NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Comparison of Windows and Linux

Comparison of the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating system is a common topic of discussion among their users. Windows is the most prominent operating system released under a proprietary software license, whereas Linux is the most prominent operating system released under a free software license. However, most Linux distribution sites also have proprietary components for their distribution available.^[1] The two operating systems compete for user-base in the personal computer market as well as the server market, and are used in government offices, schools, business offices, homes, intranet and internet servers, supercomputers, and embedded systems. For the specific comparison of the open source Linux operating system with the closed source Windows Operating system please see Comparison of Windows and Linux Open source (or free software) and closed source (or proprietary software) are two approaches to the control, exploitation and commercializing of computer software. ... Windows redirects here. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... An operating system (OS) is a software that manages computer resources and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... Free software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things. ... A router, an example of an embedded system. ...

Windows dominates in the desktop and personal computer markets with about 90% of the desktop market share, and in 2007 accounted for about 66% of all servers sold.^[2] In server revenue market share (2007Q4) Windows achieved 36.3% and Linux achieved 12.7%.^[3] As of November 2007, Linux powered 85% of the world's most powerful supercomputers.^[4] In February 2008, Linux powered five of the ten most reliable internet hosting companies, compared to Windows' two.^[5] Market dominance is a measure of the strength of a brand, product, service, or firm, relative to competitive offerings. ... Bold text Desktop computer with several common peripherals (Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, microphone and a printer) A desktop computer is a gay electronic machine computer which convert raw data into meaningful information, made for use on a desk in an office or home and is distinguished from portable computers such... For other uses, see Supercomputer (disambiguation). ...

Linux and Windows differ in philosophy, cost, ease of use, versatility, and stability, with each seeking to improve in their perceived weak areas. Comparisons of the two tend to reflect the origins, historic user base and distribution model of each. Typically, some major areas of perceived weaknesses regularly cited have included the poor “out-of-box” usability of the Linux desktop for the mass-market and poor system stability for Windows. Both are areas of rapid development in the two camps.

Proponents of free software argue that the key strength of Linux is that it respects what they consider to be the users' essential freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study and change it, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. // The free software community is also called the open source community or the Linux community. ...

Difficulties in comparing Windows and Linux

This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... A kernel connects the application software to the hardware of a computer. ... Ubuntu, a popular Linux Distribution A Linux distribution (also called GNU/Linux distribution and often simply distribution or distro) is a member of the Linux family of Unix-like computer operating systems. ... Look up desktop in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up server in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In mathematics, see embedding. ... Look up Multimedia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. ... Windows Vista (pronounced ) is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ... Windows Server 2008 is the most recent release of Microsoft Windowss server line of operating systems. ... Original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, is a term that refers to containment-based re-branding, namely where one company uses a component of another company within its product, or sells the product of another company under its own brand. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... Shared source is Microsoftâ€™s framework for sharing computer program source code with individuals and organizations. ... A device driver, often called a driver for short, is a computer program that enables another program (typically, an operating system) to interact with a hardware device. ...

Total cost of ownership

In 2004, Microsoft launched a marketing campaign named "Get the Facts" to encourage users to switch from Linux to Windows Server System.^[7] Microsoft claims that its products have an overall lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than open source programs because of their ease of use, resulting in less work and lower staff wages.^[8] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Criticism of Microsoft and Comparison of Windows and Linux (Discuss) There have been a number of studies related to Microsoft. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Get the Facts is a FUD-campaign-initiative created by Microsoft 2004. ... Windows Server System logo Windows Server System is an integrated set of server software, from Microsoft, that forms the infrastructure for operating the backend of an institutions information technology system. ... Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs commonly related to software or hardware. ...

However, Microsoft's figures are disputed by a variety of organisations, notably Novell and The Register.^[9] Some websites suggest that some common inaccuracies in Microsoft's figures stem from including figures for the Unix and Solaris operating systems with figures for Linux.^[10] For the road bicycle racing team previously known as Novell, see Rabobank (cycling). ... Current logo of The Register. ... Filiation of Unix and Unix-like systems Unix (officially trademarked as UNIXÂ®, sometimes also written as or Â® with small caps) is a computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and Douglas McIlroy. ... The Solaris Operating System, usually known simply as Solaris, is a free Unix-based operating system introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1992 as the successor to SunOS. Solaris is known for its scalability, especially on SPARC systems, as well for being the origin for many innovative features such as DTrace...

