Hey Windows users! Don’t get me wrong. Here are true facts that both the Microsoft and Windows lovers would not like to read. I was happened to be a Windows user and earlier I thought that Windows is the best user oriented Operating System. If you want to know why I now hate Windows and love Linux, read this.
1. Biggest Difference between Windows and Virus? Virus Rarely Fails
It is commonly known fact that proprietary software including Windows and Mac threatens users’ security. They have a long history of security vulnerabilities. It does not stop spreading of viruses. It lets remote users to take over people’s computers for sending spam. Because the software is secret, all users are dependent on Microsoft to fix these problems — but Microsoft has its own security interests at heart, not those of its users.
2. Linux can run on almost any hardware
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve never told you that Windows can’t run on any hardware. But I am just telling that Linux can run on almost any hardware. Yes, please believe me!
Some months ago I thought that my mobile modem (Reliance Netconnect+) would not work on Linux environment. But by simple tweaks my friend has shown me that the modem is supported on Linux.
Lesson learnt: If you don’t know how to use a hardware on Linux, please don’t assume that the hardware is not supported on Linux. With some determination, you can get both Windows and Linux to run on almost any hardware.
3. Powerful Command Line
The Linux command line is so powerful. It makes you able to do almost anything you in the Linux operating system. Yes, you should have a bit of knowledge to do this. I agree that Windows command line is also powerful. But the biggest difference between those two is the amount you can do when you met with only the command line. If you had to administer two machines by command line only you could understand how much powerful the Linux command line is actually
4. Never Forces a User to Believe a Claim without Showing Evidence
When Windows claims that they made improvement in program, improved security and restricted backdoors, users are forced to believe it. Since the source code is not provided, there is no evidence for such claims. So chances exist they do little (or no) effort on such claim.
5. Linux Ask for Donation, but Never Forces to Upgrade
Microsoft regularly attempts to force updates on its users, by removing support for older versions of Windows and Office, and by inflating hardware requirements. If proprietary vendors stop supporting a product, users have two options: either use an unsupported version of the software, or go for an (unwanted) upgrade. For many people, this means having to throw away working computers just because they don’t meet the unnecessary requirements for the new Windows versions.
Imposed upgrading never happens for free software. For example when RedHat decided to stop supporting their RedHat Linux 7, 8, and 9, various other companies came forward to support them.
6. Linux Hates Being 007
Everyone loves James Bond, British secret agent coded 007 only in movies. But no one will love spy in real life.
If users have no control on software they are using, it can easily spy on the users. Windows often spy on users’ activity and restrict them from sharing with others. Microsoft uses software with backward names like Windows Genuine Advantage to inspect the contents of users’ hard drives. Since users are signed on the licensing agreement before using the software, vendors’ claims that they have the right to inspect the hard drive content without a warning message. It breaks our privacy because our computers consists our personal information and daily activities.
7. Linux Love Jesus
Linux love Jesus because Jesus encourages people to help his neighbor.
The first step in using a computer was to promise not to help your neighbor. A cooperating community was forbidden. The rule made by the owners of proprietary software was, ‘If you share with your neighbor, you are a pirate. If you want any changes, beg us to make them.
-Richard Stallman
Educating students signifies a major revenue source for some of the proprietary software vendors. In addition, it is a huge opportunity for these vendors to acquaint future adults with their product and keep their dominance forever. They spend huge amounts of money on marketing to acquire the support of educational departments. As an open source enthusiast, I believe proprietary software is incompatible with education because users are just inert consumers and are legally restricted from examining its source code. Education using computers should be free. It should not be an opportunity for corporations to ensure their software monopoly. Teach how to use help neighbor
8. Never Disappear like Windows
Two years ago, Microsoft released Windows Vista, to little fanfare and much disappointment, both from users, facing a battle of broken software, drivers and heavy restrictions, and from developers, scrambling to bring software up-to-date to work with the new system.
Two years later, Microsoft itself admits Vista failed. Users were not ready to accept the huge downgrade that Vista offered, and Microsoft has attempted to rectify this with the announcement of Windows 7. Windows 7, like Windows XP in 2001, has a more modest requirement footprint, making it ideal for low-powered netbook computers. However, unlike Windows XP, Microsoft have deliberately crippled Windows 7, leaving netbook users at the mercy of Microsoft to control which applications they can use, as well as the number of applications that can be run simultaneously
Linux never disappears. When RedHat decided to stop supporting their RedHat Linux 7, 8, and 9, various other companies came forward to support them.
9. Linux is Part of Social Movement
There are tons of benefits using free software. But apart from the benefits of using free software talk about philosophy. The most fundamental job of schools is to teach good citizenship, which includes the habit of helping others. In computing, this means teaching people to share software. The first step in using a computer with proprietary software is to promise not to help the neighbors. A cooperating community was forbidden. The rule made by the owners of proprietary software was, “If you share with your neighbor, you are a pirate. If you want any changes, beg us to make them.”
Instead schools must encourage their students sharing the software and cultivate good habit by telling “You must share your software with the other students. If someone wants to learn how it is made, then go through the source code and learn its architecture.”
Free software gives freedom to study how the program works by accessing the source code, allows writing the code, testing it, modifying it and distributing it. The source code is not available for proprietary software
10. Linux is Free always
Last but not least, this is a quite obvious reason. Linux is free and will be always. Don’t say me that you are also using a free Operating System, Windows, pirated version :p
Free software does not mean zero cost software. It is true that most current open source projects are available for free of cost, which leads ambiguity around the commonly used term “free software.” So the common saying is, “Think free as in free speech (freedom) and not free as in free beer (zero cost).” Free software lowers the production cost. Making a system like MS-Windows costs millions of dollars. But if you produce the same kind of system using a free POSIX version, it would probably cost less than a hundred dollars.
Sometimes proprietary software vendors donate free copy of software to institutions like school. Those corporations offer free samples to schools for the same reason tobacco companies distribute free cigarettes to minors: to get children addicted. They will not give discounts to these students once they’ve grown up and graduated. In addition, a school that accepts such an offer may have to pay for upgrades later.
17. September 2012 at 1:02 pm
You raise some interesting points here, I’ll certainly give you that. I’ve learned more about Linux in these few paragraphs than I learned in all the years since I first heard about it, I think. I just don’t know anyone who uses it. I like some of the things you write about here, though, like the fact that Linux is part of a social movement, and that is seems to be led not by greed, but by idealism.
That said, I’ve been using Windows 7 for three years now and I’m really, really happy with it. It’s superb for the music production work I do, and it’s just plain more efficient in all areas than Mac OSX, which I also use. OSX has been a major disappointment, truth be told. I’ll use my Mac for simple stuff, but for more demanding tasks a similarly speced Windows 7 machine is just demonstrably better. So to me, it looks like MicroSoft have cleaned up their act.
17. September 2012 at 8:49 pm
Nice to know that the article helped you. I was a windows 7 user. It is really a hard decision to switch over to Linux by considering the philosophy part. I will be adding more content here for Windows users like how to get started with linux.
Thanks for the comment Synth!