Windows

Seven Reasons Why Windows is Better Than Linux Distributions

Posted by on Dec 21, 2011 | 14 Comments

Continuing the Linux vs. Windows debate begun in my previous post, let’s take a look at the advantages Windows has over Linux. As I have stated before, I have used Linux for many years. However, I grew up on Windows, so I still have things to say about it.

Windows Has More Software
Windows has a larger share of the market, so naturally, developers tend to target Windows first, and other operating systems second (and unfortunately, they rarely move past their first target). This is especially true for software produced by big companies. The money is in the market share, and the market share lies with Windows. This is a good thing, of course, as Windows users typically have great tools available to them to make really cool stuff with their computers (Sony Vegas, Adobe Photoshop, etc.).

Windows is More “Feature Complete”
This can be tricky to explain. See, Microsoft is paying people to work on Windows, and most Windows software is created because companies are paying for the development. As a result, you will see that the software that you pay for will almost always be “feature complete.” Linux software, on the other hand, is always a work in progress. Sure, you will get updates frequently and bleeding edge software, but it will usually be at the cost of missing features that you might require to get any real work done.

There’s More Commercial Support for Windows
Big corporations don’t want to waste time diagnosing computer issues. Rather, they like to call in support troopers from the company that designed the software they’re using. Because Microsoft supports Windows commercially, businesses are more likely to turn to Windows software, as they can be sure they will get professional support for their issues rather than the possibility arising that they are left to deal with those issues on their own.

Windows is Familiar
Like I said before, I grew up on Windows. Thanks to its gigantic market share, Windows is pretty much a household name and, as a result, many people can identify it and work with it. If I were to switch my mom over to Linux, for example, I would also probably have to sit down with her on a couple occasions to explain how to do the common things you’d do on Windows. Of course, Linux distributions nowadays are pretty straightforward to use, but there are always exists the little things that you can get caught up on.


Windows is Gamer Friendly
Just as with general software, you are more likely to find the next major game title on Windows as opposed to Linux distributions, and for the same reasons as general software, too. As long as there’s more money in Windows, game developers will make it a priority to flock to it.

Apart from the games themselves, Windows typically has support for the various physical accessories that gamers utilize to get the most out of their gaming experience. Logitech, for example, will release specialized software for their products on Windows, but might pass over Linux users entirely.

Windows Has Better Driver Support
When manufacturers release new hardware, Windows is usually the first operating system to receive working drivers. Unfortunately, some manufacturers leave out other operating systems out entirely. Quite often, you’ll see Linux distributions including open source drivers developed by the community. While it is nice that there are then at least drivers available, those drivers still aren’t officially supported by the manufacturer, so as a result some things still may not work as you expect them to.

One example of open source drivers vs proprietary, manufacturer-provided drivers is that of Nvidia’s graphics drivers. I run Nvidia’s proprietary Linux driver on my machine, but there are projects out there attempting to create an entirely free and open source driver. The downside to these projects are that they do not really have Nvidia’s support, so as a result they are generally incomplete.

Windows is (Usually) Pre-Installed by the Manufacturer
While there are a few manufacturers today that will preload their computers with a Linux distribution, for the most part you will have to install Linux distributions yourself after you have received your computer. I build my own computers, so the hard drive is going to start out blank anyway, but the general population will appreciate not having to go through the setup process to get their computer in working order.

Final Thoughts
So, that brings an end to my own mini-series on Linux Distributions vs. Windows. If you haven’t read the first post, please do so. Like I said in my previous post, I dual boot, and I recommend that others do as well if they truly want to maximize their computing experience. The more you know, the more of an informed decision you will be able to make when you need to decide what will work best for you.