In 2004, The UK Advertising Standards Authority warned Microsoft that an advertisement using research that claimed “Linux was […] 10 times more expensive than Windows Server 2003”, was “misleading”, as the hardware chosen for the Linux server was needlessly expensive.^[11] The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent British self regulatory organisation (SRO) of the advertising industry. ...

Desktop

It is very difficult to properly gauge the number of Linux or Windows users as the former are mostly not required to register their copies; additionally, a large number of illegally copied Windows exist. The above desktop usage share data is estimated from web browser user agent strings, rather than sales information or surveys. This is not entirely reliable because, among other things, web browsers do not always provide accurate information to web servers, and different sites attract different audiences that may be more prone to using one OS or another: such bias is very difficult to eliminate. (Of course, most servers are unlikely to be included in this measurement due to their traditional role as dedicated machines). More estimates are available at Usage share of desktop operating systems. A stylised illustration of a personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. ... A stylised illustration of a personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a computer whose original sales price, size, and capabilities make it useful for individuals, intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. ... system76 is a computer hardware manufacturer. ... This article is about the corporation Dell, Inc. ... SUSE (pronounced IPA: , properly (in German), ZOO-za, loosely SOO-sa [1] in English) is a major retail Linux distribution, produced in Germany and owned by Novell, Inc. ... Lenovo Group Limited, formerly known as Legend Group Limited, is the largest personal computer manufacturer in the Peoples Republic of China, and as of 2004 is the eighth largest in the world. ... ThinkPad is a brand of portable laptop and notebook personal computers originally designed, manufactured and sold by IBM. Since early 2005, the ThinkPad range has been manufactured and marketed by Lenovo, which purchased the IBM PC division. ... Information in this article or section has not been verified against sources and may not be reliable. ... WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. ... This article is about the mythical creature. ... For the NYSE stock ticker symbol KDE, see 4Kids Entertainment. ... Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is an open source window manager for the X Window System which can be used alone or in conjunction with a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE. It has a rich feature set, including extensive support for themes and good performance. ... Xfce ([1]) is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use. ... Openbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. ... In Unix computing, Fluxbox is an X window manager based on Blackbox. ... Beryl is a compositing window manager for the X Window System. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Compiz fusion. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Knoppix system console showing the boot process The system console, root console or simply console is the text entry and display device for system administration messages, particularly those from the BIOS or boot loader, the kernel, from the init system and from the system logger. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Microsoft . ... Windows PowerShell is an administration focused extensible command line interface (CLI) shell and scripting language product developed by Microsoft. ... Cygwin (pronounced ) is a collection of free software tools originally developed by Cygnus Solutions to allow various versions of Microsoft Windows to act similar to a Unix system. ... Coreutils is a package of GNU software containing many of the basic tools such as cat, ls, and rm needed for Unix-like operating systems to function. ... An example of a Web browser (Mozilla Firefox) A web browser is a software application that enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music and other information typically located on a Web page at a website on the World Wide Web or a local area network. ... This is a list of collections of statistics showing the usage share of the most popular desktop and notebook operating systems. ...

Both Windows and Linux include command line interpreters. A command line interpreter, typically displayed in a system console, allows users to tell the computer to perform tasks ranging from the simple (for example, copying a file) to the complex (compiling and installing new software). Shells are powerful but can be confusing to new users. Some complex tasks are more easily accomplished through shells than through a GUI, such as piping, or scripting. In computing, a shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users (command line interpreter). ... Knoppix system console showing the boot process The system console, root console or simply console is the text entry and display device for system administration messages, particularly those from the BIOS or boot loader, the kernel, from the init system and from the system logger. ... The term computer file management refers to the manipulation of documents and data in files on a computer. ... A pipe is an operating system mechanism originating in Unix, which allows the user to direct the output of one shell command through another command. ... A scripting language, script language or extension language, is a programming language that controls software application. ...

