A discussion about the reasons why the LINIUX operating system can not win against Windows.
As time evolves, computing machines go more accurate, faster, and smarter. This makes life easier than before. But it makes the job of operating systems much harder than expected.
Many operating systems are fighting to gain the reputation of the BEST one. Our talk will focus on the war between Linux and WINDOWS in general manner.
Operating systems
An operating system is a set of programs working together. It aims to utilize the available resources (hardware and software) in the most efficient way. One of the most used examples for explaining operating systems is the government example. Let us imagine your computer as a small country. Then the operating system will work as the government. It must provide many services for the country. Most important services are safety, security, order, and balance.
Usage of computers
As a start, computers were used for computing numbers. A computer is fast enough to kick out many employees. Today, computers are not limited for the calculator job. Many uses are brought in, writing an article is one of them.
A big confusion is occurring today. Most computer machines are considered as DESKTOP/PERSONAL computers, what we called (PC). By that we ignore
- MAINFRAMES
- MINICOMPUTERS
- LAPTOP
- SUPERCOMPUTER
- Other …
This is all because the power of the technologies that used in PCs. A modern PC can work as a normal PC, SERVER, CLIENT, GAME PLATFORM, and more. This breaks the borders between the domains and ranges of the computer machines.
LINUX Operating System
History can not be summarized by sentence. LINUX is an open source project developed by large number of people around the world. It started in 1991. The word LINUX refers to the kernel (core). It is not the whole operating system, but it is the main part. Other parts are from the GNU project. In this article the word LINUX will refers to the complete set of the operating system, without referring to a specific distribution.
Windows Operating System
You can not describe water by saying “It is Water”. WINDOWS is the only operating system that is well known for any person who touches a keyboard (I believe that writing “mouse” may cause problem, so instead I used keyboard).
WINDOWS is a closed operating system. Microsoft is controlling everything. People consider WINDOWS as the BLACK BOX in the computing world. It is not because it will record last minutes of the flight. But, it is because that nobody can know the inside components except the manufacturer.
Normal user’s common requirements
What a user expects from his computer is vary from user to another. This makes it harder to satisfy user’s needs. Also it merges the functional and non-functional requirements together. Some of those requirements are more affected by hardware, but still operating system is affecting on them. Here is a suggested list of those requirements:
- Easy to use
- Stable
- Secure
- No viruses, worms, etc
- Fast
- User friendly
- Nice graphical interface
- Runs basic programs (office suite, internet browser, multimedia, etc)
- Run modern games
- Good support
- Other …
In fact, most of those requirements are fulfilled by both Linux and WINDOWS operating systems. But the small differences between them is what can make one of them win against the other.
Comparison using life cycle method
Small differences can be caught by using detailed life cycle detecting method. In this method we will compare between both LINUX and WINDOWS from, reasons of choose the operating system, passing on all steps after that, until the reasons of thrown it. The outline can be written like this:
- Why
- Getting
- Installing
- Getting applications
- Normal user’s requirements
- Uninstalling
- Throw away
Why
There are many reasons for taking LINUX as the first choose. Most considered one is that Linux is an open source. This means that LINUX is absolutely free and no one will ask you for any fees. In addition, anyone can modify and customize LINUX. Today you can find large number of LINUX distributions. This makes LINUX able to run on PCs, MAC computers, cell phones, game platforms, supercomputers, distributed systems, and nearly every computing machine or device.
LINUX is controlled by the organizations and comities on the net. Many developers, hackers and even normal users are working everyday in the LINUX development process. This makes the system up to date.
Today, big companies are adapting LINUX in their computing solutions. IBM, HP, DELL and more, are considered as big contributors in the LINUX world. For sure they make MICROSOFT upset. But it is a long way until it makes big difference in the market.
Many of WINDOWS users did not choose to use WINDOWS operating systems. It is because they do not know much about computers, and maybe because they do not like to change. Anyway, they bought the PCs with WINDOWS operating system installed in them. What to do? Answer is “nothing”. I woke up, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I am using WINDOWS. My father, uncle, brother, grandfather, friend, people on the road, in the coffee shop, all of them are using WINDOWS. It is the result of what they call “MONOPOLY”. More clearly, they are happy with it, no need to change it.
