Windows Vs Linux 1

What are the differences between Windows and Linux? Generally, both Windows and
Linux are working operating systems you can use to explore on you PCs. “Linux is a Unix-like
and POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open
source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux
kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds.”
(“Torvalds, Linus Benedict (October 5, 1991). "Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT".
Newsgroup: comp.os.minix. Retrieved September 30, 2011.”) Linux is used on many devices
we use in our everyday lives from smartphones, appliances, cars and the list goes on. Like
Windows, it used to manage the hardware on your laptop and desktop computers.
“Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed,
marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named
Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS.”
("The Unusual History of Microsoft Windows". Retrieved April 22, 2007.” Unlike Linux,).

Components of the operating systems.

Windows Vs Linux 2

Linux components are the kernel, system library and system utility. The kernel is main part of
the operating system. It runs all the major actions of the operating system. The system libraries
are a set of functions that are used to interact with the kernel. These functions of the operating
system do not require full access of the Kernel code. The C library known as libc is the most
significant system of the library. The system utilities are used to perform individual and
specialized tasks.
Windows four major components are system processes, services, applications and
environmental subsystems. The system processes are in charge of the memory of the computer. It
is usually a single thread running on the processor. Window services is the same conception to a
Unix daemon that operates in the Windows background. Applications are programs used to run
with Microsoft Windows usually called a Windows App. “Environmental subsystems are
components of operating systems of the Windows NT type. They allow the operating system to
run software developed for the platform in question.” (Various (1993). Inside Windows NT. New
Riders press.)

Installation procedures.
Both Windows and Linux have easy installation procedures. You can just following
the directions on the screen to install either operating system. Linux is more user friendly when
installing. Linux will let you install their operating system with an existing OS or install
over another Linux installation. Windows is not as user friendly as Linux. Instead of installing
Windows while Linux on the existing computer, Windows tend to erase the current operating
system once you start the installation. To avoid this the best method, is you need to install
Windows first, and then install Linux.

“Microsoft Windows OS uses two major file systems: FAT, inherited from old DOS

with its later extension FAT32, and widely-used NTFS file systems. Recently released ReFS file

Windows Vs Linux 3
system was developed by Microsoft as a new generation file system for Windows 8 Servers.

FAT:
FAT (File Allocation Table) is one of the simplest types of a file system. It consists of

a file system descriptor sector (boot sector or superblock), a file system block allocation table

(referred as File Allocation Table) and plain storage space to store files and folders. Files on

FAT are stored in directories. Each directory is an array of 32-byte records, each defining file or

file extended attributes (e.g. long file name). File record attributes the first block of a file. Any

next block can be found through a block allocation table by using it as linked-list.

Block allocation table contains an array of block descriptors. Zero value indicates that

the block is not used and non-zero – relates to the next block of the file or a special value for file

end.

The numbers in FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 stands for the number if bits used to

enumerate file system block. This means that FAT12 can use up to 4096 different block

references, while FAT16 and FAT32 can use up to 65536 and 4294967296 accordingly. Actual

maximum count of blocks is even less and depends on implementation of a file system driver.

FAT12 was used for old floppy disks. FAT16 (or simply FAT) and FAT32 are widely

used for flash memory cards and USB flash sticks. The system is supported by mobile phones,

digital cameras and other portable devices.

FAT or FAT32 is a file system, used on Windows-compatible external storages or

disk partitions with size under 2GB (for FAT) or 32GB (for FAT32). Windows cannot create

Windows Vs Linux 4
FAT32 file system over 32GB (however Linux supports FAT32 up to 2TB).

NTFS:
NTFS (New Technology File System) was introduced in Windows NT and is major

file system for Windows at present. This is a default file system for disk partitions and the only

file system that is supported for disk partitions over 32GB. The file system is quite extensible

supporting many file properties, including access control, encryption etc. Each file on NTFS is

stored as file descriptor in a Master File Table and file content. Master file table contains all

information about the file: size, allocation, name etc. The first and the last sectors of the file

system contain file system settings (boot record or superblock). This file system uses 48 and 64

bit values to reference files, thus supporting quite large disk storages.

