What is the difference between linux and windows

Linux:
Linux could be a free and open supply OS supported operating system standards. It provides programming interface still as programme compatible with operating system primarily based systems and provides giant selection applications. A UNIX operating system system additionally contains several severally developed parts, leading to UNIX operating system that is totally compatible and free from proprietary code.

Windows:
Windows may be a commissioned OS within which ASCII text file is inaccessible. it’s designed for the people with the angle of getting no programming information and for business and alternative industrial users. it’s terribly straightforward and simple to use.

The distinction between Linux and Windows package is that Linux is completely freed from price whereas windows is marketable package and is expensive. Associate operating system could be a program meant to regulate the pc or computer hardware Associate behave as an treater between user and hardware.

Linux is a open supply package wherever users will access the ASCII text file and might improve the code victimisation the system. On the opposite hand, in windows, users can’t access ASCII text file, and it’s a authorized OS.

Let’s see that the difference between Linux and windows:

S.NO	Linux	Windows
1.	Linux is a open source operating system.	While windows are the not the open source operating system.
2.	Linux is free of cost.	While it is costly.
3.	It’s file name case-sensitive.	While it’s file name is case-insensitive.
4.	In linux, monolithic kernel is used.	While in this, micro kernel is used.
5.	Linux is more efficient in comparison of windows.	While windows are less efficient.
6.	There is forward slash is used for Separating the directories.	While there is back slash is used for Separating the directories.
7.	Linux provides more security than windows.	While it provides less security than linux.
8.	Linux is widely used in hacking purpose based systems.	While windows does not provide much efficiency in hacking.

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Linux vs. Windows

Both Windows and Linux are Operating systems with their own advantages and differ in functionality and user friendliness.

Comparison chart

Linux versus Windows comparison chart

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	Linux	Windows
Cost	Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows.	$119 — $199.99, $69 for students, $99 to upgrade to pro
Development and Distribution	Linux is developed by Open Source development i.e. through sharing and collaboration of code and features through forums etc and it is distributed by various vendors.	Developed and distributed by Microsoft.
Manufacturer	Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things.	Microsoft
User	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.	Everyone
Usage	Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.	On PC’s desktops, laptops, servers and some phones.
File system support	Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS	FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT
Text mode interface	BASH (Bourne Again SHell) is the Linux default shell. It can support multiple command interpreters.	Windows uses a command shell and each version of Windows has a single command interpreter with dos-like commands, recently there is the addition of the optional PowerShell that uses more Unix-like commands.
Introduction (from Wikipedia)	Linux is a Unix-like and POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released	Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS.
Company / developer	Linus Torvalds and the Linux community.	Microsoft
Update method	Many	Windows Update, Microsoft Update, Microsoft Update Catalog
License	GNU General Public License	Proprietary
Preceded by	Basic Terminal (CLI)	MS-DOS
Available language(s)	Multilingual	Multilingual
Default user interface	Gnome, KDE or many other desktops	Graphical (Luna/Royale, Windows Aero, Metro, Fluent Design)
Source model	Free Software	Closed / Shared source
Supported platforms	All	PowerPC: versions 1.0 — NT 4.0; DEC Alpha: versions 1.0 — NT 4.0; MIPS R4000: versions 1.0 — NT 4.0; IA-32: versions 1.0 — 10; IA-64: version XP; x86-64: versions XP — 10; ARM: version RT;
OS family	GNU	DOS
Programmed in	C,	Assembly, C, C++
Marketing target	Server, Personal,	Personal, business
Compatibility	New version of linux support many kinds of hardware	Can coexist on local networks with Windows, BSD, Macs, and other Unix-like systems. Sometimes file compatibility issues may arise.
Internet browsing	Firefox, Opera, etc.	Internet Explorer (version 95-8, not default on 10), Microsoft Edge (Windows 10 only)
What is it?	Linux is an example of Open Source software development and Free Operating System (OS).	Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families, all of which are developed and marketed by Microsoft.

Multimedia, Gaming, and Productivity Applications

Both Linux and Windows OS are very rich in multimedia applications, though setting up sound and video options in older versions of Linux can be difficult for some users. The main advantage of Linux is that most of the multimedia applications are freely available, while in the case of Windows, users may have to pay a hefty amount to get the software although many Open Source/Free versions are often available. Moreover, if anyone buys a copy of Windows on a CD-ROM, they do not get any application software with it, other than bundled Microsoft software. But if the same person buys a copy of Linux on a CD-ROM, it typically comes with a lot of free application software, such as Open Office, a complete free Office suite including Spreadsheets, Presentation etc. A new computer with Windows pre-installed may have additional application software but that is totally up to the PC vendor. But, each Linux distribution comes in multiple flavors; the more expensive versions come with more application software.

