Why should Microsoft Windows be a staple of an operating system in the world of computers? Computers are a part of society, at a global scale. Computer viruses affect the entire world. Yet, every computer on the shelf at every store has a terrible OS installed on it. Why?

I admit it.
I am a computer geek. As a result, I know A LOT about computers. The most useful information I can share with anyone is a knowledgeable comparison Between the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Linux operating system.

Microsoft windows is not the only choice you have for an operating system despite the fact that they have some how (paid off) managed to get their product installed on nearly every computer sold.
In fact Microsoft windows is the WORST of the operating systems. They are the least secure, the least stable and the most complicated to use..
They are only more popular thanks to the tons of money they spent to try and corner the market. In fact Microsoft has spent more time in court for trying to corner the market with their crappy software than OJ Simpson did for murdering his wife with a butcher knife.
Why is microsoft already installed on computers when you buy them? They must have paid someone a LOT of money to arrange that.
I bet you even have a little windows logo on your keyboard if you look down at it. Why? Marketing. People spend hundreds of dollars on Microsoft crap and don't even realize that there are much better operating systems that are free and are far superior to Microsoft.

Microsoft is just another company making billions of dollars off of other peoples ignorance. Some people are so clueless that they will actually argue that Microsoft windows is a great thing and keep spending more money to try and keep it running. They spend money on anti virus software, firewalls, anti malware programs. They spend money on registry cleaners, disk defragmenters and in reality, a good operating system doesn't need any of these.

Not many people know that much about Linux. That's the way Microsoft prefers it. If someone says Linux, most people are not even sure what that is. If someone says Microsoft Windows everyone knows about that. Linux is actually the second largest operating system in the World now with 400 million users by the end of 2015.
On the surface Linux looks similar to Windows 7, or Windows Vista or one of those other XP, Windows 8 CD's you buy for over a hundred dollars and install on your system. But that is where the similarities end. The real difference is how it is designed. (and the fact that Linux is completely free)

Lets take a look at some of the differences between Microsoft and Linux systems.

1. There are hundreds of very nice anti virus programs available for Microsoft operating systems to protect their product from viruses.
Linux does not have any. Linux does not get viruses.

2. There are dozens of Firewalls available for windows to protect against Hackers.
Linux is a secure operating system and does not have to worry about things like hackers.

3. There are dozens of registry cleaners available for Microsoft windows to clean the registry which becomes very trashed and disorganized after installing and uninstalling software.
Linux has no registry cleaners available. Linux does not need them. Nothing gets written to the registry when adding software. So there is nothing to clean.

4. There are hundreds of anti malware and anti spyware programs that work well with Microsoft to clean out all the garbage that is collected on the hard drive from things as simple as just visiting websites.
Linux does not have any. Linux does not get that trash into its system.

5. Microsoft windows comes with a disk defragmenter already installed. Thats good news because the Windows operating system becomes fragmented severely over time which makes the computer slow and unresponsive.
Linux does not have a defragmenter. The Linux system does not become fragmented.

6. Microsoft needs for you to install drivers for everything. Hook up a printer, install a driver first. Hook up a scanner, install a driver first. Hook up a webcam, install a driver first.
In Linux this is not necessary. Plug it in and it works. No matter what it is. Everything you need is already there.

7. Microsoft requires the latest computers to run their latest operating system. The old computers just don't work with the newer Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft requires to much memory and system resources.
Linux runs on everything and is so system resource friendly that even a 20 year old computer can be brought back to life after installing Linux.

8. Microsoft operating systems can cost in the hundreds of dollars. This is the purpose of cornering the market. You can set your own price.
Linux is 100% FREE and available to download all over the internet.

When using Linux you can forget about firewalls, antivirus programs, anti spyware programs, defragmenters, registry cleaners, drivers,
and all that other GARBAGE that microsoft windows needs just to keep running. Now what are you going to do with all that free hard drive space?

Can you use Linux?
In reality Linux is much simpler to use than Windows. It is very easy to switch operating systems just as it is switching browsers.
If you wish (for some reason), Linux even has versions that are a replicas of Microsoft Windows so you don't even know the difference.
At least, until you realize that it doesn't crash, freeze up, get viruses, or become unresponsive.

Facts about Linux.
Our own Government uses Linux operating systems.
Our Military uses Linux operating systems.
The top ten super computers in the World uses Linux operating systems.
It seems anytime a computer needs to be secure and stable it has Linux on it. Not a surprise. Microsoft is garbage.

