Windows vs. Linux

You are currently watching this resource with the help of a browser and that browser is supported by an operating system. We all are familiar with the names of two operating systems Windows and Linux. Here is a slight comparison between the two. Of course there are merits and demerits for both the operating systems and it's your decision to choose the best.

Most of us think that Linux is more secure than Windows, is it true? Can Linux provide better security to the user's data? If the answer is yes then how it provides more security?

Before going to the features of Windows and Linux we can just have an overview of the both operating systems. Windows is the product of Microsoft and it is proprietary i.e., you can only use it and you don't have the rights to change or distribute it. Linux is the product of open source foundation. So you have the right to use, modify and distribute Linux versions. Many versions of Windows have been released by the Microsoft like Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Windows XP is the operating system which gained more popularity among the Windows family. Windows 7 is the latest edition of Windows from Microsoft. Linux also has many distributions like CentOS, Fedora, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu etc. We can find more Linux versions because any one has the permission to modify and distribute it. So if you know the shell scripting and kernel commands of Linux you can build your own operating system.

Now coming to the installation features both support graphical mode of installation. But you should be more careful while installing Linux in a system which already contains data. Windows installation is little bit easier than Linux installation but we get more advanced options in Linux during the installation time. User interface of both are good but windows is more comfortable to be used by a beginner. Linux is better to be useful for an advanced user. The Windows partitions like NTFS can be detected in Linux but Linux partitions like ext3 are not detected in Windows. The configuration of additional devices is easier in Windows than a Linux machine. Only one user can use Windows at a time but a Linux OS can be used by 7 different users at a time. In Linux we have got 6 virtual (non graphical) terminals and 1 graphical terminal.

Now coming to the security point of view, Windows is more vulnerable to remote attacks i.e., attacks through networks like internet. But we should provide more physical security to a Linux machine. When a hacker is possible to reach the Linux machine he can easily take the data from it. So Linux machines are mainly used as servers to protect data from remote attacks and they are stored in secured places called server room. Now considering the malware, spyware and virus infections Linux is more secure. It is because most of the viruses are written to be executed in Windows file systems and the files with extension .exe are difficult to execute in Linux.

The multimedia facilities in both operating systems are equal and many media players are available for both OS. Earlier it was difficult to get the Linux based software's but now both Windows and Linux based software's are equally available. Now when we consider stability of the OS, Linux is more stable. You may have an experience of crashing the whole explorer (My computer NOT RESPONDING) while inserting a CD with scratch. It is because every program in Windows is linked so if anything happens to main program the whole system crashes. But this problem is not with Linux and even if one terminal crashes we can use another terminal and continue our work.

So what's your decision, would you like to use Windows or Linux now?