Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 - Strengths and weaknesses

Night Hawk · 01 Nov 2009

Off to the Chillout Room for this one alright!

While most here already know which they prefer.....(pssst 7 of course!) some may not have had a chance to sign up for beta testing or had a chance at the Release Candidates.

October 30th, 2009

Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 - Strengths and weaknesses

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 5:09 am

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the differences between Microsoft’s latest Windows 7 and Canonical’s Ubuntu 9.10. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the operating systems. Is a free operating system really as good as one that you pay for?

Let’s take a look at several aspects of using operating systems and examine the various strengths and weaknesses of each OS.

Installation

Windows 7

Pros
- Install is quick, easy and painless.
- After working through a few wizard screens at the beginning, the install is automatic
Cons
- None really

Ubuntu 9.10

Pros
- Option to “try before you install” using the Live CD feature
- Can easily install as a dual boot or even inside Windows using the Wubi installer
Cons
- Unless you’re luck to get a CD, you do have to mess about with .ISO files and burn a disc. If you’re happy doing that, it’s not really a problem.

More at: Windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 - Strengths and weaknesses | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

Jordus · 02 Nov 2009

I dont think anyone could have drawn more obvious conclusions.

Dude needs to work for Gartner or Forrester, lol

jimbo45 · 02 Nov 2009

Hi there

I thought he DID work for Gartner.

At least you could have included the Windows CONS

1) No decent scripting or Shell (like Bourne or C-shell in Linux)
2) No CRONTAB (for automatic launching of jobs / scripts)
3) You can't run Windows with a disconnected terminal -- you can start a linux server and then unplug the monitor -- your server will just keep running -- if you need to enter a command either do it remotely or re-plug in the monitor again on the local machine.
4) No Choice of GUI (or NONE if you don't want to start the X-server in Linux).

Mind you these are applicable to LINUX in general not Ubuntu.

Linux Cons -- almost impossiible to make idiot proof - I suspect some people would kill their own systems by logging in as root (or SU) and the recursively running something like rm. If you are root the system won't stop you from even destroying it. Windows has a little protection there -but in either case its still quite easy to hose up a system.

Whether these cons are significant depends on what sort of user you are and I would suspect for those that haven't played around with Linux or managed server systems won't find these particularly debilitating.

Cheers
jimbo

johnwillyums · 02 Nov 2009

I heard that Ubuntu cannot read/write on different hard drives eg cannot play your music from another drive.
Anyone know if this is a fact as it is the only thing stopping me putting it on as a backup os.

Cheers, J:)

pparks1 · 02 Nov 2009

I have had no problems mounting other drives under Ubuntu. I only keep my songs on my NTFS windows volume on my laptop...but my Ubuntu dual boot install has no problems accessing that music.

johnwillyums · 02 Nov 2009

Thanks pp. Wonder where I got that idea from...

Dinesh · 02 Nov 2009

I never knew that dual booting windows 7 with ubuntu will be that easy. All I did was booted from ubuntu live cd and there was an option to Install Ubuntu 9.10 side-by-side with Windows 7. That's it. No issues and happily dual booting them. :)

pparks1 · 02 Nov 2009

Yeah, things have gotten a whole lot easier across the board between setup, hardware support and dual boot options.

Ubuntu has a fun little installer called wubi that you can run from within Windows and it simply creates a virtual machine hard drive file, and loads Ubuntu into that and just puts an entry into the Windows bootloader screen. So, you really cannot screw anything up with that. And if you decide it's not for you, you simply remove from Add/Remove programs. Of course, on things like laptops...wubi doesn't lend itself to sleep and hibernate...so if those are features you need...a true dual boot is really your best option.

Dinesh · 02 Nov 2009

pparks1 said:

Yeah, things have gotten a whole lot easier across the board between setup, hardware support and dual boot options.

Ubuntu has a fun little installer called wubi that you can run from within Windows and it simply creates a virtual machine hard drive file, and loads Ubuntu into that and just puts an entry into the Windows bootloader screen. So, you really cannot screw anything up with that. And if you decide it's not for you, you simply remove from Add/Remove programs. Of course, on things like laptops...wubi doesn't lend itself to sleep and hibernate...so if those are features you need...a true dual boot is really your best option.

Earlier I had installed Ubuntu thru Wubi. As this is a laptop, I really missed hibernate feature. Also, using Wubi, you cannot install several .deb packages as it gives an "I386" error. Hence I thought to dual boot Ubuntu with Win7 and I m happy now. :)

whs · 02 Nov 2009

I run Ubuntu and Win7 in virtual partitions (virtual Box) on a Vista host. I think that is the ultimate because I can switch between those systems in no time. Have to admit that I still have trouble with Ubuntu because for me it is not very user friendly. I installed it out of curiousity but don't intend to use it for any serious work. For me, Vista is the ultimate - but you need a lot of muscle in your system.