WINDOWS is targeting PCs, minicomputers, PALM devices, smart phones, some types of supercomputers and maybe more. Importantly, we can say “unlike LINUX, WINDOWS has well known targets to work on”. This is because a stand alone company like MICROSOFT must work in well defined plans and there is no time for playing here and there.
Getting
LINUX is freely available on the net, with books and some stores with small prices. If you download it from the net, just burn it on CDs or DVDs. This is differing from a distribution to another.
WINDOWS is sold out in the markets, online markets as MICROSOFT market. Also a hacked version is available on the net. Remember, MICROSOFT people can put you in the jail if you caught by them.
If we compare the price of LINUX to WINDOWS, it will be like drop in the sea. The difference can be felt by any person, even a child.
Installing
Most LINUX distributions come with a very nice user friendly installing programs. In the installing progress users can customize everything. Problem like partitioning can be resolved at the installing progress. Useful application, like office suite and more, can be selected in nicely ordered way. Everything is smooth in both simple and advance methods. LINUX can detect other operating systems on the PC. It makes things easier for multi-boot systems. What is most respectable about those installers is the ability to change displays even under the installation process. Each display will show a specific part of the process that run in the background. More importantly, one of those displays is a shell, where user can prepare something in parallel. Overall, LINUX installers are unbeatable.
Windows installers are varying, in scary way, from version to another. Older ones like in WINDOWS 2000 and even XP were good enough. Today, VISTA installer is mostly like a silent killer. After pressing install button, you will go into deep sleep until the whole progress finish. The installer will not allow modifying of the programs that will be installed with the system. It magically will copy large amount of files in the name of the operating system. So, do not think you will get any additional application with the operating system. In the end it will ask you to restart, and then everything will be ready for your use. Please do not ask how, when, who, etc. everything is considered as a user convenience.
Getting applications
In LINUX you can get the latest version of any application freely from the net. Just search the net using your favorite application management tool, like YUM, or by using search engines like YAHOO or GOOGLE. Locate what you want, download it, install it and then start using it.
Say WINDOWS, come to the market. Else go to the online market. In WINDOWS world everything will cost money. Still there are many free programs, but commonly nothing is free.
Last solution is to use stolen version of the desired program. Get a visit to the crackers and thieves sites.
Normal user’s requirements
The requirements listed above are not standards. Even so, they will be enough for our comparison.
Easy to use
Both LINUX and WINDOWS are easy to be used by normal users. But still, nobody can deny that WINDOWS is easier. That is because WINDOWS is limited by the graphical user interface. Most users believe that if they can not do something by clicking on it, it will mean that nobody else can do it, or they needs to buy a program to do so. In LINUX even normal users know that if they can not do something by clicking, they will find a way on TERMINAL. They believe on the power of LINUX and it’s TERMINAL.
Big issue arises. It is that normal users afraid of dealing with uncolored things like the TERMINAL and DOS. Since learning to how use TERMINALS and SHELL commands is a must for LINUX users, they will give up on LINUX and go for WINDOWS or even MAC OS.
Stable
Compared to WINDOWS, LINUX is far more stable. This is because the original design of the kernel (core) of both of them. LINUX separate the kernel from the libraries and the application levels. In WINDOWS, who knows, it seems like everything is mixed up. One of my friends believes that WINDOWS is the EXPLORER.EXE.
It may be a hard thing to believe that LINUX is stable as rock. But at least it is undisputable that a failure in LINUX is rare comparing in compare to the famous BLUE SCREEN from MICROSOFT.
Secure
Security issues can be caused by Errors, bugs and holes which could be found in any software. No software can be perfect. If we divide security issues to critical and non-critical we can summarize everything in next sentences.
LINUX has less number of security issues. It is not that LINUX is perfect. It is because of the very fast mechanism used in tracing them. As soon as anybody finds any problem, he/she will notify the responsible for the software about the event. Then an update will be available for the users as fast as possible. This makes LINUX one of the most secure operating systems.
WINDOWS has the worst reputation in this field. If an issue arises, it will take time until MICROSOFT gives a solution. It is because MICROSOFT works in plans. All problems arises from this date to that date will be solved in next Service Pack. Sometime an exception can be offered for sensitive critical issues, so a fast fix will be fixed before MICROSOFT loose customers.
