Three Reasons Why Linux Is Better Than Windows & Three Reasons Why It Is Not
109In this video I cover three reasons why Linux is better than Windows for average user, and three reasons why it is not.
Linux Reason One – Software Management.
In 99% of cases you install software from a safe and secure location, the distribution's repository instead of random websites on the Internet.
It is also possible to update all installed software and the operating system itself at once, which is not fundamentally possible on Windows.
Windows Reason One – Software Availability and Hardware Support.
Windows has the largest amount of software available on the PC platform since it is the dominant operating system, and developers will target it over Linux since it has the best return on investment.
Commercial software such as Microsoft Office, Adobe suite, and most pieces of CAD software are exclusive to Windows and will likely never be available on Linux.
Windows also have the largest driver support for for a wide range of hardware, including VR headsets, capture cards, WLAN cards and mixers which have little to no support on Linux.
Linux Reason Two - Permissions & Security.
By default, on Linux you are a user without administrative or root privileges, this means that you need to elevate yourself to root in order to install or make system wide changes.
On Windows everyone uses the administrator account which means that the user can install anything and make changes without any real consequence.
Linux also does not have the malware problem that Windows has, in particular ransomware.
Windows Reason Two – Support For HDR, G-Sync, Free-Sync & Variable Refresh Rates.
Windows includes support for HDR, multiple monitors with different resolutions and refresh rates, and the ability to use G-Sync or Free-Sync on multiple monitors.
Windows 11 includes Auto-HDR for older titles which is also something that Linux does not support.
Linux Reason Three - Linux Community.
One thing that Linux has that Windows does not is a community.
Although there are certain members that purposely gate keep or prevent Linux adoption, most people in the Linux community are well meaning and decent people who will be willing to help you with any problems assuming you do some independent research beforehand.
In other words, if you have a problem on Linux, you have people who are knowledgeable enough to find a solution for you, in contrast to Windows where support is often poor or locked behind a paywall.
Windows Reason Three – Browser Acceleration and Video Streaming.
Linux out of the box has poorer battery life when streaming online media as browsers do not support hardware decoding, in which a video is decoded using a GPU at reduced power consumption rather than using the CPU.
In some cases playing an online video of 1440p on Windows is possible, but not on Linux.
Although by installing some additional libraries and tweaking, it is possible to get hardware decoding to work on Linux, but this will be over the head of an average user.
Windows also supports the highest resolution of all online streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Video whereas on Linux, normally you are limited to 720p.
Summary.
Both Windows and Linux have their pros and cons, but but for 99% of computer users, I would still recommend Windows over Linux, the lack of software availability, certain hardware support, and what I consider default operating technologies really hurts adoption.
That been said, if you are enthusiast like me, give Linux a try, install it on an old computer, or get an SSD and dual boot alongside your Windows installation, storage is dirt cheap compared to GPUs.
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