Linux has all the things you are used to in windows. You can play music, watch videos on YouTube, use your office programs along with all of your usual toys.
It can use the browser you are already using along with your email program. You can make CD's, use Skype, and spend all day on Facebook. You don't have to give up ANYTHING when you switch to Linux.
Nothing is much different. Its very simple.
So why should Microsoft even still be a business despite them being nothing but a crutch on the computer industry, and consumers of computers?

because you can play games on windows


[edit] also, your assertion that linux does not get viruses and requires no protection is laughable. nothing is secure.

The military uses Linux? News to me. Your long rant about disliking microsoft comes off as being incredibly bias. Why don't you come up with some actual statistics and throw in some references? I'm not about to go google shit if you haven't even provided your own research.

I'm on the same page as Scarecrow and Arch. All you say is that you're a computer geek, then you go on a rant about how great Linux is. You provide no real sources, and you only compare Windows and Linux, and at that, you don't even compare a specific Windows OS, just Windows in general.

Yeah I'm not sure where this kid got his facts, but from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems it seems that Linux is almost the least popular OS on the market right now. Judging by the statistics on that page, Windows OS' are on about 90% of computers/laptops as apposed to Linux' 1.75% I feel like you can't even argue something like that. I can just debunk every single argument this kid made by stating the obvious: Don't you think people would've broken Linux as much as Windows if it were half as popular or that if Linux was actually the more superior OS then it would maybe be beating Windows latest OS that just came out a few months ago? Your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

i'm taking a proper break from my study, so here's a real rebuttal.

>1. There are hundreds of very nice anti virus programs available for Microsoft operating systems to protect their product from viruses. Linux does not have any. Linux does not get viruses.

bullshit. there is no system that can't get viruses. what's more, because linux is open source, developing viruses for it should be easy.
https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/284124-myth-busting-is-linux-immune-to-viruses

>2. There are dozens of Firewalls available for windows to protect against Hackers. Linux is a secure operating system and does not have to worry about things like hackers.

again, bullshit. any computer attached to a network is vulnerable.

>3. There are dozens of registry cleaners available for Microsoft windows to clean the registry which becomes very trashed and disorganized after installing and uninstalling software. Linux has no registry cleaners available. Linux does not need them. Nothing gets written to the registry when adding software. So there is nothing to clean.

this is true, but also causes a whole lot of compatibility problems for programs that would normally write registry entries.

>4. There are hundreds of anti malware and anti spyware programs that work well with Microsoft to clean out all the garbage that is collected on the hard drive from things as simple as just visiting websites. Linux does not have any. Linux does not get that trash into its system.

more bullshit

>5. Microsoft windows comes with a disk defragmenter already installed. Thats good news because the Windows operating system becomes fragmented severely over time which makes the computer slow and unresponsive. Linux does not have a defragmenter. The Linux system does not become fragmented.

mostly false. linux runs a different file system to windows that is more efficient and less likely to fragment, but it still happens - especially when the disk drive starts getting full. if it's true that a defragmenter doesn't exist (but it probably isn't) that's not a good thing.

>6. Microsoft needs for you to install drivers for everything. Hook up a printer, install a driver first. Hook up a scanner, install a driver first. Hook up a webcam, install a driver first. In Linux this is not necessary. Plug it in and it works. No matter what it is. Everything you need is already there.

bullshit. if i plug my razer naga into a linux computer and it magically works, i'll eat my keyboard. also, http://www.linux-drivers.org/ exists, so you're wrong.

>7. Microsoft requires the latest computers to run their latest operating system. The old computers just don't work with the newer Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft requires to much memory and system resources. Linux runs on everything and is so system resource friendly that even a 20 year old computer can be brought back to life after installing Linux.

are you saying linux operating systems don't get updates? that's probably bullshit, and not a good thing if it's true.

yes, linux is more efficient. that's the thing it was designed for. congratulations, you have one argument so far.

>8. Microsoft operating systems can cost in the hundreds of dollars. This is the purpose of cornering the market. You can set your own price. Linux is 100% FREE and available to download all over the internet.

neat, but i still didn't pay for windows. windows 10 is free, by the way - despite being shit.