Installation

Linux distributions were said to be difficult for the average user to install.^[29] Today, most distributions have simplified the installation and offer a “LiveDistro” system allowing users to boot fully functional Linux systems directly from a CD or DVD with the option of installing them on the hard drive. Gnoppix 0. ...

The Windows install process, like most general-use Linux distributions, uses a wizard to guide users through the install process. A wizard is an interactive computer program acting as an interface to lead a user through a complex task using dialog steps. ...

Accessibility and usability

A study released in 2003 by Relevantive AG indicates that “The usability of Linux as a desktop system was judged to be nearly equal to Windows XP”.^[30]

Internet Explorer, abbreviated IE or MSIE, is a proprietary web browser made by Microsoft and currently available as part of Microsoft Windows. ... Windows Media Player (WMP) is a digital media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices. ... This article is about the mythical creature. ... For the NYSE stock ticker symbol KDE, see 4Kids Entertainment. ... SUSE (properly pronounced , but often pronounced /suzi/) is a major retail Linux distribution, produced in Germany. ... Fedora (previously called Fedora Core) is an RPM-based, general purpose Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. ... Mandriva (merger of Mandrakesoft, Lycoris, and Conectiva) is a French software company, and creator of Mandriva Linux. ... For the NYSE stock ticker symbol KDE, see 4Kids Entertainment. ... A window manager is software that controls the placement and appearance of application windows under the X Window System, a graphical user interface on Unix systems that enables a user to interact with a number of application programs simultaneously. ... Windowmaker Software Ltd Windowmaker is a product, and a registered trademark, of Windowmaker Software Ltd Windowmaker Software Ltd website. ... In Unix computing, Fluxbox is an X window manager based on Blackbox. ... Openbox is a free window manager for the X Window System, licensed under the GNU General Public License. ... In Unix computing, Blackbox is a window manager for the X Window System. ... Eye candy is an expression used to describe something that is most remarkable by its appearance, but that doesnt have anything else so exciting. ... Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a free software/open source window manager for the X Window System which can be used alone or in conjunction with a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE. It has a rich feature set, including extensive support for themes and advanced graphics... Xfce ([1]) is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use. ... In Unix computing, Ratpoison is a minimalist window manager for the X Window System. ... In computer programming, widget toolkits (or GUI toolkits) are sets of basic building units for graphical user interfaces. ... The Graphics Device Interface (GDI, sometimes called Graphical Device Interface) is one of the three core components or subsystems, together with the kernel and the Windows API for the user interface (GDI window manager) of Microsoft Windows. ... FL Studio (formerly Fruity Loops) is a digital audio workstation, developed by Belgian company Image-Line Software. ... LMMS aims to be a free (licensed under GPL), Linux based alternative to popular (but commercial and closed-source) programs like FruityLoops, Cubase and Logic Pro. ... Left side of the image has low contrast, the right has higher contrast. ... Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. ...

Stability

For an operating system to be subjectively “stable”, numerous components must operate synchronously. Not all of these components are under the control of OS vendor; while Linux and Windows kernels may be stable, poorly written applications and drivers can hamstring both. Much of stability, then, is the extent to which the operating system is structured to thwart the consequences of bad behavior by third party installations. In processors with memory protection, kernel mode (as opposed to user mode) is the mode in which the operating system kernel runs. ... When the Windows operating system reaches a condition where it cannot operate safely it is halted the moment the problem occurs. ... A blue screen of death as seen in Windows XP and Vista. ... A core dump is an unstructured record of the contents of working memory at a specific time, generally used to debug a program that has terminated abnormally (crashed). ... Linux kernel panic under QEMU. Mac OS X kernel panic alert. ...

Much of the reputation Windows has for instability can be traced to Windows 95, 98, and ME, which were notorious for displaying the blue screen of death (BSOD) upon crashing. Three weaknesses with these particular Windows versions increased the likelihood such a crash would occur: A blue screen of death as seen in Windows XP and Vista. ...

These are not the exclusive causes of instability, but their correction in the Windows NT codebase has dramatically improved the stability of all subsequent Windows variants: Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista. In computer science, a library is a collection of subprograms used to develop software. ...

