[snichols] This is more of a Linux versus Windows comparison. I've worked mostly in Windows for about 10 years. Before that I used MSDOS in the late 80s and early 90s. I've been using Linux for one year and thought I share some differences I noticed between the two OS's. Anyone else feel free to contribute.


   * GUI
In Windows, the GUI is integral to the operating system.
In Linux, the GUI is simply a program running in Linux and can be killed and restarted if necessary. I have noticed that in Linux it does seem to lockup more then Windows, but this may be my configuration. The good thing though is you won't have to reboot, simply restart X windows. I've never seen Linux's command line lockup.

   * Application Settings
In Windows, application settings are stored in the registry. The settings are not clear text and require special tools to edit such as regedit and regedit32.
In Linux, application settings are stored in files that start with a dot or dot files in the users home directory. The dot files are clear text and can be edited without special tools. 

   * Command Line
In Windows, not using the command line isn't necessary.
In Linux, a good understanding of the command line (bash) is necessary. The command line includes many tools that do all sorts of things that most programmers will really like.

   * Programming
In Windows, programming requires knowledge of APIs like DDE, COM, etc.
In Linux, most programming is done by writing command line apps that pipe their outputs to other command line apps. Piping sounds technical, but its actually a much easier concept to grasp and much easier to program then DDE or COM.

   * Security
In Windows, users can edit and change any file.
''[AET] 7jun07'' Only for FAT-filesystem Windows (up to 98) - not common now.  FAT does not support file security.  HPFS (NT variants) supports ACLS, but is not set up by default upon installation.  I have found some laptops with XP installed into FAT - dunno why.  

In Linux, by default users can only view files from other users. Sudo or root access permissions are needed to be able to change a file created by another user.

   * Remote Connectivity
In Windows, remote use is done through Windows Terminal Services or pcAnywhere, or by mapping a network drive to a Windows share.
In Linux, almost all users use SSH to connect to another computer, or use tools like scp and rsync instead of mapping network drives.

''[escargo]'' - Virtual Network Computing (VNC [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vnc]) can be used with either. You can also connect to a Windows system from Linux using a Remote Desktop Protocol client such as rdesktop [http://www.rdesktop.org/]. 
''[gg]'' - You can also connect from Windows to Linux (or Linux to Linux) using that.

   * Background Processing
In Windows, I find myself waiting on background processing to finish a lot of the time. The background processes could be an expensive email program with a very large footprint or an anti-virus program running that has continually check your computer to make sure things are safe. These are just two common contributers to why my Windows computer runs so slow. There's usually dozens if not hundreds of processes running in the background in Windows doing who knows what when your working. Even, with a tricked out system, I find myself having to periodically wait for them to finish. Systems will include an hourglass for a mouse cursor, or keyboard that no longer responds, or screens that are slow to paint, lagging keyboard, etc..

In Linux, there is still background processing going on, but I rarely notice them working.

   * Summary
Linux is a good development environment for a programmer, because just about anything can be automated via a script. Windows seems more geared to a casual user that would rather browse to where they need to go. I mention DDE and COM as what most Windows programs use, but I heard .NET is using SOAP which probably is hard or harder than those to grasp.

[LV] Note that Linux doesn't _require_ using a command line. For instance, I have NEVER used a command line on my linux based Tivo machine. I suspect that people using Linux phones also have never used a command line.

Being forced to use command lines means that insufficient attention has been paid to the user interface on the particular machine...

[snichols] I didn't mean having to use the command line was a bad thing. In my office, I think most people prefer to use the command line because it's more efficient then having to use a mouse. I know most GUI applications have keyboard shortcut keys, but how many people actually learn them? 

[LV] I understand your point. My reaction was triggered by historical reasons - one of the most frequent [Linux] criticisms (by people who are not code jockies) revolves around the fact that it is so command line driven.

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