>When using Linux you can forget about firewalls, antivirus programs, anti spyware programs, defragmenters, registry cleaners, drivers, and all that other GARBAGE that microsoft windows needs just to keep running. Now what are you going to do with all that free hard drive space?

putting aside the fact that your first sentence here is bullshit because you're wrong, "all that hard drive space" i would save by removing all of what you've listed would amount to about 300 mb at most. wowe, such savings. much space.



having said all of that, i'm seriously considering dual booting and running windows purely for gaming, because despite how awful your post was, there are real reasons to jump ship off microsoft. let me help you out:

windows 10 constantly sends your user data and activity to microsoft, doesn't allow you to disable updates, can send your wifi details to all of your facebook friends if you aren't careful, allows microsoft to "access, disclose, and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications, or files in private folders" whenever the government demands them to, has a built in keylogger, uses all this information to push targeted ads to your desktop, and has security features which you can't turn off, that also attack pirated programs.

several of these features have been surreptitiously added into previous versions of windows as well via windows update, so unless you uninstall the relevant telemetry updates your data's being logged even if you didn't "upgrade" to windows 10.

literally the only thing microsoft has going for them at the moment is the fact that I can play games on their OS without compatibility issues.

Quote from Arch-Angel

Don't you think people would've broken Linux as much as Windows if it were half as popular or that if Linux was actually the more superior OS then it would maybe be beating Windows latest OS that just came out a few months ago? Your argument is bad and you should feel bad.

i'm pretty sure "because it's popular it must be good" is some kind of fallacy

All computers can get viruses. What are you talking about? Is it harder to get viruses on Linux or something?

Well since windows is famous, lots of programs and mostly games are compatible with windows because it's where the big market is xD
Lots of people and my communities are using windows. It makes me need to use windows as my main OS. If not, it will be hard to pass some specific files (program that exist in windows but not in linux). Maybe files converter can do, but it takes time. imo

Quote from Scarecrow

i'm pretty sure "because it's popular it must be good" is some kind of fallacy

I think Arch meant that hackers will go after the popular option to affect more users.

Quote from GuardianTempest

I think Arch meant that hackers will go after the popular option to affect more users.

on re-reading his post you're probably right. in which case, i agree.

Here is why Linux never gets viruses.
In Linux, the executability of a file is not determined by an extension (like for example .exe in Windows), but by the permissions adhering to this file. Each newly created file is by default not executable under Linux, and the user will first need to make this file executable by an explicit action. Even if you intentionally tried to infect your own Linux computer with a virus you would have to spend hours and hours giving each individual file involved administrator permissions. After that the virus would still not run.

In Linux a normal user has but very limited permissions. For example, a normal user can't perform administrative tasks. And so the scope of this user is actually limited to his own home folder. For installing software you always need to be root (or to have temporary root rights, which is the way of Linux).

In Linux, by default, even the administrator logs in with limited user permissions. Should he wish to perform an administrative task, then he has to type his password again, to obtain temporary root permissions. This will give him 15 minutes of root authority.

Many Linux users tweak their system according to their own taste. Because of the variety of Linux distributions, applications and kernel versions, it's difficult to write an exploit by which enough systems can be taken over to make the effort of creating that exploit worthwhile.

The bottom line,There are currently no known active Linux viruses and never will be.

Also, unfortunately it is true most games are not compatible with Linux, but workarounds can be achieved. For example, I managed to install and play Civ V on my Ubuntu OS. Also, the government and military use Linux because they can't afford to have their entire infrastructure wiped out by a virus every other week.

In terms of statistics, 30 million Windows installed households with virus problems in past 2 years. 0 Linux users in that regard.
16 million spyware problems for Windows users' households in the past 6 months. 0 spyware problems for Linux users.
1 million Windows users that lost money or had accounts misused due to phishing. 0 for Linux users
4.55$ billion in estimated costs for Windows households for viruses, spyware, and phishing
40% of all Windows households damaged by viruses.
Most widespread virus to date according to number of infections, "Conficker Virus" infected 8,976,038 Windows computers. Infected 0 Linux computers.

Windows is the only OS that gets viruses. Microsoft is the only company that you have to bind a Microsoft account to your computer by default in the most recent Operating Systems they released. Windows is the only OS that allows Microsoft to spy on you. Windows is a scam and a rip off and again, the only reason they are popular is because they spent so much time cornering the market. They spend more time committing business scandals to keep their software on the shelves than they do designing the actual software

That still doesn't refute Exile's point that just because you have no use for Windows, it doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist at all. My dad doesn't know how to use computers at all, Windows is all he is familiar with, and all he wants to use. He isn't the only one either. In many cases, familiarity alone is reason enough for this stuff to exist.

All the points you raised would be wonderful if this was a Windows vs Linux debate. But that wasn't your topic. Your topic was whether Microsoft should exist at all.

Quote from Sea Beast

The bottom line,There are currently no known active Linux viruses and never will be. [CITATION NEEDED]

you should really check your facts before you make claims like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses

Quote from Sea Beast

Also, unfortunately it is true most games are not compatible with Linux, but workarounds can be achieved. For example, I managed to install and play Civ V on my Ubuntu OS.

yes, i know it's possible in some cases to make games work. the process to make that happen is tedious and the end product will likely be riddled with bugs and performance issues. you can't claim that an OS is "easier to use" and then tell me that i need to perform lengthy workarounds if i want to maybe make a program work.

