To all linux and windows users, please help me choose the better option.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
I do NOT recommend Linux to anyone. That said, it sounds like you got into a fanboy flame war with some Linux fanboys and lost. And now you're looking for ammo.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
I don't see why it even matters. Dual boot. Get the best of both worlds. All my computers are dual-boot Windows 7 and Linux Mint (better than Ubuntu, IMHO). That being said, I use the Windows side more often, because of Visual Studio and general availability of apps. The Linux side is better for Ruby/Rails development, which I do on occasion. And, thanks to JetBrains, I have the exact same dev environment for Web (WebStorm), Rails (RubyMine), Java/Android (IntelliJ), regardless of which OS I use. I've even tried Mono for .NET on Linux, but it's always a few steps behind, and I'm doing MVC3 work right now, so I stick to Visual Studio for the most part. I don't really find either one to be so much 'better' than the other. It depends on what you are using it for, and/or, which game you want to play! ;)
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Pmwanzia wrote:
Does linux have nice software like pdf readers, music players/codecs,antivirus,games and others that you can easily get on windows?
Yes, and no. You can get all the software you like in these categories, but you possibly won't get exactly the same games. If you walk into your local game shop, you'll see PS3, Wii, XBox and PC. You won't see Linux - but there are freely available downloads you can get. You could, of course, run both OS on the same box - this is a popular option. As far as programming goes, it really depends what you want to program. If you want to write C# programs, you can target both environments, but the framework is fuller featured on Windows. If you want to write PHP programs, then it doesn't really matter which environment you target. I hope this gives you some food for thought.
Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads
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Absolutely agree with the suggestion to run both either as a dual boot, or run a linux flavor(s) as a virtual from Win7. I would suggest the latter option first. That way you get the best of both worlds, and can try different distros to see which one(s) best suit your needs.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
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I disagree. There are plenty of hackers looking at Linux. Even taking viruses into consideration, if you run a Windows box without good protection, you deserve every single thing that happens to you. Stop breating my air! Your main vulnerability points I feel (completely unjustified) are the apps you use, in particular your browser. Throwing away the red herring of security, look at the rest. If you either want to play games use Windows. That's it. Btw, wine (Windows Emulator) does not work. Neither does that wine rip off to let you play games. It takes 17 times as long, you have to sacrifice a goat and performance sucks. If you're a Windows or .Net developer, use Windows. And Visual Studio is better than Monodevelop or Vim (Go googling for vim integration into VS2010, it rocks!). (Side note: everything is better than emacs, even notepad. Yes I said it! And I believe it!) If you have an iPhone, use Windows. No itunes on Linux. Yes you can plug it in through Amarok etc, but Apple stuff does not play well with non Apple stuff. Ease of use is simple. If you know Windows, it's a win. If you don't, toss a coin. If you're a networking guru, run Linux. You should be. It's just a gajillion times nicer. If you admin a windows network, run windows. If you admin a *nix network, run Linux. If you admin a mixed network, run Windows and buy SecureCRT. Learn how ssh keys work. Performance wise, yes you can slim Linux down more than Windows, but then you don't get all the features. They're 6 to 1, half a dozen to the other. If you want to get the best possible working environment, use linux. Warning: It will take some years. I've put 14 in so far and am getting close. If you enjoy playing with computers (I guess so cos you're here), run Linux. If your girlfriend/mother/sister non technically competent relationship person has to use the machine, Windows. Yes, in theory you can teach them how to use Linux. Also, in theory, theory is the same as in practice... I've been running Windows since 3.11 in the early nineties and Linux since Slackware 3.5 in the late nineties. Both OSes have improved incredibly in terms of usability, stability, features and getting out of my way so I can get shit done. Windows has a HUGE lead on games, and the edge on Windows development. The rest of it comes down to preference and experience. From a fresh install, it takes about 3 days to get a Windows box the way I like it. As I said earlier, I've been working on my
John Oxley wrote:
If your girlfriend/mother/sister has to use the machine, Windows. Yes, in theory you can teach them how to use Linux. Also, in theory, theory is the same as in practice...