  • BigGuyWhoKills

    “Feature complete” is only half a point. Are you talking about the OS being feature complete, or application being feature complete?  If it’s the OS, then you are wrong (or maybe just mostly wrong).  If it’s applications, you have a point for some software.  However, most Windows programs can run in Linux just fine (and do not require any advanced technical expertise).  There are many examples of faulty Windows programs as well.
    Your third point,  ”There’s More Commercial Support for Windows”, is misleading at best, and outright false at it’s worst.  Canonical and RHEL both have support that you can pay for.  How is that any different than calling Microsoft and paying them for support?Gamer friendly is 100% spot on, at least for DX10 and DX11 games.  And that is why I dual-boot between the two OS’.
    Familiarity is valid, until Windows releases a new version.  Switching from Windows XP to Vista or 7 was no more difficult than switching from any Windows version to any modern Linux disto.
    Your nVidia driver support point was confusing.  nVidia releases proprietary drivers for Linux on almost the same schedule as the Windows driver.  For most users, the proprietary driver is all that they will ever need.  Your last sentence made it sound like nVidia owners are somehow out of luck in Linux, and that is not true at all.  ATI, ymmv.
    My final thoughts: I value Windows for the thousands of dollars of software that I have bought for it.  I value Linux because I have paid NOTHING for it.  There is something liberating about updating numerous parts of the OS, and not having to reboot.  Booting up Linux in a quarter of the time it takes Win7 is nice.  And having all my software update from one application is a level of elegance that Windows users will never experience.  But Windows is still the best gaming OS out there.

  • http://twitter.com/matthartley Matt Hartley

    Good article overall, however factually, you’re mistaken on Linux drivers. Windows 7 driver support is not even remotely close to modern Linux distros. Windows, even in 2011 going on 2012…STILL leans heavily on those antiquated driver CDs as Windows update is useless in this department. 

    Example: My mom’s new Windows 7 desktop left her with a choice — stick with that OS and buy a new printer/scanner, new Bluetooth dongle, etc, or switch to a Linux distro. What kept her using Windows, was her need of MS Publisher and the docs that are locked into the Publisher format. Because of that lone app, she was forced to make some hard choices. She kept Windows and dropped hundreds of $$ in new stuff to stay current. It sucks, but she made her choice.Now I can see the merit in the other points made, however I needed to point out that the driver point is completely myth-based. Where this myth comes from, is due to wifi dongles and the revolving chipsets for dongles offering the same model number as the previous one. Wifi dongles suck under Linux, from an end user perspective. This is due to distro heads being morons and not simply branding a handful of solid chipsets such as Atheros or Ralink. Instead, they’re trying to support everything under the sun using crap like NDISWrapper or poorly supported Broadcom attempts.For anyone interested, here’s a good read (2010) on the Linux Driver myth.http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/locutus/washing-the-windows-myths-device-support-38896and this as well…further explains why most people still don’t fully understand the differences.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_Windows_have_better_driver_support_than_LinuxQuote: “The current Linux kernel supports more devices than any single Windows release. Linux also supports more legacy devices than Windows Vista or Windows 7 and supports numerous architectures not supported at all by Windows. Drivers in Linux are also usually considered to be more stable than the drivers supplied by the manufacturer for Windows.My ranting aside, not a bad article. ;)

  • http://twitter.com/matthartley Matt Hartley

    (cont)…..as for the NVIDIA driver issue…you have a good point there. Graphics are one area where Windows has an advantage. While the FoSS video drivers are pretty darned good, the proprietary ones blow pretty hard. I run dual-monitors, I use the non-proprietary drivers successfully whereas the proprietary are a mixed bag. 

    But man, the idea that Windows has better driver support made milk come out of my nose. Come on, you know that subheading was bogus! :)

    • http://chris.pirillo.com/ Chris Pirillo

      Then things have changed last I looked. :) It’s easy to find “Windows” or “Mac” drivers on a manufacturer’s web site…

      • http://twitter.com/matthartley Matt Hartley

        For newer devices when using Windows 7, certainly. As for legacy devices, it’s hit and miss. I’ve been down this road with legacy stuff for Windows 7 PCs and it blows. 

        Unlike XP which did a solid job in this department with manufacturer driver downloads, Win 7 is taking a hit and forcing new hardware/peripheral purchase when it shouldn’t even be necessary.

        As for OS X, things are a little better. Still, we must suck up to the manufacturer and pray for better legacy device support. Example: It took forever to get decent inkjet HP drivers for a number of models on Snow Leopard. Epson on the other hand, did a solid job and deserves huge props for getting things out when the new release first launched. Epson is a winner on OS X – they always have been in my experience.

