"Comparison of Windows and Linux (two computer operating systems) has become a common topic of discussion among their users. Windows is the most prominent operating system released under a proprietary software license (though selected business partners may receive a shared source license), whereas Linux is the most prominent operating system released under a free software license. (However, most Linux distributions distribute proprietary components.[1]) The two operating systems compete for user-base in the personal computer market as well as the server market, and are used in government offices, schools, business offices, homes, intranet and internet servers, supercomputers, and embedded systems.
Historically, Windows has tended to dominate in the desktop and personal computer markets (about 90% of the desktop market share), and Linux has achieved between 50─80% market share of the web server, render farm, and supercomputer markets.[2] They differ in philosophy, cost, ease of use, versatility, and stability, with each seeking to improve in their perceived weak areas. Comparisons of the two tend to reflect the origins, historic user base and distribution model of each.
Typically, some major areas of perceived weaknesses regularly cited have included the poor ease of “out-of-box” mass-market use for Linux regarding the desktop, and poor system stability for Windows, both of which are areas of rapid development in the two camps. The perceived key strength of Linux is that it respects the users' essential freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study and change it, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. Because of its collaborative development model Linux has achieved a high degree of openness and configurability while adhering to ISO and IEEE standards, whereas Windows has a careful anticipation of mass-market user requirements and has created shifting “standardization” around its products through market dominance."
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