Comparison of the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating system is a common topic of discussion among their users. Microsoft Windows is a series of Software Operating systems and Graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination Windows is the most prominent operating system released under a proprietary software license, whereas Linux is the most prominent operating system released under a free software license. Proprietary software is Computer software on which the producer has set restrictions on use private modification copying, or republishing. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks Free software or software libre is Software that can be used studied and modified without restriction and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified However, most Linux distribution sites also have proprietary components for their distribution available. ^[1] The two operating systems compete for user-base in the personal computer market as well as the server market, and are used in government offices, schools, business offices, homes, intranet and internet servers, supercomputers, and embedded systems. An embedded system is a special-purpose Computer system designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions often with Real-time computing constraints

Windows dominates in the desktop and personal computer markets with about 90% of the desktop market share, and in 2007 accounted for about 66% of all servers sold. Market dominance is a measure of the strength of a Brand, product, service, or firm, relative to competitive offerings A desktop computer is a Personal computer (PC in a form intended for regular use at a single location as opposed to a mobile Laptop or portable computer ^[2] In server revenue market share (2007Q4) Windows achieved 36. 3% and Linux achieved 12. 7%. ^[3] As of November 2007, Linux powered 85% of the world's most powerful supercomputers, compared to Windows' 1. A supercomputer is a Computer that is at the frontline of processing capacity particularly speed of calculation (at the time of its introduction 2% ^[4]. In February 2008, Linux powered five of the ten most reliable internet hosting companies, compared to Windows' two. ^[5]

Linux and Windows differ in philosophy, cost, ease of use, versatility, and stability, with each seeking to improve in their perceived weak areas. Comparisons of the two tend to reflect the origins, historic user base and distribution model of each. Typically, some major areas of perceived weaknesses regularly cited have included the poor “out-of-box” usability of the Linux desktop for the mass-market and poor system stability for Windows. Both are areas of rapid development in both fields.

Proponents of free software argue that the key strength of Linux is that it respects what they consider to be the users' essential freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study and change it, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. The free software community is an informal term referring to the users and developers of Free software as well as supporters of the Free software movement.

Difficulties in comparing Windows and Linux

Several factors can make it difficult to compare Windows and Linux.

• The term “Linux” can have different meanings. Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks In some cases, it refers only to the system kernel; whereas in many other cases, “Linux” refers to a complete graphical desktop Linux distribution. In Computer science, the kernel is the central component of most computer Operating systems (OS A Linux distribution (also called GNU/Linux by distributions such as Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Mandriva and
• Both come in different editions, each with different functionalities (e. g. Desktop, Server, Embedded, Multimedia Editions). Multimedia is media and content that utilizes a combination of different content forms. Linux, in particular, has a vast number of distributions, including many that are highly specialized for specific job tasks. There are also vastly differing versions of "Windows". One can say "Windows runs on old computers" (Windows 95), "Windows has modern multimedia capabilities" (Windows Vista) and "Windows is a server operating system" (Windows Server 2008), but whether questionable or not, these assertions don't necessarily apply to the same version of Windows, thus making it much more difficult to make a "Windows vs. Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented Graphical user interface -based Operating system. Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops Windows Server 2008 is the most recent release of Microsoft Windows ' server line of Operating systems Released to manufacturing on 4 February Linux" comparison.
• Price and support for both systems differ based on editions, distributors, and OEM products. ^[6]
• Major OEM vendors of new computers may also choose to bundle additional useful software in addition to the installed operating system. An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM is typically a company that uses a component made by a second company in its own product or sells the product of the second company Additionally, some OEMs receive payment from the vendors of this software, which they may use to reduce the overall price to the buyer.
• There are conflicting claims about each operating system from the marketing and research done on the topic.
• Microsoft sells copies of Windows under many different licenses (usually in a closed source fashion, but occasionally in different levels of shared source). Proprietary software is Computer software on which the producer has set restrictions on use private modification copying, or republishing. Shared Source is Microsoft 's framework for sharing Computer program Source code with third parties Likewise, most Linux distributions contain some proprietary software when necessary (for example for some device drivers). In computing a device driver or software driver is a Computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a Hardware device ^[1]

Total cost of ownership

See also: Studies related to Microsoft

In 2004, Microsoft launched a marketing campaign named "Get the Facts" to encourage users to switch from Linux to Windows Server System. There have been a number of studies related to Microsoft. They are always a source of great controversies since the studies are often funded by people or companies having a stake There have been a number of studies related to Microsoft. They are always a source of great controversies since the studies are often funded by people or companies having a stake Microsoft Servers (previously called Windows Server System) is a brand that encompasses a line of Microsoft server products ^[7] Microsoft claims that its products have an overall lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than open source programs because of their ease of use, resulting in less work and lower staff wages. Total cost of ownership (TCO is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs ^[8]

