All flavors of Windows come from Microsoft. Linux come from different companies like LIndows , Lycoris, Red Hat, SuSe, Mandrake, Knopping, Slackware.
Linux is customizable but 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.
Linux is freely available for desktop or home use but Windows is expensive. For server use, Linux is cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on one computer. You can run Linux on any number of computers.
Linux has hign security. You have to log on to Linux with a userid and password. You can login as root or as normal user. The root has full previlage.
Linux has a reputation for fewer bugs than Windows.
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.
Windows uses a hidden file for its swap file. Typically this file resides in the same partition as the OS (advanced users can opt to put the file in another partition). Linux uses a dedicated partition for its swap file.
Windows separates directories with a back slash while Linux uses a normal forward slash.
Windows file names are not case sensitive. Linux file names are. For example "abc" and "aBC" are different files in Linux, whereas in Windows it would refer to the same file.
Windows and Linux have different concepts for their file hierarchy. Windows uses a volume-based file hierarchy while Linux uses a unified scheme. Windows uses letters of the alphabet to represent different devices and different hard disk partitions. eg: c: , d: , e: etc.. while in linux " / " is the main directory.
Linux and windows support the concept of hidden files. In linux hidden files begin with " . ", eg: .filename
In Linux each user will have a home directory and all his files will be save under it while in windows the user saves his files anywhere in the drive. This makes difficult to have backup for his contents. In Linux its easy to have backup's.