No viruses, worms, etc
In LINUX world they believed that viruses and worms are no more a considerable issue. You can run LINUX without thinking about such pitiful attacks. It will be a wise to spend your time in more important things. Since you are not using the root account, everything will be fine.
WINDOWS is like a kindergarten for viruses, worms and other problems. Connecting to internet or intranet without firewall, antivirus and anti-spy-ware, is almost like committing suicide. Even plugging an external storage device may consider as the end of the journey.
A good question is “Why WINDOWS did not stop this problem as LINUX did?”
Better answer is “They want it since selling antivirus applications make them gaining money”
Fast
This requirement depends on mainly on the hardware. The operating system part is in the way it is dealing with the hardware. Also it is obvious that the more installed programs the heavily system become. From the “
Installing
” part we can figure out the difference in size between refresh LINUX and WINDOWS installation. It will be easier to know the heavier one. Do not forget, the heavier is the slower.
User friendly
This is the bottle nick. This is the point were everything come illogical. Here LINUX got beaten by all means.
The main difference is that WINDOWS is fully programmed to achieve the most user convenience. In the other hand LINUX is programmed to achieve the most performance. This makes useless WINDOWS application more demanded than useful LINUX application. Using the same concept, useful WINDOWS application will be demanded more than best useful LINUX application. This is goes on the operating system themselves.
In some circumstance user may believe that LINUX is not developed to be used by normal people. It is because nothing goes without his/her interaction. User does not want those interactions even if they are important for him/her.
Good example is installing new applications. In WINDOWS all what user may do is clicking on the file, accept the license agreement and press install. In Linux it is just specifying the application then press install. The real problem is in the installer itself.
In WINDOWS it may has pictures, it has nice design and it MUST has tricky sentence. This make user feels as hr/she own the world.
In LINUX it may contain nothing, and at most it will has a progress bar and no more. The worst in user’s viewpoint is the textual installers. They make him/her feels like working on nuclear reactor.
Nice graphical interface
Forget about the tragedy above. Today LINUX has one of the most elegant graphical interfaces. It can be fully customized. It has many unique features. One good feature is the 3D desktop environment. It makes LINUX on the top of this field.
In this field, WINDOWS considered a little behind other operating systems. In VISTA, MICROSOFT tried to compete with LINUX. Some effects added and selected colors are used. But still, there is a big gap between the two.
Anyway, many users do not know about LINUX. This means they will not about it is graphical interface features. For the time being, it will not cause any problem to MICROSOFT.
Runs basic programs (office suite, internet browser, multimedia, etc)
Both operating systems have their collection of applications. In LINUX you will find many alternatives for WINDOWS applications. This makes it easier for emigrant users.
In some fields like Multimedia, LINUX has critical problems. It is that famous production solutions, like ADOBE solution, are not available for LINUX. This may cause problems for some users since alternatives can be weak sometimes.
In LINUX, if you missed WINDOWS application, you can use an application called WINE to run them.
Run modern games
Most modern games are targeting WINDOIWS. If you are a game geek, then LINUX is not a good option.
Good support
Support is divided to two part, offline and online. Offline support is the documentation provided with the software. Famous one is the one under HELP part of any software. Online support can be available through HELP sites, forums, chat channels and remote assistance.
Both LINUX and WINDOWS packed with offline support. By comparing the provided documentations, it will be clear that LINUX has offline HELP documents about everything and in more details. WINDOWS offline HELP documentation is limited. It contains the most important part and sometime it will contain nothing useful.
Online support is most helpful support for both operating systems. Each operating system has an official help site and forum, help chat channels, and remote assistance service. Also, it is noticeable that LINUX has more online support suppliers. In addition, LINUX has what they called HOWTO. It is a guided tutorial for novice and advance users. WINDOWS has good online documentation and help center. Best ones are the ones controlled by MICROSOFT. Sometime you may have to pay small fees for their help. Overall, LINUX support is faster and better than WINDOWS support.
Other
Advertisements play a big role in the market. MICROSOFT is the best in this field. LINUX has weak marketing line. Maybe the best advertisement of LINUX is what produced by IBM. This affects the number of users. At least LINUX people should show the users what they got.