However, Microsoft's figures are disputed by a variety of organisations, notably Novell and The Register. Novell Inc ( is a global Software Corporation based in the United States specializing in enterprise operating systems such as SUSE The Register (" El Reg " to its staff and readers is a British technology news and opinion website ^[9] Some websites suggest that some common inaccuracies in Microsoft's figures stem from including figures for the Unix and Solaris operating systems with figures for Linux. Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix with Small caps) is a computer Solaris is a Unix -based Operating system introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992 as the successor to SunOS. ^[10]

In 2004, The UK Advertising Standards Authority warned Microsoft that an advertisement using research that claimed “Linux was […] 10 times more expensive than Windows Server 2003”, was “misleading”, as the hardware chosen for the Linux server was needlessly expensive. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ^[11]

Desktop

It is very difficult to properly gauge the number of Linux or Windows users as the former are mostly not required to register their copies; additionally, a large number of illegally copied Windows exist. The above desktop usage share data is estimated from web browser user agent strings, rather than sales information or surveys. A web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text images videos music games and other information typically located on a This is not entirely reliable because, among other things, web browsers do not always provide accurate information to web servers, and different sites attract different audiences that may be more prone to using one OS or another: such bias is very difficult to eliminate. (Of course, most servers are unlikely to be included in this measurement due to their traditional role as dedicated machines). More estimates are available at Usage share of desktop operating systems. This is a list of collections of statistics showing the usage share of the most popular desktop and notebook Operating systems The information is derived from web browser user agent

Both Windows and Linux include command line interpreters. In computing a shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users A command line interpreter, typically displayed in a system console, allows users to tell the computer to perform tasks ranging from the simple (for example, copying a file) to the complex (compiling and installing new software). The system console, root console or simply console is the text entry and display device for system administration messages particularly those from the BIOS The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of Documents and Data in files on a Computer. Shells are powerful but can be confusing to new users. Some complex tasks are more easily accomplished through shells than through a GUI, such as piping, or scripting. In Unix-like computer Operating systems a pipeline is the original software pipeline: a set of processes chained by their Standard "Scripting" redirects here For other uses see Script.

Installation

Linux distributions were said to be difficult for the average user to install. ^[29] Today, most distributions have simplified the installation and offer a “LiveDistro” system allowing users to boot fully functional Linux systems directly from a CD or DVD with the option of installing them on the hard drive. A live CD or live distro is a computer Operating system that is executed upon boot, without installation to a Hard disk drive.

The Windows install process, like most general-use Linux distributions, uses a wizard to guide users through the install process. A wizard is a User interface element where the user is presented with a sequence of dialog boxes.

Accessibility and usability

A study released in 2003 by Relevantive AG indicates that “The usability of Linux as a desktop system was judged to be nearly equal to Windows XP”. ^[30]

Stability

For an operating system to be subjectively “stable”, numerous components must operate synchronously. Not all of these components are under the control of OS vendor; while Linux and Windows kernels may be stable, poorly written applications and drivers can hamstring both. Much of stability, then, is the extent to which the operating system is structured to thwart the consequences of bad behavior by third party installations.

Much of the reputation Windows has for instability can be traced to Windows 95, 98, and ME, which were notorious for displaying the blue screen of death (BSOD) upon crashing. The Blue Screen of Death (also known as a stop error, BSoD, bluescreen, or Blue Screen of Doom) is an Error screen displayed Three weaknesses with these particular Windows versions increased the likelihood such a crash would occur:

• Full 16-bit compatibility. When memory management of the DOS subsystem failed, it would often prompt a BSOD. Windows NT has no true 16-bit support; it emulates it in a virtual sandbox. The 64 bit versions even lack this emulation.
• Direct hardware access. Unlike Windows NT, Windows 9x had no hardware abstraction layer. A program or driver that attempted to access protected memory, or interfaced poorly with the hardware, could cause a BSOD.
• Poor DLL management. Dynamic-link library (also written without the hyphen or DLL, is Microsoft 's implementation of the Shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows DLLs are external libraries of functions that prevent unnecessary repetition in a program. Windows 9x had no protections on system DLLs, and poorly written programs would often overwrite them at will with incorrect versions. Over time, the general stability of the system would decrease. Windows 2000 and later versions have a routine called Windows File Protection that prevents the replacement of important system files.

These are not the exclusive causes of instability, but their correction in the Windows NT codebase has dramatically improved the stability of all subsequent Windows variants: Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista.