        Then we have Linux. Once again, thanks to the **manufacturers, the proprietary video drivers are all over the map. Like Windows and OS X, this isn’t the fault of the Linux developers. It’s the manufacturers not wanting to provide a stellar experience on this platform.

        So you have to forgive my cynicism toward manufacturer website driver downloads. They’re great if you can find the right driver…but sadly, it’s not always possible for users of legacy devices.

        **manufacturers do this because fiscally speaking, supporting legacy devices is self-defeating. I run a business, I get this. But by the same token, I as a customer pay close attn to the manufacturers that support my platform and support it well. So it call comes out in the wash.

        • http://twitter.com/FearedBliss Jonathan Vasquez

          That’s weird because on my computer, I run the proprietary NVIDIA drivers on Arch Linux and they work excellent and flawlessly @ 60 FPS etc, with all the bells and whistles including SLI (2x NVIDIA GTX 460s).

          • http://twitter.com/matthartley Matt Hartley

            Not saying it never happens, just that the proprietary drivers can be hit and miss sometimes on the video driver front. That said, I too, have had great success with NVIDIA and reasonable success with ATI proprietary drivers. That said, I run the FoSS drivers (for stability) whenever possible. ;)

        • http://twitter.com/FearedBliss Jonathan Vasquez

          That’s weird because on my computer, I run the proprietary NVIDIA drivers on Arch Linux and they work excellent and flawlessly @ 60 FPS etc, with all the bells and whistles including SLI (2x NVIDIA GTX 460s).

  • Kerns Phoegon

    Meh I don’t care much either way in preferance for linux vs. windows OS.   Though with all honesty I stick with windows, because the games and programs I do use, I will have better ‘official’ and easier to search support because I’m looking on a supported platform, and I don’t play many games that would run ‘officially’ on a linux system (though they can and most do run fine)

    It’s kinda simple as that for me,  better support from my 3rd parties honestly.

    Though there are some Linux builds I’d love to see be publicly supported by 3rd parties, but that is not likely to happen considering that all the distributions of linux can differ greatly in their coding, and are not in any centralized organization when it comes to devs, making 3rd parties work harder to make their game for it, and provide support for their titles, while also having to worry about major drivers they already account for (video, sound, directx, openGL,& the like) having a stable driver/install on the linux, where the coding for the same hardware drivers are vastly different.

    I support linux, and I’m GLAD to see it come as far as it has, but I don’t see it becoming popular with major 3rd party software companies until someone centralizes and controls a Linux coding and development.

  • Anonymous

    I can agree with you on a couple points, but some of your points are outdated and  misleading.

    “Microsoft is paying people to work on Windows”
    Who is Microsoft paying?  Either way, throwing money at something doesn’t necessarily  make it better. I agree with you that proprietary software can be higher quality than  open source products at times, because they have the money and resources to throw at it.   But, proprietary products can go too far and become bloated, too.  Open source  (GNU/Linux) products also have similar monetary backing by companies like Red Hat which  have the resources to do so.  I’ve found countless GNU/Linux software that is very high  quality, if not better than their proprietary counterparts, and are this way because the  developers take pride in their work and develop quality software.

    “Windows is Familiar”
    I agree, most people know Windows.  But you are basing your conclusions on hypotheticals.   I have migrated many people from Windows to GNU/Linux (Gnome 2.0 desktop) and have  received highly rated feedback from them.  Gnome 2.0 is easy to navigate, and I seldom  get any questions on where to find things because it’s quite user friendly in design.  In  the rare occasion that I need to show them something, it’s usually help changing some  type of administrative setting.  Once I show them, they are surprised at how easy it is.   I used to get the same type of questions when they ran Windows, too.

    “Windows is Gamer Friendly”
    I agree with you here.  But Windows is only developed for more, because it has a majority  of the desktop market.  While GNU/Linux makes a good effort to run Windows games in Wine,  it is not perfect and can’t guarantee to work.