Uninstalling
Formatting is the fastest solution for uninstalling any operating system. Still some sites may offer smart solutions.
Throw away
Want to throw away the operating system. Ordinary idea is to smash the CDs or DVDs. Maybe destroying them by fire is another solution. Thinking of giving them as a gift is what makes difference.
LINUX is licensed under GPL. You can do anything. And giving it as a gift is most welcome. Also you can make more copies as much as you want. For more details you may read the GPL.
WINDOWS is licensed under the famous monopoly license, it is called EULA. It says that you own nothing. You are prohibited to give your copies to others. You can use it on one computer only. In any means, you have no right to do anything. Smashing the CDs or DVDs will not bother MICROSOFT since you did not make copies of them.
Conclusion
From the above, we could figure out that LINUX is good enough to compete in the market. The answer of the title question:
“Why LINUX can not win against WINDOWS?” is can be summarized as following.
- LINUX has weak marketing line
- It is defeated in the games war
- It is not supported by famous companies like ADOBE and others
- It is need to be more user friendly
- Need more advertisements
I hope those problems be solved in the future. It will be sad if a powerful operating system like LINUX be defeated by silly operating system like WINDOWS.
7 Responses
audio, the audio subsystem on linux has sucked for over 10 years,
there are too many choices esd, osd, alsa, openal, dsp , and they dont interoperate
one sound card, one sound drivers
1. Linux can’t run Photoshop or any other Adobe software for that matter
2. It doesn’t run any PC game I own
—
I found that it has many useful features, but that doesn’t matter as long as it can’t run my day-to-day apps.
Actually Adobe Photoshop CS3 works under linux by using wine.
Same for most games (you might have to buy cedega but since you own windows you are used to buing).
Not saying windows is brilliant but this is a serious anti-windows rant !
Mac OS X is becoming very popular and can almost be seen as a user friendly working version of linux…..due to the fact it works, has programs that work on it and has a nice look and feel but of course its also not open source, or free.
And linux has enough advertising but there we hit the next critical point – 40 different distributions ALL with major differences.
It is a major pain in the arse when you are used to for example SUSE and then move to Debian or Red Hat !
NOTHING is the same – the files are all in different places, the config is different etc AND this is a major problem for the majority of people who just want to use a computer (ie its programs) and not spend hours having search the net how to get something working on a differen distribution to the one that they are used to !
It’s unfortunate that this post is littered with ignorance.
First, Linux is spelled L-I-N-U-X, not L-I-N-I-U-X.
Second,
“WINDOWS is a closed operating system. Microsoft is controlling everything. People consider WINDOWS as the BLACK BOX in the computing world. It is not because it will record last minutes of the flight. But, it is because that nobody can know the inside components except the manufacturer.”
This whole statement is misleading. Microsoft’s products are currently (though not years ago) among the most documented products on the market. There is certainly a high degree of abstraction in the Windows product, but that is, it actually is, a feature. People SHOULDN’T need to know how the kernel is written in order to write a device driver. They SHOULDN’T need to see the source code of Explorer.exe to be able to write a shell extension.
Third,
“Most considered one is that Linux is an open source. This means that LINUX is absolutely free and no one will ask you for any fees.”
Ludicrous. Open source vendors ask for fees ALL THE TIME, and it’s their right to. Open source is not about free beer. That said, the core Linux kernel is free beer, and there are many more FREE DISTRIBUTIONS of Linux than there are COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTIONS of Linux, but the commercial distributions offer something that most of the free distributions do not: support.
Fourth,
“In addition, anyone can modify and customize LINUX. Today you can find large number of LINUX distributions. This makes LINUX able to run on PCs, MAC computers, cell phones, game platforms, supercomputers, distributed systems, and nearly every computing machine or device.”
You are not taking into account that all of these hardware platforms being able to run Linux makes Linux’s core featureset pretty limited to the lowest common denominators. Lots of hardware optimizations and hardware drivers go missing because all commercial Linux vendors combined cannot afford to compete with Microsoft’s ability to garner driver support and optimizations for the platforms that Windows runs on–and free drivers tend to lack quality, for obvious reasons.
