January 17th, 2011

WINDOWS
V/S LINUX A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Submitted to:
Mr. Faisal Shehzad
Submitted by:
Bilal Haider, Mehreen Nawaz, Sadaf Afzal,
Samia Akhtar, Nukhba Afzal, Anila Yasin, Sabiha Reyaz
[ MCS 2010-12 – SEMESTER 1 - MORNING]
Department of Computer Science – The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
 WINDOWS V/S LINUX: A COMPARATIVE STUDY 2011

In the name of Allah

the Most Merciful and
the Most Beneficent

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Contents
The need of a comparative study ……………………………….1
Overview ……………………………………………………….1
License ………………………………………………….…1
Cost …………………………….………………………….2
Market Share And Usage ……………………………………3
Distributions/ Flavors ………………………………………3
General Differences …………………………..…………………4
User Interfaces ………………………………………………4
Command line Interface …………………………………4
Graphical user Interface …………………………………5
Usability ……………………………..………………………6
Stability ………………………………..…………………….6
Security ………………………………..…………………….6
Applications/ Softwares ……………………………………...7
Multi-user Environments ……………..…….……………….7
Technical Differences …………………………………………….8
Hardware Support ………………..………………………….8
Structure ………………………….………………………….8
Windows ……………………..………………………….8
Linux …………………………………………………….9
Networks …………………………………………………….9
Performance …………….………………………………….10
Virtualization ………………………………………………11
References …………………………………………………….12

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THE NEED OF A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The study of the differences between operating systems usually helps
students in developing a deep understanding regarding implementation of
the various structures and algorithms to fulfill specific requirements for an
operating system. The comparison is also required when we have to
decide which operating system should be adopted in an environment
particularly a large environment where a wrong decision could cause
delay in its operations or a huge monetary loss. Furthermore, these studies
help in evaluating the system performance.

This document illustrates some major differences between Microsoft

Windows and Linux. As the number of distributions of Linux is huge, some
common features of “GNU/Linux” will be discussed alongwith Linux Kernel
version 2.6.37, being the latest version. Similarly, different versions of
Windows are present to cater different purposes, here will be discussed the
Windows NT 6.1, which serves as a base for the latest, Windows 7 and
Windows Server 2008 R2.

OVERVIEW

LICENSE
Linux is an open source operating system
making available its source code online and most of
its distributions come with the GNU General Public
License (GPL) and GNU Lesser General Public
License (LGPL), allowing the users to modify and
redistribute the system under the same license.
Contrarily, Microsoft Windows is a closed source, and
to some extent a shared source operating system, so
only some of the source code is provided when some
eligibility criteria is met. Windows comes with a
Microsoft End User License Agreement (MS-EULA)
which prohibits the installation of a single OS on
several machines (One Copy per Computer).

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COST
The acquisition costs for Windows are generally much higher than
Linux. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows on only one computer. In
contrast, Linux is completely free and you can run it on any number of
computers. However, the hidden cost in Linux lies in its support and
maintenance, but this typically does not affect home users. But businesses
are required to get subscription based support from other companies.
Similarly, Linux systems require relatively higher paid administrators which
increase the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Linux.
However, the TCO of Linux is generally perceived as much lower
than that of Windows. The chief technology architect at Merrill Lynch & Co.
is quoted in Computer World for stating that “the cost of running Linux is
typically a tenth of the cost of Unix and Microsoft alternatives”. On the
other side Microsoft claimed in 2004 that "Linux was found to be over 10
times more expensive than Windows Server 2003" but got warned from UK's
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which regarded it as misleading.

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MARKET SHARE & USAGE

When we see at the general market share analysis of both operating

systems, Windows certainly dominates but these analyses are formed by
the web access counts. In addition, usage of both operating systems varies
greatly. Windows is generally preferred for desktops, but Linux is highly
preferred for Servers, Supercomputers and Embedded systems. Linux is also
gaining popularity in smartphones.

DISTRIBUTIONS/ FLAVORS

Microsoft Windows family has two main operating systems intended

for personal computers and servers, namely Windows 7 and Windows
Server 2008 R2, which have further editions classified according to the
features and functionality provided. Similar is the case with Linux, as Linux is
only a kernel, not always but most operating systems come as GNU/Linux.
These Linux derivatives are called distributions. Major distributions are Red
Hat, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, SuSE for computers and Android, Maemo,
MeeGo for smartphones. These distributions vary drastically as these are
designed for different uses and targeted at different user groups.