Oh, please, give it a break :mad:
It’s not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it’s because we do not dare that things are difficult. ~Seneca
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
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I totally agree, cant imagine getting an equivalent of microsoft tools like visual studio on linux. Mono is cool but lets face it, visual studio is way superior.
You can use SharpDevelop, is a free IDE or install wine to run visual studio on linux.
NKS
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
Windows 7 (or, in my case, Vista x64) could jump to a games menu (Steam apps browser?) instead of a desktop and I'd be happy -- at least on my game machine. Any other type of software is up in the air for personal preference choice, especially with Open Source being so prolific. But, if you're a computer gamer, you're going to be missing out unless you go with Windows. The X-Box made it really easy for games to be ported between that game console and Windows, so Windows will always have more games available than any other platform. The only way I see this changing is if we see game consoles take a queue from smart phones and go with a Linux OS core. If lots of Linux-based game consoles started floating around, you can bet that Linux would quickly become the next gaming OS. Until that amazing event comes to pass, I'm going to just stick with Windows as my gaming OS.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
Security? Which flavour of *nix support NTFS or Access Based security than that 'rwx' based security on file? Almost all kernel objects have security attached with them? If you talk about OS security, where no one can attack - that's a different perspective, since not many are attacking Linux systems. And for programming environment and debugging-support, Windows is lightyears ahead of Linux. Windows has WaitForDebugEvent API, surrounded with other APIs that support native debugging. Linux has just a 'ptrace' which doesnt support multithreaded debugging, debugging a UI application, 'Edit-and-continue' feature and things like that. May be companies like Google, have developed their own debugging-system at OS level. I dont understand how programmers can live without a good development environment? Yes, for sure, networking is (probably) better than Windows. Someone said, down there in one of the posts that for Linux programmers there is more material available - I totally disagree. Take a look at pthread_create and CreateThread docs. Entire net would show the same 'man pthread_create' stuff, and just the MSDN doc says much more than for CreateThread, forget more info elsewhere.
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Don't really know linux, but do know windows. I think part of it depends on what you want. My understanding (and limited experience) is that windows is easier to install and configure, especially when you want to tweak some esoteric parameter or feature. Linux is getting much better in this regard, but I don't think it'll ever really approach the ease-of-use of windows. As for security, both OS's are as full of holes as the other. The reason windows gets so much attention is due to the far greater number of machines running windows. The only real way to tell is to try it out for yourself. There are bootable linux CDs available.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von BraunIf you are using Ubuntu or SUSE Linux than you have made a good choice in that area. However, as it regards, which is better, there is no real answer. Linux is promoted by academics, scientists and hard-core technical personnel. This is one of the reasons it took so long to define a pleasing desk-top experience, with Ubuntu probably being the top distro available in that regard. Windows on the other hand is promoted by consumers and technical personnel who need to get their jobs done. This is not to say that you cannot do the same implementations with Linux but with Windows there is a lot more available support for what you want to accomplish. Try as it might, right now Linux is dead on the desktop because of too many distros all competing for the same things, most of them not all that good. In terms of security; first off there is no such thing. No matter what os you finally settle on, the attacker has all the advantages simply because he or she is far more focused on succeeding in making a breach compared to the defender who is always concentrating on other tasks. Windows is attacked far more often than Linux for the reasons that most of the posters here have voiced; its simply more prevalent so an attack on Windows gets a "bigger bang for the buck". If Linux suddenly became the dominant os the same thing would happen to it. That being said, Microsoft has done a relatively good job of beefing up Windows security and a number of studies have confirmed this. In addition, if you use high quality anti-virus software (Norton & McAfee are useless junk) you should experience no problems. In terms of development, both platforms practically have the same range of options along with the databases to support them. Java works fine on both operating systems while if you want to use .NET, you can use MONO on Linux, which is the open-source .NET project that is now fairly mature. In the end, make the decision on your own for what you you need to do and what your firm requires. Listening to 3rd party advice on this issue will only to serve to confuse more...
