11 Reasons Why Linux Is Better Than Windows

Last updated September 21, 2020 By Ankush Das 584 Comments

Brief: Are you wondering if Linux is better than Windows? Don’t wonder. Linux is better than Windows and in this article, we’ll see the advantages of Linux over Windows.

If you are not a power user, it might seem that “Windows” OS is a better (or easier) choice when compared to Linux. In either case, if you are not enjoying using a Linux distro then Windows would be your obvious choice.

However, in reality, we tend to experience something different, which lets us jump to the conclusion where Linux gets the edge over Windows OS.

Advantages of Linux over Windows

In this article, we will take a look at 11 of the compelling reasons why Linux is better than Windows. Some of the points mentioned here are already discussed in our earlier article on why switch to Linux.

1. Open Source Nature

What is it like when you buy a car, but you cannot see what’s under the hood? Similar is the case with when you use a Windows-powered system.

However, in contrast, Linux is completely an open source project. You can have a look at the source code of a Linux OS, which is a plus.

I know, most people don’t care about this openness of Linux, but to me, this is the most important feature of using GNU/Linux.

2. Secure

Let’s face it; Windows OS is vulnerable to different types of attacks (or hacks). However, Linux is not as vulnerable as Windows. It sure isn’t invulnerable, but it is a lot more secure. Although, there’s no rocket science in it.

It is just the way Linux works that makes it a secure operating system. Overall, the process of package management, the concept of repositories, and a couple more features makes it possible for Linux to be more secure than Windows.

When you have Windows installed, you need to download/purchase an Antivirus program to keep your computer safe from hackers and malware. However, Linux does not require the use of such Anti-Virus programs. Of course, a couple of software tools still exist to help you keep your system free from threats, but it is often unnecessary when you have a Linux system.

Being secure by nature would make things easier for you and save money as well because you will not have to get a premium Antivirus software!

3. Can revive older computers

As the operating systems evolve, so do their hardware requirements increase exponentially. For instance, if you purchase a genuine copy of Windows 10, you will have to meet the minimum hardware requirements to run it successfully, and you cannot run it on just about any low-end system.

Nevertheless, with Linux, you could even utilize one of your oldest computer systems to achieve a task. However, that does not mean that every Linux distribution would work with 256 MB of RAM coupled with an outdated processor. However, there are options which you can install on such low-end systems as well (such as Puppy Linux).

So, being an efficient OS, Linux distributions could be fitted to a range of systems (low-end or high-end). In contrast, Windows operating system has a higher hardware requirement.

Overall, even if you compare a high-end Linux system and a high-end Windows-powered system, the Linux distribution would take the edge. Well, that is the reason most of the servers across the world prefer to run on Linux than on a Windows hosting environment.

4. Perfect For Programmers

Linux supports almost all of the major programming languages (Python, C/C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, etc.). Moreover, it offers a vast range of applications useful for programming purposes.

The Linux terminal is superior to use over Window’s command line for developers. You would find many libraries developed natively for Linux. Also, a lot of programmers point out that the package manager on Linux helps them get things done easily.

Interestingly, the ability of bash scripting is also one of the most compelling reasons why programmers prefer using Linux OS.

Linux also brings in native support for SSH, which would help you manage your servers quickly. You could include things like apt commands which further makes Linux one of the most popular choices of the programmers.

5. Software Updates

Microsoft pushes a software update when it receives a set of problems or if something major needs to be fixed. And, for this reason — your system potentially breaks with an update or you end up waiting for an update to fix your issue for a significant amount of time.

I’m sure if you have a Windows-powered system for a long time, you may have encountered issues with every update.

However, with Linux, you would observe software updates to address every little bug and most of which isn’t system-breaking if you’re using an LTS version of a distribution.

So, with Linux, you will notice more effective and faster updates to fix the problems you might be facing. That’s not the case with Windows.

6. Customization

One major advantage of using Linux instead of Windows is customization. If you like tweaking your system’s looks, Linux is just perfect for you.

Apart from installing themes, you have tons of beautiful icon themes. In addition to that, you can use Conky to display system information on the desktop in the coolest way possible. Needless to say that you can do a lot around Wallpapers in Linux.

7. Variety Of Distributions

There are no flavors of Windows. Yes, you may have different plans & packages which differ in licensing terms, the period of activation, packaged features, and price.

In contrast, you will find tons of Linux distributions catered for a different set of needs. So, you can choose to install any of the available Linux distros according to your requirements.

