A Comparison of Linux vs. Windows

Bhargav A. SorathiyaB.E. 4th C.E.Roll no:6456

What is an Operating System?An operating system (OS) is a program that allows you to interact with the computer -- all of the software and hardware on your computer.

LINUX

Linux was created by Linus Torvalds (hence, the name) in Helsinki, Finland. He was in his early years of university studies in Computer Science, when he created this operating system.

However, Linux truly began from the inspiration of a brilliant man:

Richard Stallman

Who is Richard Stallman? Founder of the Free Software Foundation in 1985, for the GNU Project.

Wrote the free software license called the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL).

His goal was to provide an alternative to proprietary software.

Linux DistributionsCorel LinuxDebian GNU/LinuxOpenLinux (Caldera)Red HatSlackwareSuSETurboLinux

Companies that run Linux servers include…

Visit www.sourceforge.net for a comprehensive list of open source projects and participants.

WINDOWS

Windows Windows is closed source & proprietary OS. Windows OS are owned by Microsoft. Bill Gates is owner of Microsoft.

Copyright © 2003, Gartner

Windows

HP-UX

OtherOS/400

zOS & OS/390

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OS Market

$ in Billions

NetWare

Other Unix

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Server Market Share Trends

Linux vs. Windows

Linux Windows

Linux has different versions, depending on which vendor develops and runs it. Linux vendors include: Linspire, Red Hat, SuSE, Ubuntu, Mandriva, Knoppix, Slackware, Caldera, Debian

Windows has different versions. It started with Win3.x, Win9x, WinME, WinNT, Win2000, WinXP. It is a proprietary software produced by Microsoft.

Cost

Linux Windows

MSRP for most Linux distributions is $free.

For server editions, no access licenses are required.

However, most of the time support is not free and must be paid for.

MSRP for Windows Vista Home Basic is $199.95

MSRP for Windows Server 08 Std is $999 for five access licenses. Additional access licenses are $199 for 5.

Hardware

Linux Windows

Linux can run on practically any hardware setup, including different processor architectures.. The kernel can be recompiled as necessary by the user to fit the specific hardware setup

Windows, on the other hand, is not nearly as flexible, and typically requires a beefier hardware setup in both processing power and memory. The kernel cannot be recompiled by the end user, although some features can be added or removed to suit the hardware.

Software

Linux Windows

A large majority of Linux software is free and open-source, which means that the source code is readily available for download. This enables users to update or rewrite software as necessary to suit specific needs, and often times speeds up the discovery and fixing of software bugs.

Most Windows software, on the other hand, is mostly closed source and/or commercial software. In this case, users are at the mercy of software vendors for the fixing of bugs or updating programs.

OS stability

Linux Windows

When properly configured, Linux will run until the hardware fails or if the system is shut down. Linux claims that it may continuously run up to more than a year without freezing or shutting down. It is not as prone to bugs and viruses as most are geared towards Windows.

It is known to crash easily, and be infected by bugs and viruses.

SecurityLinux Windows

Linux is considered to be considered more secure for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the biggest is the ability of the kernel to be configured as necessary, removing all unneeded features and functions from a system. Additionally, since it is open-source, security bugs can be discovered much quicker and fixed much quicker, since anyone can do it. There are also not nearly as many viruses for Linux, since it’s market share is not considered big enough to be worth the time of developing one for many.

Windows, on the other hand, is not as flexible in this aspect, and often users have to wait for Microsoft to fix major flaws in the operating system. It is also hard to fully disable features that are not needed, since they often times cannot be fully removed. Since it’s market share is also so large, the majority of viruses are written to exploit flaws in Windows.

File System support

Linux WindowsLinux supports a wide variety of file systems, including FAT, NTFS, ext/3/4, ReiserFS, XFS, JFS, and many others.

Adding support for new ones is as easy as a kernel recompile

Windows supports the FAT and NTFS file systems.

Some ability to expand support via new drivers

Operating Differences

Linux Windows Linux is considered a Multi-User, Multi-Tasking OS.

It allows multiple different users to perform tasks simultaneously, and ensures they do not interfere with each other.

Windows is considered a Single-User, Multi-Tasking OS.

It enables one user to perform multiple tasks at once, but does not allow multiple different users.

Common Uses of LinuxLinux has many uses in the world of

computers today.It is used in many applications from tiny

embedded systems to supercomputers.Popular for netbooks and servers due to

it’s small footprint and being highly configurable.

Also used as a low-cost alternative in many desktop machines.

FeaturesMost of the distinguishing features between the

two systems have already been covered, but a quick recap:

Linux is generally a more powerful system, with fewer requirements. It is highly configurable, flexible, and extremely low cost. However, it is typically more time-consuming and difficult to set up and maintain a Linux system.

Windows is less powerful in some aspects and has higher hardware requirements. It is also configurable and flexible, but not nearly as much, and costs quite a bit more. However, Windows systems are generally quite easy to set up and maintain.

LinuxLinux was originally built by Linus Torvalds

at the University of Helsinki in 1991. Linux is a Unix-like, Kernal-based, fully

memory-protected, multitasking operating system

It runs on a wide range of hardware .

WindowsFirst version of Windows – Windows 3.1

released in 1992 by Microsoft.Windows is a GUI based operating system It has powerful networking capabilities, is

multitasking, and extremely user friendly

ReliabilityOS it must not crash, even under extreme

loads. OS should process requests even if the operating system or hardware fails

Windows seems to be less stable even though the versions of Windows – 2000 and XP are far more improved than the incredibly buggy Windows 95

ConclusionNot enough test benchmarks for Linux to

compare it to WindowsLinux technology is used wider ( example php

scripts ), and software is ported to Linux more often.

User should be comfortable with the OS

Thank you Friends