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WINDOWS or LINUX

sheiksoft

By sheiksoft
in Windows XP

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Which operating system is the BEST...?  

297 members have voted

  1. 1. Which operating system is the BEST...?

    • Windows
      172
    • Linux
      60

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suryad

suryad

Posted
Posted

Interesting insight you provide Martin. Linux is a great OS there is no doubt about it and it is superior every way except user friendliness and the lack of software unlike Windows. Linux zealots claim that Linux is very userfriendly and so on but I think they are on crack. There is nothing easier than dbl clicking and hitting next to install or uninstall software...if Windows can match Linux in terms of performance I think that would be the final nail in the aspirations for Linux to become mainstream. It will be interesting to see what MS pulls out in Longhorn...right now all things point to the fact that it will be a slightly improved XP with 3d and more bloat...but we will see...as long as nLite is around I am not THAT worried hehehe

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what3v3r

what3v3r

Posted
Posted

youre bound to get a biased opinion when asking these questions on a microsoft software forum network.

try asking it on a linux forum :) and the results would be different

i think linux is much easier to customize, since all the settings are in text files with many comments.

but the downside is that as a beginner you never know where to look. in other words you really have to look into the subject if you want to use linux in a professional way.

windows tries to do everything for you. you dont have to (can) configure as much. installing applications is always performed in the same way. and if youve done anything wrong use system restore.

windows is an OS to work with, and not an OS that requires work.

on the other hand, if you really want ease of use, you should take a look at apple

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Martin Zugec

Martin Zugec

Posted
Posted

2suryas: Well, MS is moving really fast forward this days and Linux somehow freezed :( Things like WinPE (live cd), XP Embedded (make it your own way), SP2 (security first), Monad (do everything from scripts/cmd shell) etc...

I am quite afraid about future of Linux. Most linux guys I spoke with are not administrators, at least not administrators at MS point of view :( The things they are trying to implement are not really needed by corporate or home customers :(

About longhorn, I think you guys are underestimating it. At least from security and administrator point of view it will be great jump forward.

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Maelstorm

Maelstorm

Posted
Posted

What I find interesting about this is that really comparing Windows to Linux is like comparing apples to oranges. Windows was originally ment to be run on home computers, not workstations and servers. Linux was originally ment to run on workstations and servers. As an old hat to this argument, there are a few points that I want to make.

For ease of use, Windows beats Linux, hands down. But, for power and flexibility Linux beats Windows hands down. I don't use Linux myself because for my server applications, I run the real thing: FreeBSD. Yes, most windows users don't even know what to do at a command line prompt. But for myself, coming from a DOS and Unix environment, the command line prompt is my best friend. We can have this discussion about which operating system is better all day long, but the real question is better at what? They are suited for completely different types of applications.

For home users: Windows

For power users, corporate desktops, workstations: Linux

For servers: FreeBSD

That's my opinion at least.

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Martin Zugec

Martin Zugec

Posted
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Well, I dont agree....

*nix based OS is not good for workstation (specially not for corporate use!) or intranet servers.

They are however great for DMZ (I dont see a reason to use MS products like ISA there, only frontend Exchange) and for specially designed purposes.

But when we talk about corporate environment, it is extremely hard to deploy linux intranet servers + workstations in normal environment.

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Whimsy

Whimsy

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Posted
The *NIX filesystem is so much easier to work with because there is no concept of "drive letter" in the fs path. Drives are "mounted" or attached to mount points (folders) and the entire drive just appears as a subfolder of mount point. This eliminates all of the "what drive is it on" headaches common to dos and windows.

"Drive letters" are an abomination and one of the most egregious examples of backwards compatibility, as they can be traced all the way back to CP/M, the precursor to dos.

I prefer the "drive letter" way. Call me "old fashion" but I do. I can find my way around on a windows-based system as well as a *nix-based system.

I'd like Windows to have a journalised file system, such as ReiserFS4. I guess WinFS will be something like that.

One of the arguements against Linux is that NTFS has been journalized longer than any Linux file systems.

I've seen the grief caused by Drive Letters, especially in DOS (oh dear lord, the pain caused by FDISK and the stupid way DOS assigned letters based on disk/partititon type). Personally, I use Junctions on my Windows box because I can consistantly locate specific files. I like the idea of mount points because I can nearly redirect anything from one drive to another, and I could mount a backup copy of a directory if I need it for some reason from the command line.

WinFS is supposed to be released later, possibly as a free add-on, for Windows XP and Longhorn, as developers said they woulden't commit to it unless it were supported in XP and Longhorn. As I understand it, it's basically an extention to NTFS.

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iCEhOT

iCEhOT

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am actually starting to see that windows is just as powerful if not more powerful than linux, yes it has several brands targetted at different consumers, so u wouldnt want XP home edition running webservers etc. Having run Linux recently just for a laugh, i agree with most people that it's obscure, non-user friendly, and although partly down to the learning curve, takes a lot longer to get simple things done, especially getting ur hardware to work or installing programs. And after all an operating system biggest task is to simply provide a human interface to the hardware...

