Linux Vs Windows: A Summary for Beginners
This is brief guide to some of the reasons for trying Linux, some of the reasons for not using Linux, and a very brief summary of some of the major differences between Linux and Windows.
Of course, you can run Windows and Linux side by side on the same computer, a process called Dual-Booting, so you can try Linux without having to completely give up Windows, and keep using those "must have" applications that you use that aren't, as yet available on Linux. Most, if not all Linux Distros make installing Linux alongside Windows remarkably easy.
Reasons for using Linux
Its free, quite often it is available for the cost of an admittedly very large download from the distribution maintainer's website, or, if you don't have that kind of patience you can get it from a number of retailers who sell cheap disks (not much more than the cost of the media), or on the coverdisk of a computer magazine. This, however, is not the sense in which free is used in relation to this and other open source (free software) projects. It is free in the sense that when you have obtained the software it is yours to meddle with, modify and even sell, within the terms of the GPL.
It is reliable and stable. Linux is the most common software used in webservers on the internet today, simply because it doesn't require constant rebooting and very rarely crashes. If you want, or need, your computer to stay up 24 hours a day this is one of the operating systems to use.
It is secure and immune to viruses. This is true, to a certain extent, for various reasons, many of them scary and technical Linux is rather more secure than that other operating system that I don't like to talk about, however, as with anything, if it isn't properly set up anyone can get in and play around.
Immunity to Viruses, again this is true, to a certain extent, both due to the scary technical reasons that make it more secure, and due to the fact that windows executables won't run on Linux, and Linux is currently a much smaller target for the scum that write viruses, so they don't tend to bother. At a current reckoning there are supposed to be about 30 viruses that target Unices, including Linux, compared to the tens of thousands that attack Windows' vulnerabilities.
All the software for it is free(as in beer). Not quite true (yet again!), while there is a great deal of software that is available at no cost for Linux, there are some programs that are either sold commercially, or are fully closed source.Usually there are perfectly good, if not better free alternatives, but in a few cases there aren't.
You want to learn Programming. At the moment Linux is one of the best environments for learning programming, simply because of the number of tools that are available to the novice programmer, these include compilers, editors, programming languages (C, C++, Perl and Python are among the languages shipped, as standard, in most popular distros) and development environments. Also Linux encourages handcoding, rather than an overreliance on point and click development tools, simply because they aren't available.
Reasons for not using Linux.
Its not Windows. This should really be blatantly obvious, but it does need to be said. If you are coming to Linux from Windows then there are a number of things that have to be unlearned, although most stuff is common sense or transferable. If you are comfortable in Windows and see no reason to switch, then don't, unless you are curious enough to give the OS more than a quick glance before going back to Windows you won't get the most out of the experience, but if you do you might find that you like it and rarely go into windows anymore.
You like to play the latest and greatest games. Unfortunately very very few mainstream games are released on linux, at least initially, and while quite a few of the games can work, under emulation, that is quite a bit of hassle to set up of you aren't familiar with Linux yet. One notable exception to this is Unreal Tournament 2003, which shipped with a linux version on the CD in addition to the Windows version.
You are reliant on a certain Windows application. If you are, then unless it has a Linux equivalent (worth checking if you are genuinely interested), you will probably find yourself switching between Linux and Windows all the time. Some applications will run under emulation, such as Quicken, but this can be a hassle.
You are a nervous Computer user. There are some distros that do cater for the complete novice, such as Lycoris and Xandros, but I have never tried them, so can't sayu how suitable they are. But if you are nervous of making changes to your computer in Windows it is probably best if you don't look at Linux until you are a bit more confident, as it holds your hand far less than Windows does.
Differences between Linux and Windows
The first difference that new users of Linux notice is that they have to login when they start up their computer. This is because Linux, in common with most unices, is a multiuser OS, so technically you can have more than one person using the computer at the same time, though this does get a little tricky when you only have one keyboard and monitor. While this is of little concern to most home users, it does mean that you can have seperate accounts for everyone who uses the computer, so your stuff is private, and the other people who use the computer can't mess up your personal area.
The second thing they often notice is that they can't install stuff as a normal user, again this is because Linux is multiuser. There is an account, called root, that can do anything and go anywhere (it is often called the Superuser account for this very reason), this is the only person that can install stuff on the system.
Why can't I just run as root all the time, I here you ask. Well, simply because it wipes out most of the security advantages of using Linux, if someone manages to crack your system while you are running as root they can install whatever they like, and delete any file. In Windows you are in effect running as root all the time.
And the final big difference between Linux and Windows is very very simple, Windows software won't run on Linux, and vice versa (there are exceptions to this though). So your favourite game won't run on Linux, probably. This is because they are different operating systems, even though they can use the same computers, and the scary technical bits work in very different ways.
I haven't mentioned lots of little differences, and not so little differences, between the way that Linux does things and the way you will be used to if you have come from Windows. But half the fun is finding out what they are, and why they are different, isn't it?