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
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Don't really know linux, but do know windows. I think part of it depends on what you want. My understanding (and limited experience) is that windows is easier to install and configure, especially when you want to tweak some esoteric parameter or feature. Linux is getting much better in this regard, but I don't think it'll ever really approach the ease-of-use of windows. As for security, both OS's are as full of holes as the other. The reason windows gets so much attention is due to the far greater number of machines running windows. The only real way to tell is to try it out for yourself. There are bootable linux CDs available.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braunahmed zahmed wrote:
My understanding (and limited experience) is that windows is easier to install and configure, especially when you want to tweak some esoteric parameter or feature. Linux is getting much better in this regard, but I don't think it'll ever really approach the ease-of-use of windows.
This is not quite true. If you are using a 'modern' Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.) installation is a snap. Stick in the CD, boot, answer a few questions (similar to what is asked by a Windows installation) and say go. Walk away and come back to a *completely* installed computer -- OS, development tools, etc. Oh, and then you only have to run update *1* time to get everything up to date. Last time I re-installed my Windows machine I had to run updated about 9 times (rebooting each time) before the OS was completely up to date. Then I started installing my apps and updating them. As long as your distributions support the programs you are using, Linux is much easier. On the other hand it can take days to figure out all the dependencies require to install something if the distribution does not provide it ...
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nice answer. It truly depends with what am doing here's a little bit more info, am more interested in programming. Does linux have nice software like pdf readers, music players/codecs,antivirus,games and others that you can easily get on windows? P.S nice signature,really got me thinking
I have run both an Ubuntu desk top and Windows 7 desk top for a couple years now. As an OS, there is little difference to choose from; - They are different in detail, but both are very competent. - You only do an occasional install, but for me the Linux installations have been faster and on older hardware Linux is less hassle. Windows makes you go searching for old drivers, etc. - Windows has GUI’s for virtually any configuration parameter. You have to use a Terminal window and obscure command line code to fine tune Linux. Think Win 3.1 level with a mix of GUI and DOS. But such fine tuning is rare. - Linux is faster and requires fewer resources – great for extending the life of an older machine. - Updates are equally frequent, but Linux rarely, if ever forces you to reboot after an update. Windows may force you to reboot several times just to finish one set of updates. - Less malware on Linux – not because it is more secure, but because who would waste their time writing malware for an OS with such a small market share? - You can get virtually any application from graphics editing to office suites to audio/video editing or playback, even some cool games. And they are almost all free! So am I a Linux fan boy or use the Linux box all day? Nope, when I need to get something done I use the Windows machine. Even the best applications for Linux simply can’t match the better Windows applications. They lack consistent user interfaces, they fall short in features, etc., etc. The applications seem to be five yrs behind and except for Android app’s I do not see much application development happening.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
Don't worry about which is better. You really should get to know your way around both. If you play with a modern Linux distro learn to get around on the command line. You really should get familiar with the Windows command line and PowerShell, too. Whether I use a Windows, Linux, or MAC machine I find myself turning off all the silly crap that reviewers seem to like so much. I find a lot of what gets the buzz in a GUI irritating (JASI pronounced "jazzy" = Just Another S****y Interface). The NAc garbage can raises my blood pressure every time I use it. A reallt useful exercise is to take something you're familiar with, preferably something you've written, and try to do tha same thing on a different platform. Take a Ruby script or class and write it in C#, take a Windows script and do the same thing in bash. I run Win7 at home, where I double as an IT guy for the family. I run WinXP and Win7 at work for manufacturing software development and deployment. I test the code I write (in C#, Ruby, batch, C/C++) on both both OS's using Win7Pro's built-in virtual machine. Our operators only know Windows, so Linux/UNIX would be useless. I also have to interface with a lot of hardware and have libraries availble for Windows but not for Linux. I run Ubuntu in VirtualBox to develop Linux code (bash, Ruby, C/C++) to run in our products, which run a Debian strain of Linux. As far as security, most of the cybercrime these days is not focused on viruses or hacking, but on "social-engineering" attacks. This is a fancy way of saying grifting (con jobs). It's easier to get through people than computer systems. Whatever OS you use keep it up to date. I've started playing with Qt, NetBeans, and Eclipse for cross-platform development. Qt is particularly good (the other two are very slow operators) and also has a cross-platform (Win/Linux/MAC OS X) applications framework. It's the only tool I've found that comes close to VisualStudio in making it easy to put together GUI applications. You can design an app top down and play with it before you get into the nitty-gritty of
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
Neither. Go with FreeBSD.
