Camparison between Linux and Windows Operating System's

Properties	Linux	Windows
What is it?	Linux is an example of Open Source software development and Free Operating System (OS).	Windows is the family of operating system (OS) from Microsoft, which is the most famous OS in the world.
Cost	Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows.	For desktop or home use, Windows can be expensive. A single copy can cost around $50 to $ 450 depending on the version of Windows.
User	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.
Manufacturer	Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things.	Microsoft created the Windows operating system, but allows other computer manufactures to distribute their own computers with Windows pre-installed.
Usage	Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.	On PC's desktops, laptops, servers and some phones.
Development and Distribution	Linux is developed by Open Source development i.e. through sharing and collaboration of code and features through forums etc and it is distributed by various vendors.	Windows is developed and distributed by Microsoft
GUI	Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. But there are millions of alternatives such as LXDE, Xfce, Unity, Mate, twm, ect.	The Windows GUI is an integral component of the OS and is not replaceable. This can be a con when it comes to Windows 8's Metro.
File system support	Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS	FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT
Text mode interface	BASH (Bourne Again SHell) is the Linux default shell. It can support multiple command interpreters	Windows uses a command shell and each version of Windows has a single command interpreter with dos-like commands, recently there is the addition of the optional PowerShell that uses more Unix-like commands.
Price	Free but support is available for a price	$50-$450
Security	Linux has had about 60-100 viruses listed till date. None of them actively spreading nowadays.	According to Dr. Nic Peeling and Dr Julian Satchell's “Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software” there have been more than 60,000 viruses in Windows. Anti Virus cost about $20 to $400
Threat detection and solution	In case of Linux, threat detection and solution is very fast, as Linux is mainly community driven and whenever any Linux user posts any kind of threat, several developers start working on it from different parts of the world	After detecting a major threat in Windows OS, Microsoft generally releases a patch that can fix the problem and it can take more than 2/3 months. Sometimes sooner, Microsoft releases patches and updates weekly.
Processors	Dozens of different kinds.	Limited but most (80%)
Examples	Ubuntu, Fedora, Red Hat, Debian, Archlinux, Android etc.	Windows 8, 8.1, 7, Vista, XP
Gaming	Very few games available natively. Some games can be played through Wine, but often not all features are available.	Almost all games are compatible with Windows. Some CPU intensive and graphics intensive games are exclusive to Windows PC's.
User experience	Although there are many GUI applications, most of the work is done through Terminal (a console window), and if a problem arrises GUI is rarely usable to fix them.	Everything can be controlled through GUI and incompatibility problems are rare.
Graphics performance	Because hardware manufacturers, such as NVidia, often does not provide documentation for linux developers, drivers can not use full card performance.	Combined with newest DirectX versions and full graphics card support the performance is almost as good as it can get
Company / developer	Linus Torvalds	Microsoft
Introduction (from Wikipedia)	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	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.
Available language(s)	Multilingual	Multilingual
License	GNU/Free	Proprietary
Supported platforms	All	PowerPC: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; DEC Alpha: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; MIPS R4000: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; IA-32: versions 1.0 - 8; IA-64: version XP; x86-64: versions XP - 8; ARM: version RT;
Default user interface	Gnome or KDE (Depends on distro)	Graphical (Windows Aero)
Preceded by	Basic Terminal (CLI)	MS-DOS
Source model	Open Source	Closed / Shared source
Update method	Many	Windows Update
Terminal	Multi Terminal Windows	--