Having just started my MCSE course, I am really starting to see, that from XP and windows server 2003 that windows is stable, it's easy to use, it's intuitive, everything just works, active directory, and running it all as a server I believe is really good, and works very well for all kinds of servers. A Side note, is that a lot of people say windows isn't secure because of people running as administrators, well, microsoft actively discourage this practice, and want normal users to run as users, and admins to run as power users, only using administrator when necessary. Which is what I do on my home PC, and apart from one overclocking application it all works great, I just need to use "runas" for that one, which is the same as using "su" in linux.

The restarting thing that most people go on about, is not an issue, the uptimes are good in windows, and u only have to restart when install new drivers etc, or fiddle with certain settings, which is almost the same in linux, u may not have to restart the OS, but u have to restart modules, and services, which has the same effect of killing that side of ur system for a few seconds - so you may as well reboot anyways. Plus having had experience with other flavours of unix (i work with IRIX at work - although we're just moving to server 2003), even if the machine does stay up for 2 years, the hardware dies when u want to reboot it after that length of time anyway, cos bearings in the hard disks or fans go etc, so a power surge from a reboot kills it...

Also the free thing, well i know not legally, but windows can be free too, which for most home users that's what they do, for businesses, well a couple hundred bucks doesnt matter much, if it does, then the business has other issues to resolve. Also if you want to take the legal route, then buy a peace of cheap hardware, and u can get an OEM copy of windows for around 80 quid, just as cheap then as most supported linux distro's.

Edited by iCEhOT
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Whimsy

Whimsy

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Posted
...A Side note, is that a lot of people say windows isn't secure because of people running as administrators, well, microsoft actively discourage this practice, and want normal users to run as users, and admins to run as power users, only using administrator when necessary.  Which is what I do on my home PC, and apart from one overclocking application it all works great, I just need to use "runas" for that one, which is the same as using "su" in linux...

If only it were this easy. In my experience, Microsoft has disabled the Local Users and Groups in XP Home Edition, leaving most home users with only one way to configure users: Either as "Computer Administrator" or as "Guest". Most of the time Guest is worthless.

The restarting thing that most people go on about, is not an issue, the uptimes are good in windows, and u only have to restart when install new drivers etc, or fiddle with certain settings, which is almost the same in linux, u may not have to restart the OS, but u have to restart modules, and services, which has the same effect of killing that side of ur system for a few seconds - so you may as well reboot anyways.  Plus having had experience with other flavours of unix (i work with IRIX at work - although we're just moving to server 2003), even if the machine does stay up for 2 years, the hardware dies when u want to reboot it after that length of time anyway, cos bearings in the hard disks or fans go etc, so a power surge from a reboot kills it...
I don't consider defective hardware an effect of the OS.

A few years ago, Microsoft celebrated 99.99999% uptime. That came to about 5 minutes. While most of us don't care, MS did, because their customers (and their marketing department) do. I've seen servers take 5 minutes to boot up, and there are ISPs that offer insane guarantees about uptime. Trust me, this matters.

Also the free thing, well i know not legally, but windows can be free too, which for most home users that's what they do, for businesses, well a couple hundred bucks doesnt matter much, if it does, then the business has other issues to resolve.  Also if you want to take the legal route, then buy a peace of cheap hardware, and u can get an OEM copy of windows for around 80 quid, just as cheap then as most supported linux distro's.

The Ubuntu Linux guys sent me 35 Linux CD sets, and I didn't pay a dime. They have pledged support for up to 18 months per version. This means I could run 4.10 for another year or so before I need to worry about upgrading. And when I want to upgrade, I can either insert the newest CD, or download the upgrade package. That will effectively get me a legit, supported, and upgraded distro that will be supported for another 18 months. Since the entire package is made of smaller packages, I don't have to install, say, a "fixed" TCP/IP stack that limits connection requests, if I don't want to.

Microsoft sent me a free copy of Windows XP Professional just for being a System Builder, but I refuse to install it, because I hate product activation. In fact, I am technically breaking the EULA by using a non-activable version, because I think activation passively accuses "System Builders" and Small OEMs of piracy. Pirated versions of Windows are not supported, and eventually may not even be elegable for updates. And sure, most "in" end users can get around the hardware requirement by buying a copy of Windows with hardware, but they can never legally transfer it to another PC ($250 retail copies can be transfered). Meanwhile, I still have 35 CDs (10 natively support 64-bit extended systems without an upgrade tax) which can be installed on any number of PCs without facing legal retribution.

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Coolsights2000

Coolsights2000

Posted
Posted (edited)

I don't want to start a flame war drive here but if you really look at the average home user smuck they barely know where the power switch is. So, how the heck would they be able to tweak linux..........

Windows is setup for plug and play all the way baby......

now for me LINUX sucks cause the driver support is slim to none...

and I run mobile docks and LINUS will not support that either..........

Ever time I try Linux the kernel crashes for some stupid reason so weigh the difference do the same in windows no crashs......... I donot have the patience to figure out why........ or how to fix it,

windows software is so much better.. When you get a crappy application just look for a new vendor that has program that works.. Too many to choice from.....

An as far as windows goes learn how to lock it down so you will not get infected..........

I DO say LINUX OS sucks

BUT I throw

99.9% of windows 3rd party vender's software that I test drive in the waste can cause it doesn't work.............

Edited by Coolsights2000
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