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GENERAL DIFFERENCES

USER INTERFACES
Command Line Interface
The Command Interpreter in Linux is called Shell. While the most
common is GNU Bash, more than one shell can also be used on a Linux
system. As these are much powerful, the CLI on Linux is preferred for
administrative tasks. CLI is always accessible as the user has option to load
the CLI before GUI (Multilayered Run Levels). Whereas the Command
Interpreter called “Command Prompt” in Windows is not that powerful and
does not provide any benefit over the GUI.

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Graphical User Interface

In Linux, the GUI is not considered the part of Linux Kernel, so the
distributions have to implement some other solution. Commonly used GUIs
are „GNOME‟, „KDE‟, and „Xfce‟ and most famous user interfaces operate
on top of the „X Window System‟. In some cases the GUI may not be
implemented, like in embedded systems and servers, where the tasks are
performed using CLI. The GUI in Windows is considered the part of the
operating system. „Windows Shell‟ GUI is used in Windows systems with
„Desktop Window Manager‟. The Server operating system, like Linux, can
be operated without the GUI.

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USABILITY
Usability depends heavily on the focus of that operating system;
Windows‟ focus is on consistency, usability and safety while Linux focuses
more on performance, customizability and safety. Although the majority
Linux variants have improved dramatically in ease of use, Windows is still
much easier to use for new computer users. A “user friendly” software
means software that can be used to a reasonable level of competence by
a user with no previous experience of the software i.e. learning curve. As
far as the user friendliness of Windows and Linux operating system is
concerned, Windows appear to be more user friendly then Linux operating
system. However, Linux has some plus points over Windows like many
distributions provide “Live CD” installation which allows the user to use the
operating system before it is actually installed.

STABILITY
The majorities of Linux variants are notoriously reliable and can often
run for months and years without needing to be rebooted. Linux supports
multiple copies of the Kernel on the system such that if an error is
encountered and the Kernel becomes corrupted, a different copy of the
Kernel can be used to boot up the system, through the GRUB boot loader.
As the device drivers can cause serious stability issues, Windows is providing
“WHQL Testing”, which ensures the compatibility of third party driver with
the operating system. Linux, most of the time has drivers included in its
kernel, others are usually developed by the community, minimizing the
stability issues. Downtime for Linux is minimum; in circumstance no
hardware reset is needed.

SECURITY
Linux, being an open source operating system, has always been
considered very secure as compared to Windows, as open source offers a
faster and more effective response to bugs and viruses. Similarly, open
source operating system has millions of eyes on it, so the possible threats
are constantly detected and removed. In addition, users perform their
tasks as Limited Accounts, where permission for every system task is
required and no user access to registry is provided. Whereas Windows is
generally perceived as more vulnerable to security threats, its closed
source nature allows only a team of limited developers fix the threats and
usually the updates are released once in a month. The user privileges are
implemented in Windows by using “User Account Control” Framework.

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APPLICATIONS/ SOFTWARES
Linux has a large variety of available software programs, utilities, and
games. However, Windows has a much larger selection of available
software. Many of the available software on Linux are open source hence
available at low cost or free. Every type of software is available for
Windows as Windows is regarded as a general purpose operating system.
However, Linux is less common for general use and this has effects on the
development trends, so the entertainment applications like multimedia,
games etc are rarely available for Linux. But, there are softwares available
for Linux, like WINE, which add a compatibility layer under Windows
applications to run on Linux.

MULTI-USER ENVIRONMENTS
Linux is a true multi-user operating system, designed to handle
thousands of users at a time. While Windows can support hundreds or
thousands of networked users, but the operating system isn't true multi-user
operating system. The system administrator is the only "user" for Windows.

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TECHNICAL DIFFERENCES
Hardware Support
The most interesting aspect of Linux, given its size and complexity, is
its portability. Linux can be compiled to run on a huge number of
processors and platforms with different architectural constraints and needs.
While the Windows operating system can run on various available
architectures, it does not have that level of versatility.

