if you've ever been on a technology related online forum, chances are you've seen a thread called "linux vs windows" or similar, where users of each OS insulted each other in an attempt to prove which OS is the best. maybe it's not so surprising after all. people get attached to the operating system they use every day, and they want to convince the opposite side that it's really good. it's easy to get carried away when others start nagging about something you like.
Five things Linux does better than Windows
this comparison will not be like that. The purpose of this text is to help people decide which operating system is better for their current needs, because that is the only sensible way to compare operating systems – by relating them to a specific context. I think we can agree that a perfect Olympics does not exist; they all have problems, and there isn't a single one that is "best for everything". we should look for features that make each OS suitable for different types of users: students, beginners or programmers. it's also important to consider hardware limitations, as not all operating systems can run on any type of hardware.
the main problem is that the two operating systems are very different. originally the term "linux" referred only to the kernel, but today we use it interchangeably with "linux distribution". there are so many distributions, and although they are all based on the same kernel, they use different desktop environments, package managers, and come with different software. windows is more homogenous, although there are different versions of windows as well (xp, vista, 7, 8…).
trying to compare all versions of Windows with all popular Linux distributions would be time consuming and pointless, as old versions of Windows are becoming obsolete and Windows would probably lose that "battle". on the other hand, comparing windows and linux on too general a level doesn't work well either, because linux is so modular and some features are only available in one de or distribution. if your generalized comparison doesn't mention it, linux will likely seem "worse" than windows.
