Linux Operating System History of Linux 1

Estimated Desktop Usage Share Windows 92.00% Linux Notes 1.02% January

Pre-installation Windows Pre-installed by default on almost all new desktop PCsdesktop PCs Notes Microsoft's agreement with vendors to sell only the Windows OS is being challenged in court by French consumer rights groups Linux Pre-installed by default on very few new desktop PCs. January 2010desktop PCs 3

Server revenue market share Windows 7.3% Linux Note 33.8% April

Top 500Top 500 supercomputer operating system family share Windows 1.0% (absolute 5) Linux 88.6% (absolute 443), the 14 fastest supercomputers run Linux June

Graphical user interface Windows The window manager is the Desktop Window Manager on Windows Vista. The desktop environment may be modified by a variety of third party products such as WindowBlindsDesktop Window Manager WindowBlinds Linux A number of desktop environments are available, of which GNOME and KDE are the most widely used. By default, they use as their window managers Metacity and KWin respectively, though these can be replaced by other window managers such as Compiz Fusiondesktop environmentsGNOMEKDE window managersMetacityKWinCompiz Fusion 6

Command-line interface Windows The Command Prompt exists to provide direct communication between the user and the operating system.Command Prompt Linux Linux is strongly integrated with the system console. The command line can be used to recover the system if the graphics subsystem fails. A large number of Unix shells exists. with the majority being "Bourne shell compatible" shells, of which the most widely used is GNU Bash.Unix shellsBourne shell compatibleGNU Bash 7

8 A command-line interface, typically displayed in a system console or terminal emulator window, 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. See also: Comparison of computer shells.command-line interfacesystem consoleterminal emulator copying a fileShellspipingscriptingComparison of computer shells

Ease of Install Windows On Windows Server 2003 and prior, the installation is divided into two stages; the first, text-mode; the second, graphical.On Windows Vista and newer, the installation is single stage, and graphical. Linux Varies greatly by distribution. Most distributions intended for new or intermediate users provide simple graphical installers. General purpose oriented distributions offer a live CD or GUI installer (SuSE, Debian, Pardus, Pclinuxos, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora etc.),SuSEDebianPardus PclinuxosMandriva UbuntuFedora 9

Drivers Windows The Windows installation media usually contains enough drivers to make the OS functional. To this end, "generic" drivers may be used to provide basic functionality. Drivers for these devices can later be upgraded from the manufacturer. Windows Update may also contain updated drivers that can be installed after the base OS is in place. Linux Linux kernels in most distributions include the majority of drivers available as modules, hardware is detected and drivers loaded at boot with usually little or no user interaction required.usually the drivers are included in the kernel (open- source), and therefore do not require additional media or any user interaction. A few hardware manufactures (Broadcom, Nvidia) have proprietary drivers which require manual installation.modulesBroadcomNvidia 10

Pre-installed software Windows Some multimedia and home use software (IE, Media Player, Notepad, WordPad, Paint…) plus OEM bundled software. Windows Vista Includes IE7, Windows Mail, Windows Media Center, etc. depending on which edition is purchased. It does not include Office suites or advanced multimedia softwareIEMedia Player NotepadWordPadPaint OEMIE7Windows Mail Windows Media Center Microsoft's methods of bundling software were deemed illegal in the case United States v. MicrosoftUnited States v. Microsoft Linux All main distributions contain numerous programs: multimedia, graphics, internet, office suites, games, system utilities and alternative desktop environments. Some distributions specialise in education, games, or security. 11

12 Not pre-installed software Windows A massive pool of both proprietary software (including shareware and freeware) and free software. Programs usually come with the required libraries and are normally installed easily. proprietary software sharewarefreewarefree software Uninstallation can be of varying difficulty depending on which of many installer methods were used, components and registry entries may be left behind Linux A massive pool of free software and some proprietary software covering a wide range of use. A Microsoft employee wrote in an internal report in 1998 that "Most of the primary apps that people require when they move to Linux are already available for free.Using free Windows- compatibility layers like Wine, some Windows software can also be runWine

13 Linux distributions can not lawfully include MP3 or MPEG-4 file decoders in a majority of countries, as it would violate the Patent Cooperation Treaty. There is nothing preventing a user from installing these decoders, however the user assumes all liability for installing said pieces of software. Media players (such as Rhythmbox)) for free alternative audio/video formats are available in Linux, but these players are unable to decode patented formats, such as MP3, without installing additional plugin MP3MPEG-4Patent Cooperation Treaty Rhythmbox

Partitioning 14

File systems 15

Boot Loader 16

Accessibility and usability 17

General stability 18

Performance 19

Support 20

Programs 21

Security 22