Users who are considering making a change from Windows to Linux or Linux to Windows commonly want to know the advantages and disadvantages of each of the operating systems. Below is a chart to help illustrate the major advantages and disadvantages of each of these operating systems.
| Topic | Linux | Windows |
| Price | The majority of Linux variants are available for free or at a much lower price than Microsoft Windows. | Microsoft Windows can run between $50.00 – $150.00 US dollars per each license copy. |
| Ease | Although the majority Linux variants have improved dramatically in ease of use, Windows is still much easier to use for new computer users. | Microsoft has made several advancements and changes that have made it a much easier to use operating system, and although arguably it may not be the easiest operating system, it is still Easier than Linux. |
| Reliability | The majority of Linux variants and versions are notoriously reliable and can often run for months and years without needing to be rebooted. |
Although Microsoft Windows has made great improvements in reliability over the last few versions of Windows, it still cannot match the reliability of Linux. |
| Software | Linux has a large variety of available software programs, utilities, and games. However, Windows has a much larger selection of available software. | Because of the large amount of Microsoft Windows users, there is a much larger selection of available software programs, utilities, and games for Windows. |
| Software Cost | Many of the available software programs, utilities, and games available on Linux are freeware and/or open source. Even such complex programs such as Gimp, OpenOffice, StarOffice, and wine are available for free or at a low cost. |
Although Windows does have software programs, utilities, and games for free, the majority of the programs will cost anywhere between $20.00 – $200.00+ US dollars per copy. |
| Hardware | Linux companies and hardware manufacturers have made great advancements in hardware support for Linux and today Linux will support most hardware devices. However, many companies still do not offer drivers or support for their hardware in Linux. | Because of the amount of Microsoft Windows users and the broader driver support, Windows has a much larger support for hardware devices and a good majority of hardware manufacturers will support their products in Microsoft Windows. |
| Security | Linux is and has always been a very secure operating system. Although it still can be attacked when compared to Windows, it much more secure. | Although Microsoft has made great improvements over the years with security on their operating system, their operating system continues to be the most vulnerable to viruses and other attacks. |
| Open Source | Many of the Linux variants and many Linux programs are open source and enable users to customize or modify the code however they wish to. | Microsoft Windows is not open source and the majority of Windows programs are not open source. |
| Support | Although it may be more difficult to find users familiar with all Linux variants, there are vast amounts of available online documentation and help, available books, and support available for Linux. | Microsoft Windows includes its own help section, has vast amount of available online documentation and help, as well as books on each of the versions of Windows. |
I agree with most of what is said here.. BUT…
You assertion that Windows is much easier to use than Linux is simply false.
I have sat many people down in front of a Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 & Ubuntu 9.10) machine and they have in fact found it much easier to use than Windows.
If you want to install a new program, generally it is already available in the built in software centre that comes with Ubuntu, so you just select and click. It does not get any easier than that.
Also on the driver front.. I think you miss the point on that a little. Part of the reason there are not so many drivers available for Linux is that Linux does not need special drivers for each piece of hardware like windows does. Windows has got better at it now than it used to be.. I used to be a real nightmare with windows drivers, but you still do get conflicts and bugs with the windows stuff and quite often that will mean a long wait for a fix. There is generally always someone to help you with any Linux issue you might come across.
I would agree that there is more software available for Windows.. but really how many of the same thing do you really need.. 1 is the answer.. You don’t need 10 or 20 or even 500 different versions of the same thing for it to work.
You should have also mentioned that Linux is not just more reliable, but that it stays that way.. Windows can start off ok after a fresh install, but just keeps getting slower and slower for various reasons, and will generally need a complete wipe and install to fix is every so often. Linux boots very fast, run fast and just stays that way.. It does not slow down over time.
Here’s an interesting little comparison tidbit. On the same 2gb memory machine.. I had windows installed and then Linux.. so Dual boot at that stage.
When I start windows with nothing running it uses over 60% of ram.
When I start Linux (Ubuntu) it uses about 21%.. (hell it is only using 23% now and I have a browser with 17 tabs open, A spreadsheet open, My email program (which has calendar, notes, tasks) and a file browser, along with a bunch of utilities and widgets running.
Man am I a convert or what? Yes I am actually. Happy to be.