A major attraction of Windows is the library of games available for purchase. A majority of games support Windows and are released first for the Windows platform. Some of these games can be run on Linux with a compatibility layer like Wine, although Wine is difficult to set up and require different versions of it for various games. Others, and especially more modern games that rely on proprietary delivery systems, copy protection, Windows dependencies, or advanced acceleration features, may fail in Linux environment. Though there are exceptions, such as id Software’s Doom and Quake. When a developer chooses to write graphics code in OpenGL instead of DirectX, Linux ports can become much easier.

The video below features a comparison of Linux-based Ubuntu 12 and Windows 8.

Threats and Problems

Every Windows user has faced security and stability issues. Since Windows is the most widely used OS, hackers, spammers target Windows frequently. Consumer versions of Windows were originally designed for ease-of-use on a single-user PC without a network connection and did not have security features built in. Microsoft releases security patches through its Windows Update service approximately once a month although critical updates are made available at shorter intervals when necessary.
Many times users of Windows OS face the “BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH”, caused by the failure of the system to respond, and eventually the user has to manually restart the PC . This is very frustrating for the user since they may lose valuable data.

On the other hand, Linux is very stable and more secure than Windows. As Linux is community driven, developed through people collaboration and monitored constantly by the developers from every corner of the earth, any new problem raised can be solved within few hours and the necessary patch can be ready at the same time. Also Linux is based on the UNIX architecture which is a multi user OS, so it is much more stable than single user OS Windows.

Cost Comparison

Windows is much more costly in organizational implementation purpose. As Windows Home is a single user OS, so for each PC, the organization needs to purchase a site license copy of Windows, which can be costly. Although, in developing countries and ones with oppressive governments, non-profits can receive a free site license from Microsoft. Where as for the implementation of Linux based solutions the organization only needs to obtain one copy. And as it can be freely distributed, the same copy can be used in all the 50 employees’ workstation. However, setup and support services may need to be purchased on an as-needed basis.

Current prices for some of these products are available on Amazon.com:

Market Share and User Base

According to the market research data of September 2007, on 92.63% of the world’s PCs, Windows is running, while only 0.8% PC users use Linux. The Home users, Multimedia enthusiasts mainly used Windows, where as for serious use, server application, Corporation servers are running on Linux. Irrespective of the GUI, many users find it is very difficult to use Linux as compared to Windows and so the appeal of Linux is very limited to common people. Also for licensing agreement with Microsoft, various PC vendors are entitled to bundle Windows OS with their PC. And for this Windows gain the initial market popularity over Linux. Though these days many PC vendor such as DELL, HP started to give Linux as the preinstalled OS to cut the cost of their PC system.

According to latest IDC report, Windows Server market is gaining popularity over Linux based Server. The annual rate at which Linux is growing in the x86 server space has fallen from around 53 percent in 2003 (45 percent globally), when Windows Server growth was in the mid-20 percent range, to a negative 4 percent growth (less than 10 percent globally) in calendar year 2006, IDC Quarterly Server Tracker figures show. Over the same time period, Windows has continued to report positive annual growth, outpacing the total growth rate in the x 86 markets by more than 4 percent in 2006, indicating that Linux has actually lost market share to Windows Server over this time. Linux servers now represent 12.7 percent of the overall server market while Windows server comprised 38.8 percent of all server revenue in Q1 of 2007. [1]

The main reason is that, while Linux Servers are looking for high performance computing and web serving, but Windows is apparently adopted on a much broader basis.

History

Windows first released as a part of Disk operating System(DOS) in the year of 1985. At that time Apple’s Macintosh was a very popular OS, as it introduced GUI to the world. So to increase the popularity of DOS, Bill Gates’s Microsoft bundled Windows 1 with the DOS at that time. But until Windows 3 which was released in 1990, achieve the success in the GUI based OS market. And with the release of Windows 95, in 1995, Microsoft became a household name in the OS market. From that time on, each Personal Computer comes with Windows OS as the preinstalled OS. The biggest achievement for Windows OS is that it is very user friendly, easy to understand, and it has the versatility to run with almost every different kind of Personal Computers.

Linux is based on the Multiuser OS UNIX, and it can be distributed freely. It is the brainchild of Mr, Linus Torvalds. Typically all underlying source code can be freely modified and used. Linux Kernel was first released for public use in 1991. The biggest achievement for Linux is that it is a multiuser OS and the Security and stability is better than Windows.

Linux vs Windows: What’s the Difference?

It’s time to make the big switch from your Windows or Mac OS operating system.