ReFS:
ReFS (Resilient File System) is the latest development of Microsoft presently

available for Windows 8 Servers. File system architecture absolutely differs from other Windows

file systems and is mainly organized in a form of B+-tree. ReFS has high tolerance to failures

due to new features included into the system. And, namely, Copy-on-Write (CoW): no metadata

is modified without being copied; data is written not over the existing data, but into a new disk

space. With any file modifications a new copy of metadata is created into free storage space, and

then the system creates a link from older metadata to the newer ones. As a result, a system stores

significant quantity of older backups in different places providing easy file recovery unless this

storage space is overwritten.” (“Understanding file systems: Windows, Linux, MacOS, BSD file

systems”. Ufsexplorer.com, http://www.ufsexplorer.com/und_fs.php).

Windows Vs Linux 5

“Open-source Linux OS aims at implementing, testing and using different concepts

 Ext2, Ext3, Ext4 - 'native' Linux file system. This file system falls under active
developments and improvements. Ext3 file system is just an extension to Ext2 which uses
transactional file write operations with a journal. Ext4 is a further development of Ext3,
extended with support of optimized file allocation information (extents) and extended file
attributes. This file system is frequently used as a 'root' file system for most Linux
installations.
 ReiserFS - alternative Linux file system is created to store huge amount of small files. It
has good capability of files search and enables compact files allocation by storing file
tails or small files along with metadata in order not to use large file system blocks for the
same purpose.
 XFS - file system derived from SGI company and was initially used for company’s IRIX
servers. Now XFS specifications are implemented in Linux. XFS file system has great
performance and is widely used to store files.
 JFS - file system is developed by IBM for the company’s powerful computing systems.
JFS1 usually stands for JFS, JFS2 is the second release. Currently this file system is
open-source and implemented in most modern Linux versions.”

“The concept of 'hard links' used in this kind of OS is a common feature of Linux file

systems of not regarding the file name as file attribute and rather defined as an alias for a file in

certain directory. File object can be linked from many locations, even multiply from the same

directory under different names. This may present serious and even insurmountable difficulties

for recovery of file names after file deletion or file system damage.”

(“Understanding file systems: Windows, Linux, MacOS, BSD file systems”. Ufsexplorer.com,
http://www.ufsexplorer.com/und_fs.php).

Security.

Comparing the security of the two systems, Linux would be more secure than

Windows. Linux, because you will have to enter the administrator’s password in order to make

Windows Vs Linux 6

changes or download anything on your computer. This tends to make it difficult to download
harmful programs to your PC. It also gives you the ability to change your codes to make it even

more secure.

For Windows, you have an administrator user that can make changes and you have

other users on the system that can make changes also. Since Windows is very popular, it has a

tendency to be attacked by viruses and other harmful programs. One reason for that is you can

not edit the malicious code.

Graphical User Interface.

Both operating systems have a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a command line

interface. The Windows GUI changes with every new version of Windows released. Linux has

two GUI’s KDE and Gnome. Windows GUI is very detailed and a very important component of

the operating system. Also, Windows GUI cannot be customized. While Linux, lets you

customize your desktop and the functions and setting on your computer. “Linux's GUI Gnome is

the system users are more familiar with and is more popular than KDE. KDE is much harder to

use than Gnome. KDE continues to change and add functions to its system, which makes it

difficult for new users and some who use it regularly.

Support for the users of Linux and Windows are different. Windows have a help

section that is actually located in the operating system and it is online as well. It also has

websites and forums for users to use when they need information on Windows. Linux uses books

and it has online forums too. Linux has support for its users, but not as much as Windows.

Windows Vs Linux 7

Conclusion.
Windows Vs Linux 8
References
(“Torvalds, Linus Benedict (October 5, 1991). "Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT".
Newsgroup: comp.os.minix. Retrieved September 30, 2011.”)

("The Unusual History of Microsoft Windows". Retrieved April 22, 2007.” Unlike Linux,).

(Various (1993). Inside Windows NT. New Riders press.)

(“Understanding file systems: Windows, Linux, MacOS, BSD file systems”. Ufsexplorer.com,
http://www.ufsexplorer.com/und_fs.php).