For example, there are Linux distributions for hackers, there are Linux distributions for programmers, there are Linux distributions for extremely old computers, and the list goes on. There is a Linux for everyone.

If you’re curious, you might want to learn what is Linux to know why there are 100s of Linux distributions.

8. Free to Use

Linux is accessible to the public for free! However, that is not the case with Windows!

You will not have to pay 100-250 USD to get your hands on a genuine copy of a Linux distro (such as Ubuntu, Fedora). So, it is entirely free.

If something is free but useful, it is always the best thing one could expect. With the money you just saved, you can consider enhancing your system (just saying, you can go to Starbucks as well!)

9. Better Community Support

You do not need to hire an expert to solve a problem you are facing on your Linux system. You just need to search for a similar thread on the web for a solution or post a thread to let others solve the problem.

Within minutes of posting a thread on any of the Linux forums, you may expect a reply along with a detailed solution which would finally help resolve your problem at no cost! Not to forget, you should find solutions to most of the common problems in the forums properly explained without needing to do a lot of research.

There are a lot of active Linux users who are always ready to respond to a relevant thread one might have created. The number of community users active on such forums is more than the number of active members on any Windows-focused forum.

However, the community response might vary depending on the Linux distribution being used. You can also reach out for help through our community forum.

10. Reliability

Windows, as we know it, becomes sluggish day after day. You will want to re-install Windows after a while when you encounter crashes or slowdowns on your system.

If you are using Linux, you will not have to worry about re-installing it just to experience a faster and a smoother system. Linux helps your system run smooth for a longer period (in fact, much longer!).

Also, with Windows, you will have to adapt to a habit where you keep on rebooting the system for just about everything.

• If you just installed software, reboot!
• If you recently uninstalled software, reboot!
• If you just installed a Windows update, reboot!
• If the system seems to slow down, reboot!

However, in the case of Linux, you will not have to reboot for the situations mentioned above. You can comfortably continue with your work, and Linux will not bother you.

Another fact that proves Linux to be reliable are the web servers. You could observe that most of the Internet giants like Google and Facebook run on Linux. Even almost all of the supercomputers run on Linux.

So, Why isn’t Windows preferred over Linux for mission-critical tasks? It is because Linux is far more reliable than Windows OS. Period.

Of course, it doesn’t mean Linux does not have issues. But, if we look at the bigger picture, Linux is reliable by design. If you consider trying any of the Linux distribution for your computer, you might want to try Pop OS (my personal favorite) or any of the best Linux distributions we have listed.

11. Privacy

Microsoft certainly tries to anonymize the data collected from every user. However, it does not look convincing with Microsoft’s latest Windows 10. It has already received an enormous amount of criticism of how it collects data, what it should collect and what it should not.

If you have ever used Windows 10, you could only head into the privacy settings to know that everything is enabled by default. Even if you opt out to send Microsoft information about your data, it is still being collected. Of course, Microsoft will not bother revealing it officially with a press statement, but it surely does. So, you would need a set of tools to disable the spying modules of Windows.

In contrast, Linux would be the perfect solution for a privacy buff. First of all, Linux distributions do not collect much data (or none). Moreover, you will not be needing additional tools to protect your privacy.

Do you also think Linux is better than Windows?

Now that you know the advantages of using Linux instead of Windows, what do you think?

If you’re still going to keep using Windows as your primary OS, what reason could you think of choosing it over Linux? If you’ve already made the switch, and using Linux, what more benefits do you observe?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Linux VS Windows — Which is Better?

This article is going to be a better one compared to my previous two articles. The two that blew up beyond expectation.

Now those got a lot of comments saying «I have no proof of my claims» and this article is a sequel to both, trying to set the record straight. If I knew I was going to get over 78 thousand views for these, I would have spent more time. Knowing that it can happen, might as well up the quality altogether.

This article was originally going to be a direct comparison of Ubuntu 20.04 to Windows 10. However, I decided to do something much bigger, and much different. Instead of comparing the best of Linux, I have decided that I want to take the worst of Linux functionality (As represented by AntiX), add a couple of mid-range distributions, then compare to Ubuntu and the flavors/remixes. Each one will be compared to Windows 10.

