WINDOWS or LINUX

[sheiksoft]

Just to find hows my favourite OS is good....

I will go with the first one only...

[Zxian]

I'd have to say for the common end user, Windows is much better. Easier to pick up on how to use, better UI, and easier to find how-tos for new users.

Linux has its advantages for web servers though. At the University of British Columbia, my department is running a Debian Linux web server (of which I'm the admin aka SuperUser!). It's had an uptime of about a year and a half so far and it's still running rock solid. The fact that it's free is also an advantage for us.

[bullet]

You can always find hardware drivers for Windows fairly easily. That sometimes becomes a real challenge with Linux. Also application dependency is aggravating with some Linux flavors. I know RedHat has the getApp which makes it easier.

[EchoNoise]

seriously... people are going to put winblows becuase of the fact that most people are scared when a form of unix is mentioned...

i went to linux about 6 years ago on my main workstation, and i haven't turned back... whenever i want to play games, i play games on my windows box.. simple as that, i run FC3 as my linux distribution, and i have only turned it off in storms, or power outages cause it to go off...

its stable, its clean, its fast, its...... you name it... sure it may not have the greatest gaming support, its getting there, and some games are even native to linux (ut2k4, doom3, q3) and loads more, even dos games using dosbox !...

You can always find hardware drivers for Windows fairly easily.  That sometimes becomes a real challenge with Linux.  Also application dependency is aggravating with some Linux flavors.  I know RedHat has the getApp which makes it easier.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yes, it is easy to find drivers for windows, but linux has a broader hardware compatibility base, if you can't find a driver on linux, develop it, or get somebody else to develop it for you... if you can't develop it, try using a compatible device driver that suits it closer. Application dependency shouldn't be a worry if you using apt, or synaptic

But... windows has its perks too, the fact that yes, its easily customed to suit per user needs, and yes most programs run "out of the box" without much needed user configuration... but like linux it has its downside aswell... the fact that you need extra privacy protection, virus and spyware protection... sure linux may need virus protection and all of that stuff... but when it all comes down to it... linux is protected more than windows...

i know i haven't mentioned windows much at all in this reply, its because in my personal opinion, unix is a much greater supported based for developers, photo editors, and CAD engineering.. while windows has all of that AND gaming... the fact that i chose to go for linux is because of the fact that its easy for me to use, and i don't have to worry about lockups or crashes as much as a windows based machine has...

thats it, all down to stability for me... and i'm greatful for whomever reads this little rant

[gokulagiridaran]

i will say linux n unix is the best.. strong n best kernel.. thought the shell is not user friendly ., whn u work with that, u will be used to that. stable server and desktop versions of linux is available , try sun java desktop,or suse linux, mandrake is also gud. moreover cost ., linux is free, incl all software. windows hahaha!!!

[EchoNoise]

mmm... shell isn't user friendly... which one... you do realise there are hundreds of different shells out there.. i use a mix of gnome and kde i used to use fluxbox.. but nyeh... i sometimes use the good ol' console shell

[Gouki]

About being stable, yes, Linux is a very stable OS. However, I think that after we remove some of the bloat from Windows, and kinda costumise the CD our one way, it becomes a very good, strong and stable OS.

But off-course, we do need to have all the job of making a good installation disk when in Linux is all ready at the beggining!

Still, I voted for Linux!

[slig]

MS platforms are great for gaming, and don't mind Active Directory for workstation management. But for real work I choose KDE + Debian + 2.6.x kernel, and nothing beats the BSD flavours as server platforms for security, reliability and functionality.

I like both of them for different reasons, and don't really believe that the stability issue is really a concern anymore (Windows Server 2k3 just keeps on kicking).

There was no 'both good' option, so I chose Linux because the way it works makes so much more sense to an old school geek like me, sorry.

[IcoHolic]

It'll be an endless debate for sure.

My main reason for picking Windows over Linux boils down to one thing really. You have to "USE" *Nix OS's, unlike Windows. To me an operating system shouldn't be something that needs to continuously be configured, compiled, tweaked etc etc etc. Hardware and Software should just work.

We do use Linux servers for IPTables, but most of our main servers have switched to Win2k3. The time spent admining the network has dropped about 25% since we did.

I do think all operating systems are fundamentally flawed. There's way too much non-compliance of standards and lack thereof. Operating system developers (especially Windows) get A LOT of slack because of the ineptitude of third party application developers. I'm not sure if this is because the operating systems make it difficult for developers to write rock solid applications or not. Too many times though, people blame Microsoft or whoever because some poorly written application or driver causes the machine to have a meltdown.

I think it's very important for Linux and the likes to exist. It will hopefully keep Microsoft paying attention.

I also think Microsoft has done some terrific work in the last 18-24 months in addressing some of their support weaknesses and product quality issues. I hope they continue to work just as hard at it.

But in the end, whatever tool gets the job done for you, quickly and comfortably... that's all that matters.

[EchoNoise]

But in the end, whatever tool gets the job done for you, quickly and comfortably... that's all that matters.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, thats for sure

[jeeva]

Hmm Linux is a big word, so it's hard to say, for windows users, Linspire would be a good recommendation.

[Martin Zugec]

BTW are you people comparing Linux vs. Windows OR userfriendlyness of these OSs?

[Win2k3EE]

I've worked with linux (debian & debian-based distros) and also with Windows (from Win3.11 to Win2k3). I like 'em both, but I don't know why I LOVE Windows. Linux bores me. I love to tweak Windows to suit my own needs, to go deep into its "loins". With Linux, I do the same, but for me it's not the same fun. Am I Windows-addicted?

Security is an issue down to the user/admin/whatever you like, not to the OS.

[gu174r.fr34k]

I'm gonna vote linux. After you get everything configured, there should be no need to keep configuring. Installing stuff on linux is way easier (at least in debian and red hat systems) apt-get install [blah] yum install [blah] and thats pretty much it. All dependencies handled for you. There are no cloned libraries anywhere, all kept in one place.

Also I havn't had any luck finding a decent free firewall for windows. Zone alarm is bloated, Sygate crashes, Jetico asks to many questions and dosn't seem to remember the answers. The only thing i use my windows partition for is gaming. Other than that I neglect it. Plus I think having a virus scanner and a few spyware programs would be a bit confusing and may intimidate the new user who shouldn't have to worry about all that. And most of that you have to pay for (which isn't user friendly to the wallet).

As for easier to find user guides. There tons of forums and sites dedicated to helping you with your problem and they will be more than willing to help you with your problem.

[harunaksoy]

A good alternative for both Windows and Linux is PCBSD. I'm using it right now and i'm loving it.