Fifth,
“Many of WINDOWS users did not choose to use WINDOWS operating systems. It is because they do not know much about computers, and maybe because they do not like to change. Anyway, they bought the PCs with WINDOWS operating system installed in them. What to do? Answer is ‘nothing’. I woke up, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I am using WINDOWS. My father, uncle, brother, grandfather, friend, people on the road, in the coffee shop, all of them are using WINDOWS. It is the result of what they call ‘MONOPOLY’.”
You’ve seriously confused the term “monopoly”. Ubiquity is not monopoly. Everyone in my neighborhood gets their electricity from a company called SBC, but that doesn’t make SBC a monopoly; anyone can choose to buy a generator and gasoline if they like. But they choose not to.
I’m quite certain that 99.9% of all consumers who buy a computer make a decision, even if it’s a split-second decision, as to what operating system they choose to use. Many of them are choosing Macs. Most of them are choosing Windows. Few of them choose Linux for two reasons: 1) Linux is not available by the hardware vendor (Best Buy, et al), or 2) if Linux is available, they are not certain that the software that they intend to execute will run on Linux. And, they choose not to care.
Monopoly comes into play where Microsoft uses strongarm tactics to keep hardware vendors from installing Linux on the same hardware as part of the same package deal. But that isn’t what you said — you said that the CONSUMER CHOICE of retaining windows is due to monopoly, and that is incorrect; the consumer choice is due to a lack of DESIRE to fight the battle you’re fighting right now. As you said, “More clearly, they’re happy with it, no need to change.” Indeed, consumer satisfaction is not even remotely logically associated with the term “monopoly”.
Sixth,
“WINDOWS is targeting PCs, minicomputers, PALM devices, smart phones, some types of supercomputers and maybe more. Importantly, we can say “unlike LINUX, WINDOWS has well known targets to work on”. This is because a stand alone company like MICROSOFT must work in well defined plans and there is no time for playing here and there.”
Interesting, you listed a LOT of platforms there!! How do you think Microsoft managed to support so many platforms? By wiggling their nose? No, they spend their billions of dollars on the best engineers on the planet to “play with” these platforms, and they’re exploring other platforms all the time. You might want to start hanging out at http://research.microsoft.com/
Seven,
“In LINUX you can get the latest version of any application freely from the net….In WINDOWS world everything will cost money.”
Hey I’ve got news for you, buddy. You’re only looking at ratios, not quantities. Most Linux software is recompilable on Windows using either Cygwin or MinGW, and meanwhile THERE ARE MORE COMMERCIAL-QUALITY, FREE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR WINDOWS THAN FOR LINUX.
The software products that do cost money are usually either VERY, VERY high quality products and/or commercial-grade business applications. Software does not grow on trees, we software developers (yes, I am one) have to eat just like everyone else, and it takes a lot of time to build up a software application. We also want to be able to support our software. So we sell our software for a price.
And we would prefer to publish our software, for a price, on a platform that is supported and that is of high enough quality that it actually has a software price of its own, as well. Maybe that would mean Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Maybe that would mean Mac OS Server. But it might mean Windows. So then we start looking at platform-targeting development toolsets. Hmm… Visual Studio versus gcc. Ouch!!
Eight, you mention Windows users preferring the GUI and Linux folks knowing that they have to get into the terminal to get things done. Given the content in this section, you pretty much under-sold Linux and probably should not have mentioned this given your intent to knock Windows. That said, however, you made an ignorant move in your comments, and that was the failure to acknowledge Windows’ shiny new PowerShell, which has been around since before Vista as an optional installation and will eventually replace the CMD.exe command shell altogether. Meanwhile, Windows with the UNIX Compatibility options and optional tools installed also has all of Bash and CShell that Linux enjoys. Not to mention Cygwin …
In other words, whatever made Linux special via its command shell, Windows has, too. You just have to look past the nice GUI to find it.
Nine,
“Compared to WINDOWS, LINUX is far more stable.”
You need to be more subjective with your comments like this. Which version of Linux? Which version of Windows? Because last I checked, Windows Server 2008, using it as a workstation, is pretty rock-solid.
“One of my friends believes that WINDOWS is the EXPLORER.EXE.”
Wait, did you just say that? How about I say “One of my friends believes that Linux is Nautilus”? Why are you bothering to say such rediculous things?