Quote from Sea Beast

In terms of statistics, 30 million Windows installed households with virus problems in past 2 years. 0 Linux users in that regard.
16 million spyware problems for Windows users' households in the past 6 months. 0 spyware problems for Linux users.
1 million Windows users that lost money or had accounts misused due to phishing. 0 for Linux users
4.55$ billion in estimated costs for Windows households for viruses, spyware, and phishing
40% of all Windows households damaged by viruses.
Most widespread virus to date according to number of infections, "Conficker Virus" infected 8,976,038 Windows computers. Infected 0 Linux computers.
[CITATIONS NEEDED]

i don't have any reason to believe that these statistics are true because all your "facts" so far have been wrong, but even if they are, here's something that may surprise you: you don't get malware out of nowhere, even on windows. you get malware by either being directly targeted, or by being a fucking idiot and allowing sexy_babes.wmv.exe to run with administrator privileges. i don't need to worry about getting a virus, even if i don't have any antivirus software, because i'm not retarded.

Quote from Sea Beast

In Linux, the executability of a file is not determined by an extension (like for example .exe in Windows), but by the permissions adhering to this file. Each newly created file is by default not executable under Linux, and the user will first need to make this file executable by an explicit action. Even if you intentionally tried to infect your own Linux computer with a virus you would have to spend hours and hours giving each individual file involved administrator permissions. After that the virus would still not run.

In Linux a normal user has but very limited permissions. For example, a normal user can't perform administrative tasks. And so the scope of this user is actually limited to his own home folder. For installing software you always need to be root (or to have temporary root rights, which is the way of Linux).

In Linux, by default, even the administrator logs in with limited user permissions. Should he wish to perform an administrative task, then he has to type his password again, to obtain temporary root permissions. This will give him 15 minutes of root authority.

Many Linux users tweak their system according to their own taste. Because of the variety of Linux distributions, applications and kernel versions, it's difficult to write an exploit by which enough systems can be taken over to make the effort of creating that exploit worthwhile.

you're really not selling the ease of use here.

having said that, yes, this is an effective system, and the additional security might be useful, hypothetically, to me, maybe. one day.

but most casual users don't give a fuck about security or privacy, so this isn't an adequate selling point for anybody who isn't a computer wizard. do you have any idea how many people store bank details, private documents and photos, credit card information and so on, on online hard drives with the default username and password? it's fucking disgusting, but it's illustrative of how little people care. your everyday plebians are happy to fork out a few hundred bucks to a tech guy if they get a virus. either that, or they're tech savvy enough to deal with the problem themselves if it happens. and again, it doesn't happen often, unless you're a fucking idiot. i've personally encountered maybe four or five computer viruses in my lifetime? only one managed to get through my computer's defenses, and even then it was easy to eliminate on my own.

Quote from Sea Beast

Windows is the only OS that gets viruses.

wrong again. there is no OS that cannot be targeted.

Quote from Sea Beast

Microsoft is the only company that you have to bind a Microsoft account to your computer by default in the most recent Operating Systems they released. Windows is the only OS that allows Microsoft to spy on you. Windows is a scam and a rip off and again, the only reason they are popular is because they spent so much time cornering the market. They spend more time committing business scandals to keep their software on the shelves than they do designing the actual software

i agree that microsoft is shit. they're no longer producing anything worthwhile and instead are resorting to marketing and money-milking campaigns to stay alive as a business instead. they've been getting worse ever since windows 7.

but there is no scam involved. they have a product and people are willing to pay for it.

maybe if linux weren't so fragmented with deprecated builds left right and center more people would be interested in it. as it is, it's too unstable and community driven, so no new user knows where to start, let alone how to set it up themselves. without centralized and dedicated support and a clear line up of versions that are actively being developed, linux is nowhere near as easy to get into as you seem to be pretending it is. linux is and always has been a very specialized OS, dedicated to performance and security but not useability or support. your average user who knows jack shit about computers isn't going to make it to the login screen.

But why should an OS like Windows, which is poor in every aspect, be on the shelves?
Perhaps not Linux in particular, point is, there are free Operating Systems out there that outmatch windows in performance.
The only selling point of Windows is how common it is, in fact, that's the only explanation for it's approachability.
You can't tell me that Windows should actually be on every computer on every shelf when Windows is the bottom of the barrel, most poorly designed OS on the market.
Would the world not be better if Linux were the staple and not Windows?