Windows Vs. Linux (Battle of the Giants)

Member Name: rob_writer

Product:	Battle of the Giants
Date:	07/09/01 (375 review reads)
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How many people have actually heard of Linux? Or UNIX for that matter? How many people even realise that Windows isn't the only choice of operating system (OS) that your PC can run. Yes, believe it or not people, Windows is not a given, it is only one OS amongst many. It just so happens that Microsoft Windows is the most popular OS, with just about everyone using it. Or at least that's how it would appear to your average punter who walked in to their local PC World store looking for a new PC. There may be people reading this op who know their stuff and are well versed in Linux and various other OS's, but there will be just as many people who don't. Windows is seen by many as what a PC is, just like IE is the browser that 90% of people use.

I'll get in to the good and bad points of Windows in itself later on, but ignoring the usefulness of the product most people must agree that such a monopoly can not be a good thing. It wouldn't be good if one company made every single type of car, or if you could only use one bank, but with PC's the argument is not as clear cut. PC's can be complex, and that isn't a particularly good thing for your average home user who wants to type letters and browse the internet. It can be hard enough at the moment, but imagine how much worse it would be if you had 3 different OS's to choose from. Some programs would run on one OS, others on another, you would need 3 sets of instructions for all your programs, or indeed 3 versions of each program. People would get used to using one particular OS and wouldn't be able to move between different computers with the ease they can now. Is that a situation that sounds good to you? It wouldn't be one that encouraged the average person on the street to buy a PC!

Love or hate Microsoft you can't deny that they have done a lot for computing over the years. They've done a lot of things that a lot of people don't agree with, but
on the whole they have made the PC much easier to use for the average user, and hidden a lot of the technical bits from the people who don't want to see them. I'm not saying that if Microsoft didn't make Windows then nobody else would have, because making PC's easy to use was something that had been waiting to happen for a while.

The story of the evolution of Microsoft is long, and gets pretty boring, but if I start about 20 years ago I can blast through the main points pretty quickly. Back when the first IBM XT computer was released PC's were a lot different. I actually have one of these beasts up in my cupboard upstairs, more as a museum piece as opposed to a useful PC. The Intel 8088 (which predated the 8086 which predated the 286, 386, 486 then Pentium...) ran at about 5Mhz, had 512Kb RAM (0.5Mb), a 5 1/4" floppy and a 10Mb Hard drive. This was coupled with a green screen monitor capable of text only. Back in those days anything like Windows was out of the question, the PC ran on a OS which used a command prompt where you had to type commands in to the PC. This command interpreter was known as DOS, the Disk Operating System. There were many versions of DOS throughout the years, made by different companies, but as time passed Microsoft gained control of the market and DOS became known as MS-DOS, the Microsoft Disk Operating System. The problem was DOS was awkward, it wasn't user friendly - it didn't appeal to the masses. The solution to this was Microsoft Windows, of which version 3.1 became the most well known of the early versions. This version of Windows ran on top of DOS, in that you had to have DOS installed on your machine first. Windows 3.1 was a good start, but to make computing appeal to the greater masses Microsoft knew it had to do something more, so they came up with Windows 95..........

Windows 95 was heralded as an all new OS, in that it was totally self enclosed and didn't need a prior install
ation of DOS to run. In reality it just hid DOS under the bonnet, but it meant that for the basic user everything was done in a nice graphical interface and there was no need to fiddle around in DOS. Windows 95 did more than this though, it standardised many features of the PC, for example DirectX, which makes playing games much simpler than back in the old DOS days. Future versions of Windows have built upon 95, but the standard workings have remained basically unchanged.

So what of the competition while all this was going on? Put simply, there was little commercial competition on offer from other software companies. The Apple Mac always used it's own OS, and UNIX was reserved for use on servers or universities. There were a few rival graphical OS's around the time of Windows 3.1, including Gem by Amstrad (I think, don't hold me to that!) but these never had the success of Microsoft. But out of the ashes a new rival emerged, Linus Torvald brought salvation to the world with the creation of Linux. Well, some would say that, others would say he created a pile of trash - but the fact remains that Linux is the biggest rival Microsoft have, and rather than fading out, Linux is on the rise!

First of all I had better explain just what Linux is, as I'm sure lots of people don't know. I've already written an op on what Linux is, so forgive me if I just take a few lines out of there - I don't like to write exactly the same thing twice!

Linux was written by a Norwegian Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Although he started work in 1991 the first full release of Linux (version 1) was released in 1994. The latest version of the Linux kernel is 2.4 and was released in January of this year. Linux was released under the GNU General Public License, which means that basically everything is free. The source code to any software under the GNU General Public License must be made available, so the opportunity
for tweaking and writing programs are great.

