what are the uses of linux compared to windows
 

could any one tell me about the uses of linux operating system compared to windows operating system

:twocents:

Learn new systems........:study:

Stable System.........

Program what you want .......... much more flexible than any other OS.

Limited only by your imagination......

Everything Windows does.......and much more.

Thats like asking, how long is a piece of string? It does everything that windows does and then a lot of extra stuff as well.

You could start here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux#Uses

Operating systems are there to run programs. So a Linux system can do just about anything a Windows system can do...provided there's a program for it.

The main differences in OS's aren't in what they can or can't do, but in things like security, stability, efficiency, and levels of support.

Linux is, in general, more stable and more secure than Windows, and also more efficient in many ways, and the source code is openly available and modifiable. These things make it a particularly good choice for low-level stuff like network servers and scientific applications (e.g. almost all of the world's top supercomputers run Linux).

But since Windows has a much larger home and office market share, many developers at the desktop level focus on it, either primarily or exclusively. This means that a handful of consumer-level activities are currently harder or even impossible to do due to lack of useful programs (I still can't effectively OCR Japanese text, for example, and most game developers program exclusively for the Windows platform).

Support for hardware peripherals, such as scanners, video capture cards, wi-fi and the like, also depends on whether someone has bothered to write the appropriate linux drivers. You have to be more careful about your purchases, and ensure that the device you're interested in is supported before you buy it.

The basic things most people use home computers for are all covered however, websurfing, multimedia, office, and many of the programs are as good or even better than their Windows equivalents. And the number of things it can't do continues to get smaller.

Windows=tack hammer bought at the dollar store.: Linux=Estwing
 

M$ products are centered around solutions that are perceived by a type of user that the computer interface and menus are as deep as computing gets. If you have a task to complete , you hand over the money and receive software and a-z instructions of how to accomplish it but no knowledge of how it is done much past a sequence of instructions that your mind can not make parallel connections with. You won't some day be having dinner somewhere and your subconscious will spit out a Windows analogy because you will only be committing a sequence of instructions to memory, nouns and the place that these nouns are in a order to complete a task.

Windows is mostly fine for a computer user that is short on time and or gaming. Also it is fine for people that accept leasing the O.S and having to repay for it after you get a virus. If M$ would ship a full installation (recovery disk) with every computer that it ships with , Windows would still be a anemic computing solution.

Linux has a learning curve that is impossible to express in a positive way. If you just want basic users knowledge you will be okay but if you want to develop it is immensely difficult but all of the means to do it (compilers ect.) are free. If you want to develop using Linux you will have to learn but you won't have to pay and in the end you will have much more than salesperson knowledge of the product as M$ would put it. Linux is based on a huge mainframe computer so comparing it to an easy remedy is silly. M$ is not produced to rival Linux in quality but the consequence of this is M$ is easier but more expensive to achieve a solution. All of the security that Linux offers makes it difficult to get things done but if you want to make a educational investment in Linux it is worth it. Linux is made of individual pieces which makes it easier to learn the essentials and not a huge piece of code lumped together like M$.

With M$ if you can complete a task the knowledge is really just directions that should come with the damn product to begin with for free but capitalism has switched everything around so stupid people are happy paying for the infrastructure to use the product. Lets say you are a sales person and you have a product. The product seems great but they ask you how do you learn how to use it. Then the salesperson introduces you to another product , and another product and so on. You end up being a slave to industry.

I suggest you get a live Disk of a User supported version like Ubuntu , PClinuxOS or Mint and try it out. :hattip: Oh and welcome to the forum!

I doubt there is any use that is really unique to a common OS.

Kind of like asking to compare the use of a Ford truck and GM truck.

From the standpoint of general-purpose computing, David_the_H's answer is excellent.

In the home user space, you can find a native Linux program to do almost anything you can do in Windows, except play certain Windows games (and many of them can be played with Wine). I cannot remember the last time I wanted to do something that I was not able to do with Linux.

(I am not a gamer. I have nothing against gamers--both my sons are prodigious gamers and very good, but I've got too much other stuff to do. I know I wouldn't have time to get good at complex games, and I don't need to mediocre at a new skill, so I stick to PySOL.)

In the business space, as for CAD programs, medical records programs, and the like, there is a lack of enterprise level software because the enterprises that use those programs tend to be tied to Windows; the companies that write those programs do not extend the effort to write for Linux.

theKbStockpiler is right on the money in pointing out that Linux is not Windows and there is a learning curve. I disagree with his statement to this extent: Using Linux does not require being a sysadmin or a developer, and I think his comments embrace user-level proficiency with sysadmin/developer proficiency. Administering a Windows domain is a complex undertaking that requires substantial learning, just as does administering an LDAP domain.

Having progressed a good way around that learning curve on my own with the help of LQ and other online resources, I am convinced that Linux-based computing is ultimately easier and more logical than Windows. For an experienced Windows user to become comfortable using the Linux desktop will take a short while, but it's mostly a matter of learning the menus and getting acquainted with new programs.

For those who like to dig under the surface (I'm one of those), the learning will go on and on. That's where the fun really begins.