Here is our distribution list:

Quick Key:
WM is a window manager
DE is a desktop environment
The difference is that DE has more features and
WM has fewer features with the aim to be lighter and faster

Distro Name	Version	Default Graphical Environment
AntiX	19	Fluxbox (WM)
Manjaro	20	XFCE (DE)
Pop!_OS	20.04	GNOME (DE)
Solus	4.1	Budgie (DE)
Deepin	15.11	DDE/Deepin (DE)
Ubuntu	20.04	GNOME (DE) + Flavors

While I understand that there are flavors for Manjaro as well as Ubuntu, and probably also for Pop!_OS and Solus as well, and that Manjaro has a higher flavor/remix count compared to Ubuntu, I feel like it is not within my best intentions to compare Desktops. If it is a flavor for a desktop we will cover in another distribution (so knocking off Ubuntu Budgie and Ubuntu DDE), it will not be covered twice.

I will do each distribution individually, and also will keep it rather short for the ones I didn’t get as much use out of (I.e Deepin and AntiX) and mostly know surface-level information.

AntiX

I used this distribution once ever, and it has two deals. One, it mostly keeps to Window Managers for purposes of speed. I have seen it run on really low-end hardware with little to no issue. While yes TinyCore is smaller, both on RAM usage and even installation size, AntiX allows for a bit of style + functionality.

I will score the distributions as similar to this method — This is also why the inclusion of AntiX happened, to better describe the data used later, and also show off what Windows will score.

Everything is done from a 1 to 10 scale. 1 being terrible, 10 being excellent.

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	8	3
Fast	8	4
Easy Install	4	4
Easy for beginners	1	6
Kind community	5	2
Updates	9	2

Now each time this is done, we focus on these points. How lightweight it is, compared both to size and system resource usage. How fast it feels, this one is subjective to an extent, however, the higher lightweight score usually means the higher the «fast» level is. Easy Install is how easy it is to install from a beginner selection. This score is decided on how easy it is to understand what you are doing — from a beginner viewpoint. Easy for beginners means how easy it is for a brand new person who just got to the OS will find it. Kind Community is how kind the community is. Updates are a little tricker, it is based on update control, speed, and live-ability. Live-ability depends on if you can update without having to wait, or reboot.

Let’s explain Windows’s score. It totals to 21. this list has a maximum score of 60, however, the score compared to 60 doesn’t matter, it is the ratio of Windows to Linux score. Windows will equal one, so it is easier to understand. I wanted to include purpose modifiers, but that complicates things a little much, so they won’t be included.

For the Linux distribution to have a victory, the score needs to be 1:1.75, or one and three quarters if it is easier to read as text. In this case, it is 1:1.33 — so Windows 10 wins.

Also, notice — the user who I am aiming to represent used neither Linux or Windows.

Notice I keep a couple of things Linux proves better in out of the score, same with where Windows 10 will decimate Linux. Linux pros being customization and stability. Windows being app support. While yes, these are valid arguments for many people, some will not care as much.

So in this case,
Windows 1 and Linux 0.

We will not be counting AntiX, as it was more of an explaining tool.

Manjaro

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	7	3
Fast	7	4
Easy Install	7	4
Easy for beginners	1	6
Kind community	3	2
Updates	1	2

To explain Manjaro’s score, it is lightweight and fast, but it having a DE does complicate speed a tiny bit. The installer is wonderful and easy to use. For beginners it is horrible. I used it a couple of times, and it has bug after bug, error after error. If you love tinkering, good, Manjaro is a wonderful tinkerers toy. However, I prefer to not deal with that all the time. The community is kind but has some MX feels. I wrote about how I felt about MX Linux in the past. So, therefore, Manjaro will be lower on that. For updates, while not as invasive as Windows 10, you have to update a lot, including the repos with Pacman. As a package manager, Pacman is fine, but the syntax sucks and it’s constant upgrading and rolling release nature will cause some issues.

Score: 1:1.24 — This means Windows wins.

Pop!_OS

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	3	3
Fast	5	4
Easy Install	9	4
Easy for beginners	8	6
Kind community	9	2
Updates	9	2

To explain Pop!_OS’s score, it is just as heavy as Windows 10, but feels a tad bit faster. The installer is easy as heck to follow, even better than Ubiquity on Ubuntu or Calamares (the general installation tool, not for one specific team). Pop!_OS also has great tools for new users to the OS and a decent welcome screen. The community is always there to help, and also gets a lot of love from the also-kind Ubuntu community. You control the updates, you can get it live, and it works similarly to Ubuntu’s LTS, however, Pop!_OS support beyond the 2-year point (when a new LTS is released) is then only supported by Ubuntu for the next 3 of an LTS cycle, so that bumps the score down a bit.