Performance

Support

Programs

Linux distributions come with a great deal of software which can be installed for free, with an especially large collection of computer programming software. ^[55] Debian comes with more than 18,000 software packages. Debian ( pronounced) is a computer Operating system composed entirely of Free and open source software. ^[56]

Microsoft has had a longstanding emphasis on backwards compatibility. ^[57] In general, the Windows API is consistent over time; programs designed for earlier versions of Windows often run without issues on later versions. The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft's core set of Application programming interfaces (APIs available in the Microsoft Windows Operating For the sake of progress, however, Microsoft sometimes draws a line precluding support of very old programs. That first happened with Windows 95, where some purely 16 bit Windows 3. 1 applications would not work, and again with Windows XP, where certain mixed-bit applications would not work. 64-bit versions of Windows (XP-64 and Vista-64) drop 16-bit support completely. However, 16 bit emulation and the enormous array of application-specific tweaks (“shims”) within new Windows versions^[58] ensure that compatibility with old applications remains very high. ^[59]

Gaming

A major attraction of Windows is the library of games available for purchase. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The majority of current major games natively support Windows and are released first for the Windows platform.

Some of these games can be run on Linux with a compatibility layer like Wine or Cedega. A compatibility layer is a term that refers to components that allow for non-native support of components Wine is a free Software application which aims to allow Unix-like computer Operating systems on the X86 architecture to execute Cedega (formerly known as WineX) is TransGaming Technologies ' proprietary fork of Wine (from when the license of Wine Others, and especially more modern games that rely on proprietary delivery systems, copy protection, Windows dependencies, or advanced acceleration features, may fail. Moreover, those that run usually have quirks that are not present on the Windows platform. Games differ from running slightly better performance than they have in Windows, to a 25% or worse performance cut, depending on the game. ^[60]

There are notable exceptions, such as id Software's Doom and Quake series. id Software (ɪd officially is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Doom (officially cased DOOM) is a 1993 Computer game by Id Software that is a landmark title in the First-person shooter The Quake series is a line of First person shooter Computer and video games produced by Id Software. When a developer chooses to write graphics code in OpenGL instead of DirectX, Linux ports become much easier.

Recently, virtual machines such as VMware Workstation 5. In Computer science, a virtual machine (VM is a Software implementation of a machine (computer that executes programs like a real machine VMware Inc ( is a Software developer and a global leader in the Virtualization market 0 have added support for accelerated 3D graphics. This provides much higher framerates at no performance cost.

There are also numerous Open Source games designed first for Linux. ^[61] While most of these are small games like Kolf or Pingus, there are also bigger games, such as Nexuiz and Freeciv. Kolf is a Miniature golf game for KDE, that was developed by Jason Katz-Brown in 2002. Pingus is a free computer game inspired by Lemmings and created by Ingo Ruhnke. Nexuiz is a First-person shooter by Alientrap Software. It is a Free game: source code is Free software and data is Free Freeciv is a multiplayer Turn-based strategy game for Workstations and Personal computers inspired by the commercial proprietary Many have been ported to work on Windows as well. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created

Security

To determine what constitutes secure software, working backwards from insecurity is illuminative. The ideal software to encourage the creation of malware has several characteristics. It should be:

• Widely used, to maximize the number of those who could be infected, and the likelihood that infected systems will contact others able to be infected
• Slowly patched, to maximize the time the malware remains effective, and minimize development effort for new malware
• Monolithic with no compartmentalization of components, to maximize the damage malware can do

To discourage the creation of malware and reduce its impact, software should therefore have a small user base, rapid updates to neutralize new threats, and a compartmentalized structure that isolates damaged sections.

Compartmentalization is achieved by separating user and root privileges. Prior to Windows Vista, almost all Windows users were given a root account by default because lesser accounts were overly restrictive for most users. Linux user account tiers have historically allowed greater control, precluding the need for all users to have root access. Without root, it becomes much more difficult for malware to spread.

Permissions

Both Windows NT-based systems and Linux support permissions on their filesystems, except for FAT which has no permission support. Windows NT is a family of Operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993 Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks In Computing, a file system (often also written as filesystem) is a method for storing and organizing Computer files and the data they contain to make Templateinfobox filesystem whilst covering all 3 file systems please make any style changes to both at the same time

Linux and Unix-like systems

File system permissions on a Linux system running GNOME. Most modern File systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users Linux (commonly pronounced ˈlɪnəks A gnome is a Mythical creature characterized by its extremely small size and subterranean lifestyle