Performance

Support

Programs

Linux distributions come with a great deal of software which can be installed for free, with an especially large collection of computer programming software.^[55] Debian comes with more than 18,000 software packages.^[56] An integrated development environment (IDE), also known as integrated design environment and integrated debugging environment, is a programming environment that has been packaged as an application program,that assists computer programmers in developing software. ... The GNU Compiler Collection (usually shortened to GCC) is a set of programming language compilers produced by the GNU Project. ... Eclipse is an open-source software framework written primarily in Java. ... NetBeans refers to both a platform for the development of Java desktop applications, and an integrated development environment (IDE) developed using the NetBeans Platform. ... Pelles C is a freeware Integrated Development Environment for developing Windows and Pocket PC applications using the C programming language. ... LCC (Local C Compiler) is a small retargetable ANSI C compiler developed by Chris Fraser and David Hanson. ... The GNU Compiler Collection (usually shortened to GCC) is a set of programming language compilers produced by the GNU Project. ... Eclipse is an open-source software framework written primarily in Java. ... NetBeans refers to both a platform for the development of Java desktop applications, and an integrated development environment (IDE) developed using the NetBeans Platform. ... Mono is a project led by Novell (formerly by Ximian) to create an Ecma standard compliant . ... This article should appear in one or more categories. ... Anjuta is an integrated development environment for C and C++ on GNU/Linux. ... KDevelop is a free software integrated development environment for the KDE desktop environment for Unix-like computer operating systems. ... The FreePascal IDE for Linux. ... OpenLDev is a graphical front-end to Linux development tools such as gcc, GNU autotools and make. ... The word standard has several meanings: Originally, standard referred to a conspicuous object used as a rallying point in battle. ... â€œStandardâ€ redirects here. ... The Collaborative software development model is a style of software development whose focus is on public availability and communication, usually via the Internet. ... â€œISOâ€ redirects here. ... Not to be confused with the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). ... Programming redirects here. ... Debian is a free operating system. ...

Microsoft has had a longstanding emphasis on backwards compatibility.^[57] In general, the Windows API is consistent over time^{[citation needed]}; programs designed for earlier versions of Windows often run without issues on later versions. For the sake of progress, however, Microsoft sometimes draws a line precluding support of very old programs. That first happened with Windows 95, where some purely 16 bit Windows 3.1 applications would not work, and again with Windows XP, where certain mixed-bit applications would not work. 64-bit versions of Windows (XP-64 and Vista-64) drop 16-bit support completely. However, 16 bit emulation and the enormous array of application-specific tweaks (“shims”) within new Windows versions^[58] ensure that compatibility with old applications remains very high.^[59] Windows API is a set of APIs, (application programming interfaces) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. ...

Gaming

A major attraction of Windows is the library of games available for purchase. The majority of current major games natively support Windows and are released first for the Windows platform. This article is about the British magazine covering computer and video games. ...

Some of these games can be run on Linux with a compatibility layer like Wine or Cedega. Others, and especially more modern games that rely on proprietary delivery systems, copy protection, Windows dependencies, or advanced acceleration features, may fail.^{[citation needed]} Moreover, those that run usually have quirks that are not present on the Windows platform. Games differ from running slightly better performance than they have in Windows, to a 25% or worse performance cut, depending on the game.^[60] In software engineering, a compatibility layer allows binaries for an emulated system to run on a host system. ... Wine is a software application which aims to allow Unix-like computer operating systems on the x86 architecture to execute programs that were originally written for Microsoft Windows. ... Cedega (formerly known as WineX) is TransGaming Technologies proprietary fork of Wine (from when the license of Wine wasnt the LGPL but the X11 license), which is designed specifically for running games written for Microsoft Windows under Linux. ...

There are notable exceptions, such as id Software's Doom and Quake series. When a developer chooses to write graphics code in OpenGL instead of DirectX, Linux ports become much easier. id Software (IPA: officially, though originally ) is an American computer game developer based in Mesquite, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. ... Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is a landmark title in the first-person shooter genre. ... Logo for Quake 4. ...