    “Windows Has Better Driver Support”
    I’ve found the opposite to be true.  With Windows, yes, the money is there, but the Linux  kernel developers around the world have done an outstanding job of making sure hardware  is supported.  To this day, I have not found anything that is not supported.  The nVidia  example is unfortunately a political one, where nVidia does not want to release the code  for the proprietary driver to the Linux kernel team.  This is what has spawned the  Nouveau project you mention (the open source alternative).  The Linux kernel has all  hardware support either compiled directly or as modules, so it is truly a plug & play  system without a lot of hassle.  There is no searching for 3rd party drivers and  installers to get hardware working.  Printers are probably the top example of this, where  in GNU/Linux, you plug in a printer and it’s installed for you automatically.

    “Windows is (Usually) Pre-Installed by the Manufacturer”
    Yep and this will be the case as long as Microsoft continues to dominate the desktop  market.  Hardware vendors (as well as software vendors) will shift to where the market  is.  You are correct, most of the time the user must install GNU/Linux themselves.

    I usually recommend migrating the GNU/Linux, and locate the applications you need in the  vast repository available with most distributions.  I use Fedora (Red Hat) which has  tremendous community support and software.  It takes research to find products to replace  proprietary Windows ones, but it can be done.  There are lists available out there, but  you must do the research.

    • http://twitter.com/FearedBliss Jonathan Vasquez

      I dual boot between Windows and Arch Linux, and I’m an advocate of OSS (Specifically GPL2 (Not 3) and BSD/MIT licenses). Wanted to state that so you don’t think I’m a troll or something :) .

      1. Microsoft is paying their employees. I agree with you on that throwing money at something doesn’t make it better, but it definitely makes it easier to spend man hours on, whether or not the outcome is good, which for Microsoft Windows, IMHO, has gotten and will continue to get better.

      2. How is this a hypothetical? The Desktop market is dominated my Windows. People are familiar with it and therefore people think it’s better and easier to use then anything that is not familiar. This doesn’t mean that it is better, but as I said before, since people are familiar with it, and grew up around it, they have “settled” down on that environment. People don’t exactly like to switch, especially from one environment to a completely different environment.

      3. I agree, Windows is developed for because it has the majority. That’s the point of business. A business tries to make money by trying to get as many people as possible to buy their product, this happens to be where Windows triumphs others.

      4. Windows does have better driver support since the 3rd party developers are developing their own drivers for their own hardware. Of course a Linux driver can eventually become better then the vendor ones, but it takes time to reverse engineer and write drivers for a product. Especially if you are writing them indirectly (You don’t own the device). This happens especially with touchscreen drivers on Linux. I also believe that if NVIDIA doesn’t want to release their source code, they don’t have to. It’s not exactly a political decision, and it also doesn’t mean that NVIDIA’s proprietary driver is bad. It’s actually excellent, and runs flawlessly at 60 FPS with my 2 NVIDIA GTX 460s on SLI.

      5. Yup pretty much, As long as Windows keeps being the most popular Desktop OS, it will continue to be preinstalled. But the consumer also has to be vigilant and use their right to request for a refund if they do not accept Microsoft’s EULA. They have stated this in their EULA and in PR. The problem is that some OEM’s won’t return the money. Technically they aren’t suppose to do that, and it’s pretty monopolistic even though Microsoft supports people yelling at the OEMs over that. It isn’t Microsoft’s fault if Microsoft says that the consumer has the right, but the OEM refuses to give a refund to the consumer when the consumer asks for it. I personally don’t buy from OEMs if I don’t have the option to buy a computer _without_ Windows in the first place (I still buy Windows with the computer though for the most part, but the option is the important part).

      For the people that are interesting in moving to Linux or even BSD, I recommend for them to do it little by little. What I mean by this is too slowly replace the applications that you use on Windows with OSS versions that are also found on Linux, and then once you have that sorted out, then you can choose a Linux distro, and just reinstall the Linux equivalent versions of those applications. This is the method that seems most efficient to me rather then switching cold turkey (and I’ve done both).

