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SNHU - IT-340 Network and Telecommunication Management
Written by: Chris Bell - September, 2013

Windows VS Linux Operating Systems Compared

As Linux continues to grow the evidence that it's superior to Windows does as well. I found it very difficult to find websites, or even discussions, that talk about how Windows is better than Linux. First and foremost, Linux software is free of charge while Windows charges quite a bit for each desktop to have it available to them. Linux was developed much later than Windows and had the multi-user concept in mind rather than the home desktop computer. It seems that more and more people are asking the question; why pay for Windows when you can get better software for free?

Everyone likes to get things for free but not many people like change. I believe that's the reason for the very slow switch nationwide from Windows to Linux. According to www.netmarketshare.com Linux had 1% of the market in 2010 and now has 1.52% in 2013 which is a 35% increase but still a very small piece of the pie. After reading multiple sources for this paper I believe Linux will get up to 5% in the next few years because they appear to have the better product but they're still missing a quality brand name. Likewise, equivalent tablets had a very hard time competing with the Apple iPad because of the superior marketing done by Apple. Microsoft has a very trustworthy name that has been around for many years which is hard for people and businesses to just toss to the side, even for something that is possibly superior and most definitely free.

Linux was developed as a multi-user operating system putting more control in the hands of the administrator than the user. The user is said to have less ability to "hide" a document because its setup more like a network with and Admin and multiple users than software on a single desktop. With a more knowledgeable administrator in control of the company desktops errors are caught quicker, processing speeds are quicker and each employee will get more work done as a result. Both www.pcworld.com and www.pcauthority.com state that speeds are quicker on Linux than that of Windows. PC World compared server speeds and found that there were a lot of "extras" due to numerous years of upgrades that limit speed when using Windows. Linux has a less cluttered approach to getting the job done quicker without the fanciness. PC Authority did a gaming speed test and found that Windows came in at 270 frames per second while Linux reached 315 frames per second.

This situation between Microsoft and Linux is very similar to the comparison between Microsoft Office VS Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets. Google offers open source "Word" and "Excel" type documents for free but still get very little of the market share compared to costly Microsoft programs.

More comments in my readings mention that Linux doesn't have to restart after downloading new software, Linux handles more commands at a faster rate than Windows, Linux doesn't require as many upgrades, Linux is open source and completely free. It seems like the only positives that Windows has over Linux is branding, years of existence and over 50% of the market share in 2013 (www.netmarketshare.com.) Linux will get more popular as they prove the quality their software and more businesses start using it.