Recently, virtual machines such as VMware Workstation 5.0 have added support for accelerated 3D graphics. This provides much higher framerates at no performance cost. In computer science, a virtual machine is software that creates a virtualized environment between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate software on an abstract machine. ... VMware, Inc. ...

There are also numerous Open Source games designed first for Linux.^[61] While most of these are small games like Kolf or Pingus, there are also bigger games, such as Nexuiz and Freeciv. Many have been ported to work on Windows as well. Kolf is a miniature golf game for KDE, that was developed by Jason Katz-Brown in 2002. ... Nexuiz is a free software (engine, gamecode and data) 3D first-person shooter computer game distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) by Alientrap Software. ... Freeciv is a multiplayer, turn-based strategy game for personal computers inspired by the commercial proprietary Sid Meiers Civilization series. ... In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e. ...

Security

To determine what constitutes secure software, working backwards from insecurity is illuminative. The ideal software to encourage the creation of malware has several characteristics. It should be:

To discourage the creation of malware and reduce its impact, software should therefore have a small user base, rapid updates to neutralize new threats, and a compartmentalized structure that isolates damaged sections.

Compartmentalization is achieved by separating user and root privileges. Prior to Windows Vista, almost all Windows users were given a root account by default because lesser accounts were overly restrictive for most users. Linux user account tiers have historically allowed greater control, precluding the need for all users to have root access. Without root, it becomes much more difficult for malware to spread.

Permissions

Both Windows NT-based systems and Linux support permissions on their filesystems, except for FAT which has no permission support. Windows NT (New Technology) is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... See Filing system for this term as it is used in libraries and offices In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ... File Allocation Table (FAT) is a partially patented file system developed by Microsoft for MS-DOS and was the primary file system for consumer versions of Microsoft Windows up to and including Windows Me. ...

Linux and Unix-like systems

Linux—and Unix-like systems in general—have a “user, group, other” approach to filesystem permissions at a minimum.^[72] Access Control Lists are available on some filesystems, which extends the traditional Unix-like permissions system. Security patches like SELinux and PaX add Role-Based Access Controls, which add even finer-grained controls over which users and programs can access certain resources or perform certain operations. Some distributions, such as Fedora, CentOS, and Red Hat use SELinux out of the box, although most do not.^[73] Most modern file systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... This article is about the mythical creature. ... Diagram of the relationships between several Unix-like systems A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. ... In computer security, an access control list (ACL) is a list of permissions attached to an object. ... Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a version of the Linux kernel and utilities, which contains support for mandatory access controls based on the principle of least privilege. ... In computer security, PaX is a patch for the Linux kernel that implements least privilege protections for memory pages. ... In computer systems security, role-based access control (RBAC) is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users. ... Fedora Core is an RPM-based Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. ... CentOS is a freely available Linux distribution which is based on Red Hats commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product. ... Red Hat Enterprise Linux (often abbreviated to RHEL) is a Linux distribution produced by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market, including mainframes. ...

Most Linux distributions provide different user accounts for the various daemons.^[74] In common practice, user applications are run on unprivileged accounts, to provide least user access. In some distributions, administrative tasks can only be performed through explicit switching from the user account to the root account, using tools such as su and sudo. In Unix and other computer multitasking operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs in the background, rather than under the direct control of a user; they are usually instantiated as processes. ... Also known as least-privileged user account (LUA), least user access is a security feature based on the principle that all users at all times should run with as few privileges as possible, and also launch applications with as few privileges as possible. ... On many computer operating systems, superuser, or root, is the term used for the special user account that is controlled by the system administrator. ... The Unix su (substitute user or switch user or super user) command is used to assume the login shell of another user without logging out. ... This article is about the Unix command line program. ...

Windows

Windows NT uses NTFS-based Access Control Lists to administer permissions, using tokens.^[75] Most modern file systems have methods of administering permissions or access rights to specific users and groups of users. ... Windows Vista (pronounced ) is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ... NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista. ... In computer security, an access control list (ACL) is a list of permissions attached to an object. ... In the Windows NT architecture, a token is a system object (type name Token) representing the subject in access control operations, i. ...