Linus Torvalds chose the penguin as the Linux mascot, as he thought it embodied what his project stood for (although what a penguin stands for I do not know). Just incase you wondered, Linux is pronounced LIH-NUCKS. Others call it LIN-ICKS but I prefer the original pronunciation.

So what is Linux? Well in its simplest form Linux is a simple text based environment, very similar to DOS. Linux, unlike DOS, doesn't have one standard user interface, either in the command line prompt form, or in the graphical form. The command prompt is known as the shell, and has evolved as Linux has with the latest shell being known as BASH (Bourne Again Shell). Of course no one wants to mess around in a command prompt environment, so in Linux there are a number of GUI's (Graphical User Environment), the most popular being KDE and GNOME (more on those later!).

Microsoft make Windows, they design it, produce it and sell it. Linux comes in MANY different versions from different companies. They are all based around the same core but come with different programs and may be designed for different uses. Linux is very versatile and it can be used for any computing task known to man. It has similarities to UNIX so can be used on servers and mainframe computers, it can be used on a stand alone workstation and can be configured to work as a firewall, and just about anything else you can think of.

So back to the different GUI's; both KDE and GNOME are very similar to Windows, in terms of appearance and use. These are not a native part of Linux like the GUI is in Windows, they are add on programs made by third party developers that run on a common X11 Windowing system (technical term for the graphical environment in Linux!). All this means that if you have used Windows a lot the graphical interface in Linux will be pretty similar, and you shouldn't have too much trouble getting used to it, but while
both KDE and GNOME work like Windows, but they have novel features that Windows lacks. For example, you have multiple desktops. When one becomes cluttered you can start a new desktop, or keep certain things in each. Because the majority of Linux programs are distributed free Linux normally comes with two CD's packed with loads and loads of programs, from games to programming tools. Whereas on Windows you have to buy an office suite, with Linux it is free.

Of course, Linux is not without some pretty major problems. The biggest problem is compatibility, either in terms of hardware or software. Windows software won't run under Linux without some fiddling, so you have to use Linux specific versions of programs. The problem is most programs don't have Linux versions. That's not to say that you can't do the same things in Linux, just you will have to use a different program to do it. For example there is no MS Internet Explorer in Linux, you have to use Netscape or one of the many other browsers. Changing browser isn't a major problem, but other software might be. Hardware can be a little harder to work around. If you have standard kit then you will be OK, infact Linux has support for many weird and wonderful pieces of hardware, but where it struggles is in devices that are designed especially for Windows. The vast majority of computers come with software modems, whereby some of the electronics on the modem is replaced by software in the driver, and herein lies the problem. For one reason or another not all companies make these drivers for Linux, and without a driver you're stuck. The situation is getting better however, with more and more manufacturers making a Linux driver. These problems can also extend to other hardware, such as printers and scanners. I got very unlucky with my new PC, and managed to get a modem, printer and scanner that Linux couldn't use. The chances are that most of you equipment will work in Linux, but not
necessarily all of it.

Compatibility aside, the biggest problem Linux faces is that it is nowhere near as user friendly as Windows. Linux is complex, which is one of its best, but also worst, points. Linux isn't hard to learn, it's just different to Windows which means that there is a learning curve and it will take time for you to become comfortable with it.

So there we have it, Linux and Windows. The main arguments can be summed up in a few lines. Linux is powerful, free and open source, but it is also harder to use, and lacks support both in terms of software and hardware. Windows on the other hand is easier to use, everyone's familiar with it, but it costs you money and it's made by those evil (!!) Microsoft people.

So, the big question that's on everyone's lips - which is best and who will win?

Well, to be honest that question's a bit of a non starter. Can you imagine a world without Microsoft? I certainly can't. There OS's are common place in the home, so much software is available for them and so many people use them that there's no way in the world everyone is going to convert to Linux. But I do think that Linux can grab a share of the market, even if it is only a small one. Linux, along with Unix, fares well in the server market and its customisability means it can be adapted for a multitude of tasks, so it has a strong future whether it makes it in to the home or not. Linux is growing in the home market though, although it is still mostly favoured by power users or people dis-illusioned with Microsoft's seeming world domination.

Ok, so which one do I use? What I want to use and what I can use are two different things. As I mentioned before my PC and Linux don't go too well together, so I mainly use Windows at home. I am currently building another PC to take to University though, with the intention of running Linux on it, so I am building it to be Linux friendly (
i.e. avoiding a WinModem and making sure the Soundcard is compatible). I'll probably still have Windows as a dual boot option though, because there are some things for which you just need Windows - playing a lot of games for example! The good thing is that Linux is free for download (if you have a CD writer) and certain distributions make installation very easy, partitioning your hard drives and setting up a dual boot menu thingy.

So, there we go, sorry it got a bit long and probably sounds like double Dutch to most people.

But anyway, Windows and Linux, you pays your money and takes your choice (except you go for Linux of course - it's free!).

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