Structure
Windows
Windows has hybrid kernel i.e. microkernel implemented like a
monolithic kernel. Some of the subsystems run in user space and some in
kernel space. The Windows architecture consists of two modes; user mode
and kernel mode. Further, user mode comprises two subsystems, the
Environment subsystem, which runs different applications, and the Integral
subsystem, which operates system specific functions on behalf of the
environment subsystem.
Similarly, kernel mode has
executive services, kernel
drivers, a kernel and
a Hardware Abstraction
Layer (HAL). Executive
services subsystem is made
up of many modules, that
perform specific tasks, like I/O
Manager, IPC Manager, VM
Manager, Process Manager,
Power Manager Etc. While
the kernel performs almost all
the tasks of a traditional
microkernel, kernel mode
drivers are used to
communicate with hardware
devices at kernel level, so all
the user mode
applications/services see the
hardware as file objects.
Hardware Abstraction Layer provides a consistent platform for kernel to run
on, by hiding differences in underlying hardware.

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Linux
Linux has monolithic kernel with modules, means Linux is a dynamic
kernel, supporting the addition and removal of software components,
called dynamically loadable kernel modules which can be inserted at
boot when they're needed. Linux architecture has two layers. At the top is
the user space where the user applications are executed. Below the user
space is the kernel space. Here, the Linux kernel exists. There is also the
GNU C Library which connects the system call interface to the kernel. The
Linux kernel space can be divided into three levels. At the top is the system
call interface and below
this is the kernel code,
which can be more
accurately defined as the
architecture-independent
kernel code, which include
the subsystems for Process
Management, Memory
Management, File Systems,
Networks and Device
Drivers. This code is
common to all of the
processor architectures
supported by Linux. Below
this is the architecture-
dependent code, which
serves as the processor
and platform-specific
code for the given
architecture.

NETWORKS
Linux, being a production operating system and open source, is a
great test bed for new protocols and advancements of those protocols.
Linux supports a large number of networking protocols, including the
typical TCP/IP, and also extension for high-speed networking (greater than
1 Gigabit Ethernet [GbE] and 10 GbE). Linux also supports protocols such as
the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), which provides many
advanced features above TCP (as a replacement transport level
protocol).

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PERFORMANCE
Linux is generally considered faster as compared to Windows. As the
Linux distributions range from minimal operating systems to full-fledged,
very powerful systems, Ubuntu is selected for performance comparison with
Windows 7. Here are given the results of some of benchmark tests.

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VIRTUALIZATION
A recent advancement of Linux is its use as an operating system for
other operating systems (called a hypervisor). Recently, a modification to
the kernel was made called the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM). This
modification enabled a new interface to user space that allows other
operating systems to run above the KVM-enabled kernel. In addition to
running another instance of Linux, Microsoft® Windows® can also be
virtualized. The only constraint is that the underlying processor must support
the new virtualization instructions.

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References:
1. Linux vs. Windows.
http://computerhope.com/issues/ch000575.htm
2. 10 fundamental differences between Linux and Windows
http://blogs.techrepublic.Com.com/10things/?p=406
3. Linux vs. Windows
http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/Linux.Vs.Windows.html
4. kernel Comparison Linux vs Windows
http://widefox.pbworks.com/w/page/8042308/Kernel-Comparison-Linux-vs-
Windows
5. The Linux Kernel Archives: Linux Kernel Organization, Inc.
http://kernel.org
6. Anatomy of Linux Kernel
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linux-kernel/
7. Linux Architecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_architecture
8. Architecture of Windows NT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Windows_NT
9. Microsoft's Linux ad 'misleading'.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3600724.stm
10. Linux vs Windows TCO Comparison.
http://www.cyber.com.au/about/linux_vs_windows_tco_comparison.pdf
11. Operating System Market Share (10-01-2011)
http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-
share.aspx?qprid=8&qpcal=1&qp stick=1
12. Web Server Survey
https://secure1.securityspace.com/s_survey/data/201007/index.html
13. Operating system Family share for 11/2010
http://top500.org/stats/list/36/osfam
14. Linux Operating Systems
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Computers/linux-operating-systems.html
15. Benchmarked: Ubuntu vs Vista vs Windows 7
http://www.tuxradar.com/node/33
16. Linux vs. Windows Hardware Support: The Truth
http://www.tannerhelland.com/371/linux-windows-hardware-support/

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