[agent_007]

Hi everyone ! some people keep promoting windows and some never stop praising linux. So I want you to help me and tell me which os is better - windows or linux and why? Thank you.

[Moonbat]

It depends on what you plan to do. Windows is good for most everyone, even tech-minded people. Linux allows you to tweak a few more things that Windows might rope off. Windows costs money, but Linux is free. But some people are willing to pay for Windows, mainly because it comes with the purchase of a computer in most countries.

Linux has become somewhat of a de facto when it comes to choosing an OS for a server. But it all depends on what you want to do.

[ccrasherdeb]

Linux has a lot of good features if they suit your needs.

If you use or will use hi end software then Windows would be the better choice. A good example of this is Autodesk CAD software or similar hi end programs. I tried a few years ago to find a program for 3D solid modeling for Linux but there is nothing that comes close to ACAD. I was working with a few people in the hopes of getting Autodesk to make a decent version of their software for Linux but have had little success.

If you use the hi end Adobe software, I'm not sure if you can run it on Linux or how well it will work and also many games don't work to well on Linux. So depending on your needs/requirements the choice is up to you.

[baavgai]

They're both operating systems. Linux has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, where the Windows OS hasn't changed in any significant way for at least eight years. Not saying that Windows is bad, but that Linux is now more than equal. Normal people are now using Ubuntu, rather than brave Vista.

But an OS is just a piece of the computer, it's the available software that matters. When if comes to commercial software, Windows is the undisputed leader. Windows runs the most programs, most games, most things you'll find in your average computer store. Some peripherals are Windows only. Everything caters to Windows, because they have the user share.

Not that Linux lacks for available software. It has tons of programs, some even comparable to Windows big hitters. Firefox, OpenOffice, Gimp, Blender, are all on par with their proprietary cousins. However, if there is a particular program that needs Windows or a Windows only driver, Linux can't help.

Ultimately, it's what you need. For games, go Windows. If you require functionality rather than a particular program, Linux is a viable choice.

[homemade-jam]

Linux! Free! Open source! What more do you need?

[DaneAU]

homemade-jam, on 8 Sep, 2008 - 11:32 PM, said:

Linux! Free! Open source! What more do you need?

Indeed that is true, however sadly a lot of top software is not on linux. I run linux -opensuse- and love it to death, however i also have windows xp installed for the occasional game and that sort of thing... Linux is great once you get things working correctly and its well worth the effort. I do all my programming under linux as i find it less distracting and far easier. Windows runs slow and i get sick and tired of the intrusive microsoft bullcrap and the size of applications that run.

Linux is a definate win no matter which way you look at it, use it for anything other than some programs (maybe use wine) and games.

[cygnusX]

baavgai, on 8 Sep, 2008 - 03:32 PM, said:

Not that Linux lacks for available software. It has tons of programs, some even comparable to Windows big hitters. Firefox, OpenOffice, Gimp, Blender, are all on par with their proprietary cousins.

So what?Those programs are available on Windows too.I mean this thread is not "Firefox vs IE" or "MS Office vs OpenOffice" but it's "Windows vs Linux",right?All of the programs on my computer are freeware - browser(Firefox),chat application(mIRC),programming IDE(Visual C# Express),text editor(AbiWord),audio/video player(well,WMP or Vu Player).They're all free.Also many of the commercial programs for Windows does not have Linux equivalents.Too bad for Linux users.

Easiness of use - Windows obviously
Features - well,they're equal.You can do the same things on both systems but most of the things will be far easier on Windows
Commercial programs/Games - Windows>>>>Linux

Non-programmers,i.e. 95%(maybe even more) of the people who use computers will choose Windows cause it's easy for use.Linux is not.And there are hundreds of Linux distributions,too bad...People do not want to waste their time for choosing the best distribution...Yes,most of the programs on Linux are open source...but the non-programmers do not care.And there are many open source projects on Windows.Also people do not care about any consoles,repositories,compiling,modules and things like that.

[josiahb]

I use both and I like both, Win XP on my work PC, Vista on my desktop and vista/ubuntu dual boot on my laptop (the desktop will be going dual boot in a rebuild shortly).

Most of the servers I work with run some flavour of windows server, either 2000 or 2003 (new servers going in in the next couple of months running 2008) but there are a couple of boxes with linux (and the evil SCO box).

Each serves its purpose and fits its role, the majority of my development work at work is in .net and published to IIS. The desktop at home is mainly used for games and I do some freelance development work on the Ubuntu install on the laptop (PHP, MySQL).

All of this leaves me fairly pragmatic when it comes to OSes, I'll use what works best for the job I'm doing and the only thing I know for sure is the answer will never ever, ever be SCO.

[homemade-jam]

Yeah hate to say it, still cant live without windows

[agent_007]

Thank you guys.From your posts i now know that winows is good for gams an running programs whereas linux is good for programmers . But still one question remains in my mind that why linux is good for programmers. I would be thankful if anyone answers thi question.

[PsychoCoder]

Linux isn't good for all programmers. I'm a programmer and none of the stuff I program in the majority of the time will run on Linux. Yes there's Mono, but it still isn't the same as programming in .Net, which is what I do.

I too run a dual boot system (XP and Ubuntu), but spend more time in Windows because my IDE's run on it, and my games run on it (neither of which will run on Linux)

[baavgai]

agent_007, on 9 Sep, 2008 - 10:19 AM, said:

why linux is good for programmers

I don't know if I'd agree with this.

It's no better than anything else. Any OS needs programs, has tools to write those programs, most offer tools to developers to encourage third party writers. Some, many embedded proprietary systems, charge the developer for the privilege.

I do the vast majority of my programming on Windows; it pays the bills. Microsoft offers some of the best development tools available. It offers the basic ones for free, for that encouragement thing.

Linux tools, while much better now that a few years ago, can be primitive by comparison. If you like the terminal, you're set. If you don't mind developing you're GUI purely in code, you're fine. You want a single universal IDE, you'll find Linux more of a challenge than a free copy of Visual C# Express for Windows.

Linux is good for programmers because most of the programs it runs are open source. This means you can look at a program you like and see how it's doing the voodoo it do. If you can understand myriad of libraries and programming conventions that are found in any large code base.

Windows is good programmers because the tools are excellent and the net has a ton of resources for it. Just look at this site and see how many Windows only versus Linux only solutions are offered. And this is a great site for non Windows programmers.

[abgorn]

Have you ever tried Linux on a LivCD? I like Linux because you can change practicly everything the OS.

[Amadeus]

Ah, the age old debate: Windows is good for X, but Linux is Good for Y.

I generally advise folks to use whatever operating system (or combination thereof) works best for their needs. When it cones to development, it's often helpful to have both if you're working on a project that requires cross platform compatibility, but it may be harsh to say one is better for development than another - better to say one is better for development for one person's needs than the other.

[homemade-jam]

Forget batch...Bash is the future!