Linux vs Windows
When it comes to using computers, you might have heard about the different operating systems, that are available for the computers. Windows, Mac OS, and Linux are names of some operating systems, that a majority of people around the globe have been using.
In this article, we are going to have a look at some comparisons, related to the Windows Operating system, and the Linux Operating system. This might not bring us to the conclusion that which Operating system is the best, but surely, we can get a clearer idea, about these different Operating systems.
But before we directly move to the comparison, we would head on to know about some different things first, like what is an Operating system, what is Linux, and what is Windows, and then we would be able to move smoothly, through the comparisons.
Difference between Linux and Windows
So, what is an Operating system(in short) –
Whenever we use our computer, we can do different things on the computer, like playing songs, watching movies, playing games, printing something, storing some data on the hard drive, and much much more.
Have you ever wondered, how does this happen? Well, we have something, that helps with communication between we can say, the software, and the hardware, and that something is the Operating system.
Usually when the computer starts, what we do is just start the different applications that we need, and it happens so smoothly. But in the background, there is a lot going on. The operating system manages all the hardware resources associated with the computer system.
You can understand it something like this – there is a user, and the user communicates to the application, the application communicates to the operating system, and then the Operating system helps allocate the required hardware resources for the application.
What is Linux?
The obvious answer to the above question would be – “an Operating system”. Just like any other Operating system, Linux is also an Operating system. The thing is that it is an open-source operating system, which does mean that you can freely download some Linux distribution(or often called distros if you want to), and install it on your computer. You do not have to pay anything for this.
In fact, knowingly, or unknowingly, you probably are using Linux somehow, because in the phones, in the car, in the TV, in the refrigerators, Linux is everywhere. The very popular Android operating system is based on the Linux Operating system.
Linux was created by Linus Torvalds, around the 1990s, while he was a student at the University of Helsinki. It was created as a free, open-source version of the MINIX operating system.
What is Windows?
Hardly we can find someone who is not familiar at least the name of this Windows Operating system. Well, the window is an Operating system, developed by Microsoft. Very often when you buy a new Computer, most probably it comes with a Windows Operating system. In fact, the Microsoft Windows Operating system is the most dominating Operating system in the market for PCs.
Windows operating system is proprietary software, and you need to purchase it in order to use it.
Linux VS Windows – The comparison
| Linux | Windows |
| Linux is an open-source operating system. | Windows is not an open-source operating system |
| Linux is a free of cost operating system. | Windows is a commercial Operating system, and one needs to buy the license key. |
| In Linux, there are no drives, like C, D, E, etc. | In windows, for storing the files and folders, different drives are used, like C, D, E, etc. instead, there is a root directory, and then there are other files. |
| In Linux, naming files is case sensitive. | In Windows, naming files is case insensitive. Which means that we cannot have 2 files with same name in the same folder |
| In Linux, there are 3 types of users(regular, root or administrative, and Service users) | In windows, there are 4 types of users (Administrator, Standard, Child, and Guest) |
| In Linux, there are hundreds of Linux Distributions, or Distros, as a choice for using. | In windows, we have to choose from a few available versions of the operating systems. |
| Being open-source, the user has access to the source code of the kernel and can alter the code as per requirement. | In windows, only a selected group of people have access to the source code, and not all the users. |
| Linux is comparatively more secure | Windows is comparative less secure. |
| Linux is an open-source operating system, so the users are allowed to modify the software as per the requirement, it can be reused, and even the modified version can be sold. | In windows, the source code is not accessible to the users. So, the users cannot modify the software as per the requirement, and it requires a license to use the windows operating system. |
| When it comes to compatibility, Linux quite struggles here, because many of the widely used applications, are not available for Linux users straightaway. | Windows users can be certain, that almost any software will work, even if it is outdated. Windows has a great legacy support. |
| If in case you are stuck somewhere, or something goes wrong with your machine, and you are using the Linux Operating system, then you are limited to some companies and some online forums for help. At times, getting help from the forum is also not quite easy. | If in case you are stuck somewhere, or something goes wrong with your machine, and you are using Windows Operating System, then there are several ways to get the problem solved, with the help of experts. Microsoft itself offers chat and telephone support. Also, there are forums, which can help. Since the OS is also widely used, many technicians can also help with the problems. |
Conclusion –
Well, this was a brief comparison between the Linux Operating system, and the Windows Operating System. This may not bring us to the conclusion of which is the best Operating system out of the two, because both have some ups and some downs. The above comparison does not justify the best-operating systems but is a fair comparison between both the operating systems, Linux, and Windows. We hope that you might have understood the points of comparison.
FAQ About Linux vs Windows
Ans: Linux Operating system was created by Linus Torvalds.
Ans: Some of the very commonly used Linux distros are – Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Debian, Kali Linux, etc.
Ans: As of now, there are hundreds of Linux Distributions available to use.
Ans: There are many advantages if you are using the Windows Operating system like windows is easy to use, there is great support if something goes wrong, you get a lot of functionalities, and a lot of applications widely used all over the globe run on windows, and it is the most dominating operating system as of now.
Ans: The answer to this question completely depends on your requirements. If you are switching from the Windows operating system to Linux operating system, it would be quite overwhelming at first, because the way you use the computer now changes. But you can consider using an OS, which fits your requirements.
