Ten key differences between Linux and Windows

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Jack Wallen

Published: 03 Sep 2008 16:04 BST

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…either a Linux paid support contract or a Microsoft paid support contract, I can't say one was more pleased than the other. This raises the question: 'Why do so many say Microsoft support is superior to Linux paid support?'

4. Full vs partial hardware support
One issue that is slowly becoming nonexistent is hardware support.

Years ago, if you wanted to install Linux on a machine you had to make sure you hand-picked each piece of hardware or your installation would not work 100 percent. I can remember, back in 1997-ish, trying to figure out why I couldn't get Caldera Linux or Red Hat Linux to see my modem.

After much looking around, I found I was the proud owner of a Winmodem. So I had to go out and purchase a US Robotics external modem because that was the one modem I knew would work.

This is not so much the case now. You can grab a PC (or laptop) and most likely get one or more Linux distributions to install and work nearly 100 percent. But there are still some exceptions; for instance, hibernate/suspend remains a problem with many laptops, although it has come a long way.

With Windows, you know that pretty much every piece of hardware will work with the operating system. Of course, there are times (and I have experienced this over and over) when you will wind up spending much of the day searching for the correct drivers for that piece of hardware you no longer have the install disk for.

But you can go out and buy a cheap Ethernet card and know it will work on your machine (as long as you have, or can find, the drivers).

You also can rest assured that when you purchase that insanely powerful graphics card, you will probably be able to take full advantage of its power.

5. Command line vs no command line
No matter how far the Linux operating system has come and how amazing the desktop environment becomes, the command line will always be an invaluable tool for administration purposes. Nothing will ever replace my favourite text-based editor, ssh, and any given command-line tool. I can't imagine administering a Linux machine without the command line.

But for the end user, this is not necessarily the case. You could use a Linux machine for years and never touch the command line. Same with Windows. You can still use the command line with Windows, but not nearly to the extent as with Linux. And Microsoft tends to obfuscate the command prompt from users. Without going to Run and entering cmd (or command, or whichever it is these days), the user won't even know the command-line tool exists. And if a user does get the Windows command line up and running, how useful is it really?

6. Centralised vs non-centralised application installation
With Linux you have (with nearly every distribution) a centralised location where you can search for, add or remove software. I'm talking about package management systems, such as Synaptic. With Synaptic, you can open up one tool, search for an application (or group of applications), and install that application without having to do any web searching (or purchasing). Windows has nothing like this. With Windows, you must know where to find the software you want to install, download the software (or put the CD into your machine), and run setup.exe or install.exe with a simple double-click. For many years, it was thought that installing applications on Windows was far easier than on Linux. And for many years, that thought was right on target. Not so much now. Installation under Linux is simple, painless and centralised.

7. Flexibility vs rigidity
I always compare Linux (especially the desktop) and Windows to a room where the floor and ceiling are either movable or not. With Linux, you have a room where the floor and ceiling can be raised or lowered, at will, as high or low as you want to make them. With Windows, that floor and ceiling are immovable. You can't go further than Microsoft has deemed it necessary to go. Take, for instance, the desktop. Unless you are willing to pay for and install a third-party application that can alter the desktop appearance, with Windows you are stuck with what Microsoft has declared…

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