On Windows XP and prior versions, most home users still ran all of their software with Administrator accounts, as this is the default setup upon installation. The existence of software that would not run under limited accounts and the cumbersome runas mechanism forced many users to use administrative accounts. This gives users full read and write access to all files on the filesystem. Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. ... On many computer operating systems, superuser, or root, is the term used for the special user account that is controlled by the system administrator. ... This article is about computer files and file systems in general terms. ...

Windows Vista changes this^[76] by introducing a privilege elevation system called User Account Control that works on the principle of Least user access. When logging in as a standard user, a logon session is created and a token containing only the most basic privileges is assigned. In this way, the new logon session is incapable of making changes that would affect the entire system. When logging in as a user in the Administrators group, two separate tokens are assigned. The first token contains all privileges typically awarded to an administrator, and the second is a restricted token similar to what a standard user would receive. User applications, including the Windows Shell, are then started with the restricted token, resulting in a reduced privilege environment even under an Administrator account. When an application requests higher privileges or "Run as administrator" is clicked, UAC will prompt for confirmation and, if consent is given, start the process using the unrestricted token.^[77] Windows Vista (pronounced ) is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, Tablet PCs, and media centers. ... UAC confirmation dialog UAC credentials dialog User Account Control (UAC) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsofts Windows Vista operating system. ... Also known as least-privileged user account (LUA), least user access is a security feature based on the principle that all users at all times should run with as few privileges as possible, and also launch applications with as few privileges as possible. ... In the Windows NT architecture, a token is a system object (type name Token) representing the subject in access control operations, i. ... In computing, Windows Shell is the most visible aspect of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. ...

For more information on the differences between the Linux su/sudo approach and Vista's User Account Control, see Comparison of privilege authorization features. The Unix su (substitute user or switch user or super user) command is used to assume the login shell of another user without logging out. ... This article is about the Unix command line program. ... UAC confirmation dialog UAC credentials dialog User Account Control (UAC) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsofts Windows Vista operating system. ... A number of computer operating systems employ security features to reduce the ability of administrators from giving malware sufficient privileges to compromise the computer system. ...

Localization

It is easy to have multiple languages installed in Linux and to switch between them while the user is logging in. Almost all applications will communicate with the user in the selected language, because they can detect it from the environmental variable LANG. In MS Windows user has to change language in every application separately^{[citation needed]} and the whole operating system's user interface supports only the language selected during installation process (Windows Vista)^{[citation needed]}, so the only way to change it is to reinstall the entire operating system^{[citation needed]}.

Linux also supports more languages and writing systems than Windows. It supports all of the languages Windows supports, as well as Ethiopic, Gurmukhi, Oriya, Tibetan, Mongolian, Burmese, and Lao.

See also

Image File history File links Free_Software_Portal_Logo. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... For the specific comparison of the open source Linux operating system with the closed source Windows Operating system please see Comparison of Windows and Linux Open source (or free software) and closed source (or proprietary software) are two approaches to the control, exploitation and commercializing of computer software. ... These tables compare general and technical information for a number of widely used and currently available operating systems. ... A shell is a computer program which interacts with the userland and subsequently the kernel of an operating system. ...