With a score of 1:2.05 with 43 points for Pop!_OS — Linux wins here.

Solus

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	4	3
Fast	6	4
Easy Install	7	4
Easy for beginners	5	6
Kind community	6	2
Updates	5	2

To explain Solus’s score, Budgie is a forked version of Gnome 3, which Pop!_OS uses. It is a little more lightweight than Gnome 3 and feels a little faster. For beginner use, well it is mostly in the fact that the community is small and documentation a little smaller, so it falls behind on Kind community — as one is limited — and beginner usability comes in that it is imperfect and documentation needs a little work. Updates are something I do not remember too well for Solus, but it was average. While a fantastic distribution, I feel like it needs a little more of a community with specific information, but other distributions can help too.

With a total point count of 33, the score is 1:1.57 — Good alternative but Windows 10 still wins here.

Deepin

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	1	3
Fast	6	4
Easy Install	7	4
Easy for beginners	7	6
Kind community	NULL	2
Updates	NULL	2

To explain Deepin’s score — It has a lavish desktop that looks fantastic but is a bit heavy. Feels snappy but overall is heavy. The installer is good, solid 7, and beginner friendliness is solid too. Uh, oh.. there are two nulls — I have never worked with the Deepin community, almost at all. I also do not know how well Deepin updates, as my hardware is hard to support it long term. So, the score Windows has for here is 17 to 40.

Windows 10 wins with 1:1.24, Deepin having 21 points.

Ubuntu

So for this section, note that I will be using Ubuntu proper. Proper being the version with Gnome 3, the flavors will be after — with sightly less scoring to deal with.

Score	Windows Score
Lightweight	3	3
Fast	6	4
Easy Install	8	4
Easy for beginners	8	6
Kind community	9	2
Updates	10	2

To explain Ubuntu’s extravagant score of 44, well note it gets a lot of the information from Pop!_OS. Pop!_OS is a fork of Ubuntu, so Ubuntu’s score is similar. It is as lightweight as Pop!_OS, so as big as a forklift compared to a bike. Doesn’t feel too snappy, but as snappy as Pop!_OS — funnily enough, their other package manager is called Snap, and Pop!_OS (as far as I remember) does not include snaps. Just a funny thought. — and the ease of use is lower, mostly because Pop!_OS aims to be much easier for newbies while Ubuntu is struggling in some areas. For the community, it is the exact same as Pop!_OS’s so it keeps the 9.

Ubuntu wins with 1:2.1

For flavors — here is how we decide. It is done by adding and subtracting. So if it is faster than Ubuntu, how much faster? If it is slower, how much slower. This will be done with Lightweight, Fast, Install and Ease. Most of these will not be too much different from Ubuntu, and I will mention if it somehow fails against Windows 10 — even if Ubuntu didn’t.

Kubuntu

+/-
Lightweight	+2
Fast	+ 1
Install	-1
Ease	-1

To explain: Kubuntu is lighter, about as light as Xubuntu, so note Xubuntu will be the same score for fast and lightweight. Feels a tad faster than Ubuntu. However, the installer is Calamares, which is a bit buggy sometimes so it docks one point. Kubuntu gets a net positive of 1 against Ubuntu.

Xubuntu

+/-
Lightweight	+2
Fast	+ 1
Install	+0
Ease	-2

To explain: Xubuntu is similar spec to Kubuntu — At least as far as my testing told me. The installer is the same as Ubuntu, and ease is a little harder as XFCE is a little much for a beginner. Still a net positive of one.

Ubuntu Studio

+/-
Lightweight	-1
Fast	-1
Install	+0
Ease	+3

To explain: While Ubuntu Studio uses KDE, like Kubuntu, it is slower in the fact it is meant for creative work and those apps are larger. Installation is the same as Ubuntu. Ease is +3 as it adds software for its purpose. Net positive of one.

Lubuntu

+/-
Lightweight	+3
Fast	+ 3
Install	-1
Ease	-2

To explain: Lubuntu uses LXQt, which is super lightweight, It’s installer is Calamares, and ease is lower as Lubuntu takes a little bit of getting used to. It also (according to experience in what I do) is faster than KDE/XFCE. Net positive of 3.

Ubuntu MATE

+/-
Lightweight	+2
Fast	+ 3
Install	+0
Ease	+0

To explain: Ubuntu MATE uses MATE, which is a fork of Gnome 2 to continue it. Solid, fast, and not much different in ease to Ubuntu. Solid net positive of 5 to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Kylin

I won’t do this one, as this is a specific distribution for China, also I have never once tested or used Ubuntu Kylin.