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Thanks, linux users are usually heard ravin on how secure the OS is but I don't believe them. I think that the only reason few viruses exist for linux is because many hackers dont find it rewarding to attack an OS thats used by a significantly lower number of people. What do you think?
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Neither. Go with FreeBSD.
command line freak! I'm raising my fist in the air, like I'm holding onto something that's invisible there. But based on this guy's questions, I don't think he's ready for BSD. That's like throwing him in the deep end of the pool to teach him to swim, and throwing a few pirannas in there along with him to motivate.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
I don't know what kind of user you are, but I am a command line freak, of sorts. Although ubuntu does not drive users to the shell aka command prompt, I like the fact that so many tools are made in their raw form (gui-less) and available via apt-get install on ubuntu. You an almost assume they are there, and do an apt-get install [keyword] to find the tool you are looking for, whether it be video file conversion, audio file conversion, or even wifi "tools" Also, I know some of the tools are available on Windows, but they usually aren't the latest releases, and they run slower on Windows. The difference is so much so, that I have resorted to taking my new laptop, wiping the OS, installing ubuntu, then running Windows 7 inside a VM. I recently had to reload my last ubuntu laptop as a Windows PC as a gift. I have since been struggling to do things in Windows and find it very dissatisfying, to a point where I am tempted to buy a new laptop and load ubuntu on it. If you like to fiddle and take control of things to a point where the gui does not satisfy, ubuntu or any linux OS gives you that power. If you want to play minesweeper or solitaire without having to run Windows in a VM, then stick to Windows OS. I do consulting and I have never found a client whom I felt compelled to suggest they run ubuntu, or any linux OS, for that matter. I am busy enough as it is, and I know those free phone calls will kill me as they struggle with linux. I just tell them to be careful tell them, "Do not click on anything that says it can fix the problem, assume it's a hoax, unless you want me to come in and fix it - for a price, of course. Save your money by closing the window and don't even acknowle the question on your screen." I did have a ubuntu PC which got a virus on it, but I was extremely careless to a point where I ran just about anything just to try it and see, something I would never do on a Windows box. Eventually the system became pretty much unresponsive and was running tasks I had not installed. At that point I loaded the latest ubuntu again and it hummed along fine. I am a LITTLE more careful now on ubuntu, and have not had any problems. Well, until I gave away the ubuntu PC as a Windows one, of course.
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So today I faced off with some guys who were all in favor of linux and being thoughtless I defended windows 7. Never felt so stupid as they all laughed at another microsoft die hard. Is linux (read ubuntu) so good that windows 7 looks inferior? Come on, its windows 7 we're talking about! What's so good about linux (other than being free) compared to windows? And all windows fans, what's so good about windows compared to linux. Please kindly don't turn this into a hate thread coz my aim is to find which is better in terms of security,programming experience,support, and just anything else you can come up with.
No technical fanboi arguments just simple logic on the main reason I continue to be a Windows developer: If I throw 100 rocks in all directions, 95 or more of them will hit Windows machines, 5 or less will hit Linux or other type machines. I'd say that covers it. -Max :D
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command line freak! I'm raising my fist in the air, like I'm holding onto something that's invisible there. But based on this guy's questions, I don't think he's ready for BSD. That's like throwing him in the deep end of the pool to teach him to swim, and throwing a few pirannas in there along with him to motivate.
I think the piranhas belong in the Windows story. FreeBSD is more like finding yourself in the middle of the ocean on a beautiful yacht that is fully stocked, but the engine is completely disassembled. There is, however, a very good manual.