may not follow these featuring some very powerful programs with guidelines, may have their own rudimentary, minimalist graphical front-ends, guidelines, or may not follow any focusing much more on performance, small rules for interface design. size and safety. WindowMaker and the Fluxbox/Openbox/Blackbox environments are such examples. Some other environments fit between the two models, giving both power, eye candy and simplicity (Enlightenment/E17, Xfce). Consistency between User interaction with software is Consistency ranges from high to poor between versions usually consistent between versions, distributions, versions, window releases, and editions. managers/desktop environments, and programs. Software is generally highly user- customizable, and the user may keep the customizations between versions. Consistency between All Microsoft software follows the Highly consistent within KDE and GNOME. applications same guidelines for GUI, although However the vast amount of additional not all software developed for software that comes with a distribution is Windows by third parties follows sourced from elsewhere; it may not follow the these GUI guidelines. As stated same GUI guidelines or it may cause above, backports tend to follow the inconsistencies (e.g. different look and feel guidelines from the newer operating between programs built with different widget system. toolkits). Customization By default, Windows only offers Linux offers dozens of different user interfaces customization of size and color of to choose from through numerous desktop the graphical elements, and it is environments and window managers. Different typically not possible to change environment offers various levels of how the interface reacts to user customizability, ranging from the basic colors input. and size to extreme customizability of user A few third-party programs allow input, actions, and display. some more extensive customization, It is possible to switch from one to another like WindowBlinds or LiteStep, but interface at any time, though graphic radical changes are usually out of applications will generally need to be closed. reach. It is not possible to customize the applications that do not use the default look-and-feel beyond the options the specific application offers. 4] Performance Windows Linux Process Scheduling NT-based versions of Windows use a CPU Linux kernel 2.6 once used a scheduler based on a multilevel feedback scheduling algorithm favoring queue, with 32 priority levels defined. The interactive processes. Here kernel may change the priority level of a "interactive" is defined as a thread depending on its I/O and CPU usage process that has short bursts of and whether it is interactive (i.e.