      • Anonymous

        “How is this a hypothetical?”
        The author mentions “If I were to switch my mom over to Linux”… but bases everything stated after that on hypotheticals.  Has he actually tried it?  What was the result?  I’ve migrated many from Windows to Linux, including those that only know Windows, and I’ve received very good feedback as I already mentioned.  I also no longer get support calls all of the time.

        “Windows does have better driver support since the 3rd party developers are developing their own drivers for their own hardware.”
        To some extent this is true, but what about the cases where drivers are dropped by the 3rd party for some versions of Windows?  Or what about the cases where drivers just don’t work?  Only the vendor, who is in control of the source, can fix it.  With the Linux kernel, the source is open to everybody.  With Windows, you have thousands of 3rd parties all in the mix submitting their driver to the public, there is no way to test each and every installed driver against every other one, and this is one reason why we see driver instability in Windows. With Linux, everything is filtered down through the kernel development team, and every driver is included either compiled or as a module. My point was that with the Linux kernel, everything is included with the distribution so there aren’t issues with searching for drivers and installing them, the devices either work or they don’t. And upgrading the kernel is as easy as a couple of clicks, and older or previous kernels can be retained and booted to if needed.  To me this design in ingenious.  And I agree with you, in the example of nVidia, the proprietary driver is excellent.  I like nVidia and their products, and I commend them for releasing an excellent nVidia driver for the Linux kernel.  But I’m not sure why they want to keep it proprietary?  Other companies, like Broadcom, which once released only proprietary drivers have finally released the source so that everything can be integrated much better with Linux kernel releases.

        “But the consumer also has to be vigilant and use their right to request for a refund if they do not accept Microsoft’s EULA”
        Have you looked at the EULA for Windows 7 lately?  Microsoft has changed the wording, so that operating system is now purposely tied to each and every computer that the OEM ships.  Read it carefully.  This was purposely done by Microsoft, not the OEM, because consumers were getting Windows refunds when XP/Vista were out.  Now, with Windows 7, the consumer can no longer get a refund for Windows, they must return the entire PC.

        “For the people that are interesting in moving to Linux or even BSD, I recommend for them to do it little by little.”
        I agree with you here, a migration is no easy task.  And like you said there has to be a reason.  For me, it was to end constant troubleshooting of Windows and get back to using my computer for what it was meant for, and to end having to open my wallet all of the time to re-buy software I had already purchased.  The core operating system is one layer, and I recommend cutting over to GNU/Linux for that.  Do some research ahead of time and get a list of open source GNU/Linux applications that will replace the Windows proprietary ones. Then, while running GNU/Linux, use Wine or VirtualBox to run Windows applications for as long as you need them, so that you can run both at the same time and migrate.  Once you are done migrating applications, you will be done with your migration and running on GNU/Linux.  :)

      • Anonymous

        “How is this a hypothetical?”
        The author mentions “If I were to switch my mom over to Linux”… but bases everything stated after that on hypotheticals.  Has he actually tried it?  What was the result?  I’ve migrated many from Windows to Linux, including those that only know Windows, and I’ve received very good feedback as I already mentioned.  I also no longer get support calls all of the time.

        “Windows does have better driver support since the 3rd party developers are developing their own drivers for their own hardware.”
        To some extent this is true, but what about the cases where drivers are dropped by the 3rd party for some versions of Windows?  Or what about the cases where drivers just don’t work?  Only the vendor, who is in control of the source, can fix it.  With the Linux kernel, the source is open to everybody.  With Windows, you have thousands of 3rd parties all in the mix submitting their driver to the public, there is no way to test each and every installed driver against every other one, and this is one reason why we see driver instability in Windows. With Linux, everything is filtered down through the kernel development team, and every driver is included either compiled or as a module. My point was that with the Linux kernel, everything is included with the distribution so there aren’t issues with searching for drivers and installing them, the devices either work or they don’t. And upgrading the kernel is as easy as a couple of clicks, and older or previous kernels can be retained and booted to if needed.  To me this design in ingenious.  And I agree with you, in the example of nVidia, the proprietary driver is excellent.  I like nVidia and their products, and I commend them for releasing an excellent nVidia driver for the Linux kernel.  But I’m not sure why they want to keep it proprietary?  Other companies, like Broadcom, which once released only proprietary drivers have finally released the source so that everything can be integrated much better with Linux kernel releases.