References

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^ Microsoft sees Windows gaining server market share. iTnews (February 28, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
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^ "Get the Facts", Microsoft's Website
^ Get the Facts: Total Cost of Ownership, by Microsoft (refers to Windows Server 2003).
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EMA Study: Get the Truth on Linux Management, Levanta / OSDL, February 2006
Unbending the Truth, Novell, Inc.
Truth Happens, Red Hat
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^ Clean Install Procedure with Illustrative Screen Captures, The Elder Geek
^ Sjouwerman, Stu & Tittel, Ed (September 1999), Windows NT and Hardware, Pearson Education (web outtake: Microsoft TechNet), ISBN 978-0-73-570922-5, <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/ntwrkstn/maintain/operate/hardware.mspx>. Retrieved on 12 April 2008
^ http://madpenguin.org/cms/html/47/5937.html "switching to windows"
^ http://linux.blogweb.de/uploads/winVSubu.pdf "Windows vs. Ubuntu"
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^ In my personal experience as a refurbisher, I have yet to find any version of Windows that will install in under two to four hours. Rhosgobel: Radagast's home
^ Windows Vista Imaging and Installation Performance. Microsoft Windows Vista team blog.
^ “The Live CD List” http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
^ Official court document outlining illegal behavior in Microsoft's practice of bundling software http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f1700/1763.htm
^ GNU GRUB - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)
^ LUIGUI - Linux/UNIX Independent Group for Usability Information, Linux Journal, March 2000
^ Linux Usability Study Report, Relevantive AG, 13 August 2003
^ http://www.actsofvolition.com/archives/2001/december/windowsxprough XP inconsistencies
^ Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines
^ http://usability.kde.org/hig/ KDE human interface guidelines
^ http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/ GNOME HIG
^ Microsoft Accessibility, KDE Accessibility, GNOME Accessibility
^ Using Hotpatching Technology to Reduce Servicing Reboots.
^ GeodSoft. Linux, OpenBSD, Windows Server Comparison: Linux Stability.
^ Windows-to-Linux roadmap: Part 1. Thinking in Linux. IBM developerWorks (November 11, 2003). Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
^ Brian Hatch (April 9, 2003). The Upgrade Process: Restarting vs Rebooting. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
^ List of Rescue and Repair LiveDistros
^ http://www.808multimedia.com/winnt/kernel.htm
^ Inside the Windows Vista Kernel: Part 1, Microsoft Technet
^ Dan Tsafrir, Yoav Etsion, Dror G. Feitelson. Secretly Monopolizing the CPU Without Superuser Privileges.
^ XP Myths: Moving the paging file
^ How to configure paging files for optimization and recovery in Windows XP, Microsoft Help and Support
^ New OpenOffice for Ubuntu.
^ GoboLinux at a glance. GoboLinux. Retrieved on 2008-03-17.
^ Compare “First steps” paragraph in http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html
^ http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/10/15/55296.aspx Raymond Chen on Backward compatibility
^ McLaws, Robert. "The Truth About Visual Studio Support on Windows Vista", Robert McLaws: Windows Vista Edition, www.windows-now.com, 2006-09-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-12. Archived from the original on 2006-09-27. For example, Windows Vista is not compatible with pre-2005 versions of MS SQL Server
^ Application Compatibility - The Linux Foundation
^ http://www.pgroup.com/gindex.htm
^ Polyhedron Software | Home
^ Number of Debian Packages
^ Debian Packages
^ Number of Debian Packages
^ http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/10/15/55296.aspx Raymond Chen on Backward compatibility
^ http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/Ou/?p=325 “Vista will ship with thousands of application shims to accommodate legacy applications”
^ Microsoft (April 2007). Application Compatibility Cookbook. The Windows Vista Developer Story. Microsoft Developer Network. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
^ Wine Wiki. Benchmark tests for WINE.
^ Debian. List of Games for Debian.
^ ^a ^b InternetNews Realtime IT News – Linux Malware On The Rise
^ Dutch Botnet Suspects Ran 1.5 Million Machines - Security Technology News by TechWeb
^ New worm targets Linux systems - CNET News.com
^ How Do They Do It? A Look Inside the Security Development Lifecycle at Microsoft -- MSDN Magazine, November 2005.
^ Compare Windows to Red Hat.
^ Microsoft issues Vista security scorecard, gives itself an A-plus.
^ Flaws Are Detected in Microsoft's Vista.
^ Forrester Research. Forrester Report into relative security of Linux and Windows.
^ Claims Open Source offers a faster and more effective response to security issues.
^ The Register (2004-10-22). Security Report: Windows vs Linux (Rebuttal to the Forrester Report).
^ Security on a Linux file system, retrieved January 19, 2007.
^ Red Hat discusses RHEL's inclusion of SELinux: [1] A wiki devoted to SELinux in Fedora:[2] A review of CentOS hosted at linux.com: [3]
^ For instance see this paragraph in Debian Policy [4] (a better citation is welcome)
^ Managing Authorization and Access Control. Microsoft Technet.
^ Microsoft describes in detail the steps taken to combat this in a TechNet bulletin. [5]
^ Kenny Kerr (2006-09-29). Windows Vista for Developers – Part 4 – User Account Control. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.

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Difficulties in comparing Windows and Linux var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};