What is the difference between linux operating system and windows?

Major difference between them are

1. Reduces the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome
When linux is properly installed, there no longer a need to use the mouse. Chances of you using a mouse is close to zero.

2. Use the extra cash for rewards
Linux is 100% free while Windows Vista Ultimate costs $398.99 at the time of writing. Companies that pay a licensing annually could have used the money for other things like buying an additional server to reduce the load or even give a bigger bonus to its loyal employees.

3. Formats are free, freedom is preserved
Linux file formats can be accessed in a variety of ways because they are free. Windows on the other hand makes you lock your own data in secret formats that can only be accessed with tools leased to you at the vendor’s price. “What we will get with Microsoft is a three-year lease on a health record we need to keep for 100 years”

4. Zero risk in violating license agreements
Linux is open source so you are unlikely to violate any license agreement. All the software is happily yours. With MS Windows you likely already violate all kinds of licenses and you could be pronounced a computer pirate if only a smart lawyer was after you. The worldwide PC software piracy rate for 2004 is at 35%. Which means that 3 out of 10 people are likely to get into real trouble.

5. Transparent vs Proprietary
MS Windows is based on DOS, Linux is based on UNIX. MS Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) is based on Microsoft-own marketing-driven specifications. Linux GUI is based on industry-standard network-transparent X-Windows.

6. Better network, processing capabilities
Linux beats Windows hands down on network features, as a development platform, in data processing capabilities, and as a scientific workstation. MS Windows desktop has a more polished appearance, simple general business applications, and many more games for kids (less intellectual games compared to linux’s).

7. Customizable
Linux is customizable in a way that Windows is not. For example, NASlite is a version of Linux that runs off a single floppy disk and converts an old computer into a file server. This ultra small edition of Linux is capable of networking, file sharing and being a web server.

8. Flexibility
Windows must boot from a primary partition. Linux can boot from either a primary partition or a logical partition inside an extended partition. Windows must boot from the first hard disk. Linux can boot from any hard disk in the computer.

9. Mobility
Windows allows programs to store user information (files and settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to another without having to migrate user data and settings.

10. Proven Security
Why isn’t Linux affected by viruses? Simply because its code has been open source for more than a decade, tested by people all around the world, and not by a single development team like in the case of Windows. This leads to a lightning fast finding and fixing for exploitable holes in Linux. So that my friends, proves Linux as having an extremely enhanced security and lesser chances of exploits compared to Windows.

Here are a few great web site links to where you can go to find ansers to your question:

Title: Comparing Windows XP and Linux (PDF 44 page presentation).

Page URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4921217/Comparing-Windows-XP-and-Linux-

_________________________________________________

Title: Difference Between Linux and Windows
Page URL: http://www.scribd.com/doc/8326092/Difference-Between-Linux-and-Windows

Hope this helps.