        “But the consumer also has to be vigilant and use their right to request for a refund if they do not accept Microsoft’s EULA”
        Have you looked at the EULA for Windows 7 lately?  Microsoft has changed the wording, so that operating system is now purposely tied to each and every computer that the OEM ships.  Read it carefully.  This was purposely done by Microsoft, not the OEM, because consumers were getting Windows refunds when XP/Vista were out.  Now, with Windows 7, the consumer can no longer get a refund for Windows, they must return the entire PC.

        “For the people that are interesting in moving to Linux or even BSD, I recommend for them to do it little by little.”
        I agree with you here, a migration is no easy task.  And like you said there has to be a reason.  For me, it was to end constant troubleshooting of Windows and get back to using my computer for what it was meant for, and to end having to open my wallet all of the time to re-buy software I had already purchased.  The core operating system is one layer, and I recommend cutting over to GNU/Linux for that.  Do some research ahead of time and get a list of open source GNU/Linux applications that will replace the Windows proprietary ones. Then, while running GNU/Linux, use Wine or VirtualBox to run Windows applications for as long as you need them, so that you can run both at the same time and migrate.  Once you are done migrating applications, you will be done with your migration and running on GNU/Linux.  :)

    • http://twitter.com/FearedBliss Jonathan Vasquez

      I dual boot between Windows and Arch Linux, and I’m an advocate of OSS (Specifically GPL2 (Not 3) and BSD/MIT licenses). Wanted to state that so you don’t think I’m a troll or something :) .

      1. Microsoft is paying their employees. I agree with you on that throwing money at something doesn’t make it better, but it definitely makes it easier to spend man hours on, whether or not the outcome is good, which for Microsoft Windows, IMHO, has gotten and will continue to get better.

      2. How is this a hypothetical? The Desktop market is dominated my Windows. People are familiar with it and therefore people think it’s better and easier to use then anything that is not familiar. This doesn’t mean that it is better, but as I said before, since people are familiar with it, and grew up around it, they have “settled” down on that environment. People don’t exactly like to switch, especially from one environment to a completely different environment.

      3. I agree, Windows is developed for because it has the majority. That’s the point of business. A business tries to make money by trying to get as many people as possible to buy their product, this happens to be where Windows triumphs others.

      4. Windows does have better driver support since the 3rd party developers are developing their own drivers for their own hardware. Of course a Linux driver can eventually become better then the vendor ones, but it takes time to reverse engineer and write drivers for a product. Especially if you are writing them indirectly (You don’t own the device). This happens especially with touchscreen drivers on Linux. I also believe that if NVIDIA doesn’t want to release their source code, they don’t have to. It’s not exactly a political decision, and it also doesn’t mean that NVIDIA’s proprietary driver is bad. It’s actually excellent, and runs flawlessly at 60 FPS with my 2 NVIDIA GTX 460s on SLI.

      5. Yup pretty much, As long as Windows keeps being the most popular Desktop OS, it will continue to be preinstalled. But the consumer also has to be vigilant and use their right to request for a refund if they do not accept Microsoft’s EULA. They have stated this in their EULA and in PR. The problem is that some OEM’s won’t return the money. Technically they aren’t suppose to do that, and it’s pretty monopolistic even though Microsoft supports people yelling at the OEMs over that. It isn’t Microsoft’s fault if Microsoft says that the consumer has the right, but the OEM refuses to give a refund to the consumer when the consumer asks for it. I personally don’t buy from OEMs if I don’t have the option to buy a computer _without_ Windows in the first place (I still buy Windows with the computer though for the most part, but the option is the important part).

      For the people that are interesting in moving to Linux or even BSD, I recommend for them to do it little by little. What I mean by this is too slowly replace the applications that you use on Windows with OSS versions that are also found on Linux, and then once you have that sorted out, then you can choose a Linux distro, and just reinstall the Linux equivalent versions of those applications. This is the method that seems most efficient to me rather then switching cold turkey (and I’ve done both).