“It may be a hard thing to believe that LINUX is stable as rock. But at least it is undisputable that a failure in LINUX is rare comparing in compare to the famous BLUE SCREEN from MICROSOFT.”
Apparently you have not discovered the joy that is the new partially user-mode video driver support that’s in Vista and Windows Server 2008 now. Since the most common cause of blue screens was the video card, blue screens have become quite rare in these new Windows environments.
Ten, Windows Server 2008 is VERY clean of security issues, albeit still in the same league as Mac OS X. But Microsoft publishes security updates via Windows Updates every month. They’re faster than most vendors at responding to users who report security holes by patching them with updates. Only the commercial Linux distributions are able to compete as well as Microsoft does at producing timely security fixes while at the same time doing heavy quality assurance testing to be sure that the patched product is not a buggy or broken one.
Eleven, the vulnerability of viruses, trojan horses, and the like are roughly the same across all of the latest operating systems. More viruses target Windows because more computers run Windows, not because Windows is more vulnerable. The very high ratio of Windows users increases the ratio of Windows-using virus writers, and it also increases their decision as to which operating system to target.
That said, earlier version of Windows and Microsoft Office had HUGE holes and vulnerabilities in them, but Microsoft has plugged nearly all of those holes.
Twelve, documentation and community interaction do not define support. SUPPORT IS ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT. Convincing hardware vendors to write device drivers for the platform is platform support. Writing software that targets handicapped people is accessibility support. Writing software SDKs and tools that allow users to produce high quality software quickly and of high quality is developer support. Microsoft’s MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) is one of the greatest support infrastructures of any software vendor on the planet. Only Apple comes close with its Xcode and associated tools initiatives.
As I mentioned, Linux has true support in the forms of COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTIONS, but these commercial distros tend to be very lackluster in what is they can actually accomplish. For instance, only Novell (MonoDevelop), Sun (JDK, NetBeans) and IBM (Eclipse) have made significant notable contributions in developer support for the Linux platform, and yet these contributions are also enjoyed by the Windows platform.
But with regard to simply getting help, I would disagree that Linux has more channels; Linux has more support in IRC, but the Windows crowd has some INCREDIBLE support via NNTP (news://msnews.microsoft.com), user groups, documentation, blogs, and professional consultants.
Last but not least, I want to give Linux a brownie and say that you missed one important thing in favor of Linux, and that is that YOU CAN MAKE IT YOUR OWN. You can make it start up with YOUR logo, you can write YOUR OWN shell, you can redistribute everything you customized about it and give it a product name and sell it for $2,399 if you want. You don’t get that with Windows; Windows makes you take it as it is or leave it.
I actually like Linux partly for this reason. Not over OS X or Windows Vista, but I like it, it’s a fun OS if you’re geeky enough.
A nice summary of the situation. Some misleading points, but mostly a good overview.
You seem a bit behind the times though with the discussion on “installers”. You say Windows users just download a program, double click, accept EULA, choose install directory, and it’s done.
True.
Then you mention that Linux install programs are much poorer in quality and “have no progress bar”.
Well this obviously depends on your distro. With a modern distro such as Ubuntu, installing tens of thousands of free applications is the easiest thing in the world. Just type “sudo apt-get install “. Ten seconds later, it is completely installed and ready to go.
Don’t like terminal (ie: “normal users”)? Synaptic or the more cut-down “Add/Remove Programs” box let you achieve the same thing with a GUI, and able to browse the entire library. And there’s a progress bar
As for the packages available: Well it’s very rare that there’s a piece of free software I hear about which isn’t available in the Ubuntu package system. Admittedly it’s a bit harder to install software if it’s not there.
Basically, you make the Linux installers sound a lot worse than Windows, where in fact in my opinion the Ubuntu/Debian package system is one of the major advantages of Linux over Windows, for both advanced and novice users.
@astro: You can run WINE and emulate Windows to run Adobe Photoshop or any game you can run on Windows.
But that doesn’t want to say i support Linux, however. I’m a Windows fanboy, and i will keep on using Windows for the rest of my life.
I tried several Linux distro’s and none of them could persuade me to ditch Windows.
@author: Nice article.