The differences between Linux and Windows

Are you a completely new user who just bought a PC and had Microsoft Windows preinstalled on it? Looking for what is beyond the realm of the Windows operating system, what is Linux and how is it different from Microsoft Windows that already came with your computer when you bought it or is it the other way around if Linux was the default operating system on your computer?

I will point out some major differences between the two major operating systems, Linux and Windows.

Microsoft is the only company that makes Windows OS while in Linux, different companies make Linux distributions. Distro means distribution.

The short story , in 1993 Linus Torvalds released the first Linux kernel. Soon, others thought they could write a better computer operating system and made their own version with the Linux kernel as the smallest basic component. They called it Slackware, Debian, RHEL, Ubuntu, etc. This led to the birth of the Linux distribution and together they are called Linux distributions.

In Windows, everyone knows that there is a panel at the bottom with the start menu. Then again, some Linux distributions look similar to what Windows 7 looks like, while others mimic the famous OS X operating system in Cupertino.

However, there are GNOME and some desktop environments that look completely different and unique. If you are a new user, then we recommend that you try Linux Mint (for Windows users) or Elementary OS (for OS X users).

However, Windows tends to be a major target of cyber attacks due to its user base (popularity). Then again, Windows is also known to be inflated with unnecessary drivers and files.

In Windows , a software can be packaged for XP, Vista, 7 or 8 etc. This way a developer is not worried about which version of Windows operating system is used. But this is the same reason why an outdated virus for Windows XP can infect newer versions of Windows 7, 8 and 10.

On Linux , software is packaged for specific distribution, e.g. Linux Mint 17 developers only needed packages dependent on it and nothing more, this way the software is not inflated with unnecessary drivers or library files.

Thus, downloading the VLC media player on Linux could be about 12 MB, while on Windows it is expected 30 MB +. While Linux still deals with games, Windows is mature and the best platform for gamers. So, here, Windows wins on the gaming market and you probably made the right choice if you chose Windows.

There are also a lot of interesting games in Linux repositories. And by the way, you must have realized by now that one of them is a paid license, while the other is governed by a free license.

The choice of operating system you install on your computer depends entirely on you. However, enthusiasts have made this "dual boot", which allows you to keep both Windows and Linux side by side.