Differences Between Windows and Linux

In line with the development of technology, computer is nowadays being an important part of human’s life. Since it was made firstly in 1941 by Konrad Zuse during the World War II, computer has developed into 5 generations. the laptop or PC you have now is the fifth generation of computer. Computer is a tool that is used to process data that has been formulated by the command. It consists of the hardware and software. The hardware of computer for example are CPU, HDD, VGA, Processor, CD-ROM, motherboard, keyboard, and mouse. Moreover, the software of computer for example are Operating System, Freeware, Shareware, Adware, antivirus, games, education software, web browser, and etc. Here the writer would like to discuss about the operating system. There are two main operating systems widely used around the world, Windows and Linux. Both of them have the differences, such as in user interface, security system, performance, file system, and hardware support.

One of the differences between Windows and Linux is in user interface choices. Windows does not have many user interface choices. In Windows, user interface is only one; it is the user interface that is brought by the Windows in each version. For example, if you have Windows 98, it means that you have only one user interface, which is Windows 98 user interface. If you have Windows XP or higher, you have its current Windows user interface and also have Windows 98 user interface that is lighter. It is because the Windows 98 is the basic user interface Windows has. In contrast, Linux has more user interface choices. For example, there are XFCE and Fluxbox. XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX platforms. A strong point of XFCE is its ease of configuration and it is also fast to run. The latest version features drag and drop, session management, translations for numerous languages, including support for multi-byte character sets, and numerous other features. Another user interface of Linux is Fluxbox, it is a window manager for X Window System that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but full of features to make an easy and extremely fast desktop experience. It can be seen that Linux user interface is superior to the Windows one.

Another difference comes from the security system. Windows has lower strength in its security system. Windows security system has many spaces for virus and spyware to enter. This problem is running from year to year, and this is getting bigger. It is not surprising if you find Trojan, spyware, adware and etc when you are running Windows, especially if it is a public used computer, such as internet cafe. Linux one is totally different from Windows one. Linux security system is derived from the UNIX operating system that has a stronger level of security. The secure environment of this is not achieved only by the design concepts of this operating system, but also through vigilant user and administrative practices. That is why there are not many viruses found in Linux. If there is a virus, it will not spread into wider area. Moreover, it is usually not able to affect a great damage to the computer. That is why the security system of Linux is better than the Windows one.

Performance is also an area of difference between Windows and Linux. Windows needs high specification for getting best performance. Windows is known as an easy use operating system. It is because everything can be done with just pointing and clicking the commands that has graphic-based. However, Windows is not referred to get the best performance. The 3D Desktop is a standard performance of Windows components. If you want to get best performance, you have to upgrade your hardware, and it is also not well enough. Different from the Windows one, Linux has capability to get the best performance in its standard components. The 3D Flip, 3D Cube, and 3D Ring are examples of Linux standard performance. All of these are made with best performance but easy to use. Thus, the performance of Linux is better than the Windows one.

One of obvious difference of them is the file system. Windows file system is readable in Linux. Common Windows file systems are FAT and NTFS. File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system using a file allocation table structure as the way it operates. FAT is now widely used in computer systems and memory cards used in digital cameras or portable media players. In addition, NTFS stands for New Technology File System. NTFS is a standard file system for Windows NT. NTFS file system has a simple design with a greater ability than the FAT file system one. NTFS offers several features needed in a distributed environment. You can read and even save the FAT and NTFS file system in Linux. Similar to Windows, Linux also has file systems. However, the Linux file systems are unreadable in Windows. For example, there are ReiserFS and Ext3. ReiserFS is a general-purpose journaling file system designed and implemented by a team at Namesys led by Hans Reiser. ReiserFS is the default file system on the Elive, Xandros, Linspire, Gobolinux, Yoper Linux distributions. Ext3 file system is a journaling extension to the standard Ext2 file system on Linux. Journaling results in massively reduced time spent recovering a filesystem after a crash. It is not only to improve recovery times on single machines but also to allow a crashed machine's filesystem to be recovered on another machine when we have a cluster of nodes with a shared disk.  However, these Linux file system cannot be red in Windows as Windows has no enough requirements to read them.

The last difference of these operating systems is hardware support. Windows has more hardware support. Commonly, people used Windows are seldom find a problem related to the hardware support on it. It is just because many people around the world use Windows on their computer. So, many vendors make their product suitable for Windows. Extremely different form Windows, Linux has less hardware support. Hardware support is a problem for people using Linux. It is just because only few people around the world using Linux on their computer. Linux is a operating system that is referred to a server or advanced user, not for office or home usage. Thus, there is only few vendors make their product suitable for Linux.

In conclusion, both of them are common operating systems often used around the world that have so many differences. In Windows, the user interface is not satisfying, because it does not have many user interface choices. While in Linux, it has many user interface choices. Talking about security system, Linux has stronger security system than Windows one. Another difference is performance. Windows needs to have high specification for getting best performance, while Linux does not need. The most obvious difference is the file system. Windows file system is readable in Linux, but Linux one is unreadable in Windows. Last, the hardware support also makes a difference in both of them. Windows has more hardware support than Linux. From the explanation above, the writer can conclude that Windows is an operating system that is suitable for ordinary user, while Linux is an operating system that is suitable for advanced user.

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