Linux—and Unix-like systems in general—have a “user, group, other” approach to filesystem permissions at a minimum. A Unix-like (sometimes shortened to *nix) Operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system while not necessarily conforming ^[72] Access Control Lists are available on some filesystems, which extends the traditional Unix-like permissions system. In Computer security, an access control list ( ACL) is a list of permissions attached to an object Security patches like SELinux and PaX add Role-Based Access Controls, which add even finer-grained controls over which users and programs can access certain resources or perform certain operations. Security-Enhanced Linux ( SELinux) is a Linux feature that provides a variety of security policies including U In Computer security, PaX is a patch for the Linux kernel that implements least privilege protections for Memory pages The least-privilege In computer systems security role-based access control ( RBAC) is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users Some distributions, such as Fedora, CentOS, and Red Hat use SELinux out of the box, although most do not. The Fedora Operating system is an RPM -based general purpose Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored CentOS is a freely-available Operating system that is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution produced by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market including mainframes. ^[73]

Most Linux distributions provide different user accounts for the various daemons. In Unix and other computer multitasking Operating systems a daemon (ˈdiːmən or /ˈdeɪmən/ is a Computer program that runs in the background ^[74] In common practice, user applications are run on unprivileged accounts, to provide least user access. In Information security, Computer science, and other fields the principle of least privilege, also known as the principle of minimal privilege or just In some distributions, administrative tasks can only be performed through explicit switching from the user account to the root account, using tools such as su and sudo. On many computer Operating systems the superuser, or root, is a special User account used for System administration. su ( substitute user or switch user) is a Unix command used to run the shell of another user without logging out The sudo ( super user do; officially ˈsuːduː though /ˈsuːdoʊ/ is also common command is a program for Unix-like computer Operating systems

Windows

File system permissions on a Windows Vista system. Most modern File systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops

Windows NT uses NTFS-based Access Control Lists to administer permissions, using tokens. NTFS (New Technology File System Is the standard File system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows In Computer security, an access control list ( ACL) is a list of permissions attached to an object In Microsoft Windows Operating systems an access token contains the security information for a Login session and identifies the User, the user's ^[75]

On Windows XP and prior versions, most home users still ran all of their software with Administrator accounts, as this is the default setup upon installation. Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and On many computer Operating systems the superuser, or root, is a special User account used for System administration. The existence of software that would not run under limited accounts and the cumbersome runas mechanism forced many users to use administrative accounts. This gives users full read and write access to all files on the filesystem. A computer file is a block of Arbitrary Information, or resource for storing information which is available to a Computer program and is usually

Windows Vista changes this^[76] by introducing a privilege elevation system called User Account Control that works on the principle of Least user access. Windows Vista (ˈvɪstə is a line of Operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and business desktops User Account Control ( UAC) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft 's Windows Vista Operating system. In Information security, Computer science, and other fields the principle of least privilege, also known as the principle of minimal privilege or just When logging in as a standard user, a logon session is created and a token containing only the most basic privileges is assigned. In Microsoft Windows Operating systems an access token contains the security information for a Login session and identifies the User, the user's In this way, the new logon session is incapable of making changes that would affect the entire system. When logging in as a user in the Administrators group, two separate tokens are assigned. The first token contains all privileges typically awarded to an administrator, and the second is a restricted token similar to what a standard user would receive. User applications, including the Windows Shell, are then started with the restricted token, resulting in a reduced privilege environment even under an Administrator account. In Computing, Windows Shell is the most visible aspect of the Microsoft Windows line of Operating systems The shell is the container inside of which the When an application requests higher privileges or "Run as administrator" is clicked, UAC will prompt for confirmation and, if consent is given, start the process using the unrestricted token. ^[77]

For more information on the differences between the Linux su/sudo approach and Vista's User Account Control, see Comparison of privilege authorization features. su ( substitute user or switch user) is a Unix command used to run the shell of another user without logging out The sudo ( super user do; officially ˈsuːduː though /ˈsuːdoʊ/ is also common command is a program for Unix-like computer Operating systems User Account Control ( UAC) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft 's Windows Vista Operating system. A number of computer Operating systems employ security features to help prevent Malicious software from gaining sufficient privileges to compromise the computer system

Localization

It is easy to have multiple languages installed in Linux and to switch between them while the user is logging in. Almost all applications will communicate with the user in the selected language, because they can detect it from the environmental variable LANG. In MS Windows, localization can be provided by a separate installation of the operating system, or the Multilingual User Interface (MUI) can be used to provide multiple languages on one installation. Multilingual User Interface ( MUI) is the name of a Microsoft technology for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and other applications that Multilingual User Interface ( MUI) is the name of a Microsoft technology for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and other applications that

See also

• Comparison of open source and closed source
• Comparison of operating systems
• Comparison of computer shells

References