Ubuntu Cinnamon

+/-
Lightweight	+1
Fast	+ 0
Install	-1
Ease	+3

To explain: Ubuntu Cinnamon uses the Cinnamon desktop. Cinnamon is rather a light desktop, PLUS it is very Windows-like. The familiarity with Windows is why it is +3, as the Windows workflow is awesome — but a little slower than Cinnamon. Since Windows 10’s workflow is easy, par a little slow, and Cinnamon is very similar to it, Ubuntu Cinnamon improves on that.

Net positive of 4.

Ubuntu Lumina

Yes, I am the developer of Ubuntu Lumina. I do understand the Limits of Lumina.

+/-
Lightweight	+1
Fast	+ 1
Install	-1
Ease	+1

To explain — It uses Calamares as the installer, and compared to Lubuntu it is similarly speedy, if not a little faster. Lumina on the desktop is a little clunky, but the familiarity to the workflow of Windows and fewer modifiers to mess with it is still getting a positive with ease. somehow. It gets a lightweight dock as it is ever so slightly heavier on the space it needs compared to Lubuntu.

Net positive of 2 — Not too shabby — be mindful I am very biased here.

Conclusion

While most distributions do not hit the mark to beat Windows, even if Windows has a terrible score in some areas, Ubuntu is just what we need. Keep Linux to the Ubuntu and flavors of it, and it will be fine. The flavors also are there to give a decent gateway to different desktops, and speeds. Other than Ubuntu, Linux doesn’t fully compare to Windows.

I tried my best to be as objective as possible. Also, yeah I know I never explained Windows’s score, but I wanted to keep it at the end.

Score
Lightweight	3
Fast	4
Easy Install	4
Easy for beginners	6
Kind community	2
Updates	2

Lightweight — I mean it is big. But Ubuntu got the same score. Speed is a little better for how snappy it is, but not great. Installation doesn’t take OEMs into the equation, pure installation. The main issue here is that you have to type the key by hand and that some areas aren’t too well described. A 4 is still average, I have seen worse on Linux cough cough Arco cough cough. For beginners — if they never used Windows before, it can be a little slow and weird at times. 6 is still very solid compared to things like. oh I don’t know. Debian. Or AntiX. Community. fun fact, one of the three big reasons I left Windows was how awful the community was. Heck if you look at my other articles about Linux. You know, the popular ones I mentioned. Yeah, that was really kind compared to regular Windows. For updates, it hits hard that you have to wait many hours, and if it fails you have to wait much longer. if it even is successful. Windows Update also has skipping update issues and deleting stuff issues.

21 is still solid, I can probably see something like Debian — used by NASA — being lower. Here for fun let’s do an unexplained Debian score.

Debian scores (in order) are 6, 6, 1, 1, 5, 5. In total being 24 — already super close, and if the community wasn’t as average, then it would be the same as Windows. Arch has 8, 8, 1, 1, 1, 1. in total being 20 — and that is only with the edition Arch is SUPER LIGHT. including desktop. A heavier desktop like Gnome would kill Arch Linux’s dreams of success.

I hope this is a better article compared to my other two — I hope you find it fair enough. Mind you I am doing my absolute hardest this run to be as objective as possible. If you have objections, please keep it reasonable.

Discussion (1)

I would take issue with the categories chosen. I think app support and customizability are the two most important areas, «kind community» is an iffy thing to count and «fast» I think has very little to do with the distribution itself and more to do with what’s on it. (I think open source and price are also very important comparisons.)

If I had to score Windows with the categories given, I would say something like 1, 1, 9, 7, 5, 1. To explain that:

While I can definitely imagine an operating system that’s more «heavyweight» than Windows, I’ve never seen one (and can’t comment on Deepin). We might define it differently, but I think of «light/heavyweight» as basically «how much stuff does it include on install». So since Windows is the extreme of my reference for heaviness, I would have to put it at the end of the scale.

The same thing for fast. I’ve never seen a Linux distro that seemed particularly sluggish, but Windows. it seems to be fine most of the time, but sometimes programs just take like a minute to start, and especially on old Windows computers (even if it’s Windows 10), it seems like it goes into a mode where everything, including control panel and whatnot, takes more than a minute to open.

For easy install, I’ve installed Windows 10 before and it was basically just clicking OK a bunch and I don’t remember it asking any questions that required much knowledge or anything.