Mac OS uses a UNIX core. Your switch from Mac OS to Linux will be relatively smooth.

It’s the Windows users who will need some adjusting. In this tutorial will introduce the Linux OS and compare it with Windows.

Click here if the video is not accessible

Windows Vs. Linux File System

In Microsoft Windows, files are stored in folders on different data drives like C: D: E:

But, in Linux, files are ordered in a tree structure starting with the root directory.

This root directory can be considered as the start of the file system, and it further branches out various other subdirectories. The root is denoted with a forward slash ‘/’.

A general tree file system on your UNIX may look like this.

KEY DIFFERENCE

• Linux is an open source operating system so user can change source code as per requirement whereas Windows OS is a commercial operating system so user doesn’t have access to source code.
• Linux is very well secure as it is easy to detect bugs and fix whereas Windows has a huge user base, so it becomes a target of hackers to attack windows system.
• Linux runs faster even with older hardware whereas windows are slower compared to Linux.
• Linux peripherals like hard drives, CD-ROMs, printers are considered files whereas Windows, hard drives, CD-ROMs, printers are considered as devices
• Linux files are ordered in a tree structure starting with the root directory whereas in Windows, files are stored in folders on different data drives like C: D: E:
• In Linux you can have 2 files with the same name in the same directory while in Windows, you cannot have 2 files with the same name in the same folder.
• In Linux you would find the system and program files in different directories whereas in Windows, system and program files are usually saved in C: drive.

Types of Files

In Linux and UNIX, everything is a file. Directories are files, files are files, and devices like Printer, mouse, keyboard etc.are files.

Let’s look into the File types in more detail.

General Files

General Files also called as Ordinary files. They can contain image, video, program or simply text. They can be in ASCII or a Binary format. These are the most commonly used files by Linux Users.

Directory Files

These files are a warehouse for other file types. You can have a directory file within a directory (sub-directory).You can take them as ‘Folders’ found in Windows operating system.

Device Files:

In MS Windows, devices like Printers, CD-ROM, and hard drives are represented as drive letters like G: H:. In Linux, there are represented as files.For example, if the first SATA hard drive had three primary partitions, they would be named and numbered as /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda3.

Note: All device files reside in the directory /dev/

All the above file types (including devices) have permissions, which allow a user to read, edit or execute (run) them. This is a powerful Linux/Unix feature. Access restrictions can be applied for different kinds of users, by changing permissions.

Windows Vs. Linux: Users

There are 3 types of users in Linux.

1. Regular
2. Administrative(root)
3. Service

Regular User

A regular user account is created for you when you install Ubuntu on your system. All your files and folders are stored in /home/ which is your home directory. As a regular user, you do not have access to directories of other users.

Root User

Other than your regular account another user account called root is created at the time of installation. The root account is a superuser who can access restricted files, install software and has administrative privileges. Whenever you want to install software, make changes to system files or perform any administrative task on Linux; you need to log in as a root user. Otherwise, for general tasks like playing music and browsing the internet, you can use your regular account.

Service user

Linux is widely used as a Server Operating System. Services such as Apache, Squid, email, etc. have their own individual service accounts. Having service accounts increases the security of your computer. Linux can allow or deny access to various resources depending on the service.

Note:

1. You will not see service accounts in Ubuntu Desktop version.
2. Regular accounts are called standard accounts in Ubuntu Desktop

In Windows, there are 4 types of user account types.

1. Administrator
2. Standard
3. Child
4. Guest

Windows Vs. Linux: File Name Convention

In Windows, you cannot have 2 files with the same name in the same folder. See below —

While in Linux, you can have 2 files with the same name in the same directory, provided they use different cases.

Windows Vs. Linux: HOME Directory

For every user in Linux, a directory is created as /home/

Consider, a regular user account «Tom». He can store his personal files and directories in the directory «/home/tom». He can’t save files outside his user directory and does not have access to directories of other users. For instance, he cannot access directory «/home/jerry» of another user account»Jerry».

The concept is similar to C:\Documents and Settings in Windows.

When you boot the Linux operating system, your user directory (from the above example /home/tom) is the default working directory. Hence the directory «/home/tom is also called the Home directory which is a misnomer.

The working directory can be changed using some commands which we will learn later.

Windows Vs. Linux: Other Directories

In Windows, System and Program files are usually saved in C: drive. But, in Linux, you would find the system and program files in different directories. For example, the boot files are stored in the /boot directory, and program and software files can be found under /bin, device files in /dev. Below are important Linux Directories and a short description of what they contain.

These are most striking differences between Linux and other Operating Systems. There are more variations you will observe when switching to Linux and we will discuss them as we move along in our tutorials.