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Windows 8 Vs. Linux

sfbloodbrother

sfbloodbrother

Extreme Android User
For gaming purposes, what is the better choice? It's official that the CEO of Valve (Steam) thinks Windows 8 is awful, and now Valve is porting games to Linux.
I used to be a Linux user, but recently switched to Windows 8 as Linux could not provide what I needed. (Gaming like Skyrim, Battlefield 4, other software like a professional video editor, and AutoCAD)

So, what's the actual fuss about Windows 8? It's just Windows 7, with "Under the hood" changes to it to make it better. Sure there's a new start menu, and a store where people can buy apps, but other than that... What is the difference?

I read a comment on some other website that the CEO is just mad that Microsoft now has an App store and might take away from their share of games. This doesn't seem logical, because isn't Steam for intense games like Battlefield, Call of Duty and The Elder Scrolls like games? I don't think they will be loosing much.

Anyhoot, why is there this much commotion?
 
What's great about Linux (most distros) is their configurability for modifications as to what shortcomings might be seen by a user.

CLI is magic in the hands of a determined user. ;)

Or at least looks like magic to a Windows user. :D
 
Windows has cmd, and a lot of command line (Terminal) Admin commands, but I prefer CygWin so I can use Linux/Unix commands for windows Admin.
 
But what is the difference in terms of gaming? Why would Windows 8 be a step backward in gaming, if it is basically the same as Windows 7?
 
I haven't ever used win8, but I recently met my first win8 user. He seemed to really like it, in fact, he was quite adamant that it was superior to win7.

As far as gaming goes, I'd say windows beats linux currently. Hopefully linux catches up (and it seems like it is with steam)... that's all just my opinion, your mileage may vary and all that.

For daily use, what's wrong with linux? :p so many commands, so little time :D
 
Davdi said:
Windows has cmd, and a lot of command line (Terminal) Admin commands, but I prefer CygWin so I can use Linux/Unix commands for windows Admin.
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You can't get into the system with the CMD in Windows as you can with a Linux shell and the commands available.

If that would have been possible, there would have been no need for Linux. ;)

Apps for gaming can be better in Windows, for a point and click user. But you can build them in Linux from scratch, if you have the time and skills.
 
I'm not a gamer at all, mostly board type games. I believe linux does not have the games like Windows because the developers are not making the popular games for it.

I believe it's really not fair to compare games between the two OSes.
 
I don't play games either, so I can't say which is better in that context. But after a month of using Windows 8, I have absolutely NOT warmed up to it. Maybe it's a novelty for users of keyboard-less devices, but it's nothing but a pain to have to find where Microsoft hid everything. They do it to some extent with each new Windows release, but this is by far the most odious. Being different without being better doesn't cut it with me. And I'm not buying anything from their store!

Some people claim that Windows 8 is faster, but I think it's more likely that they're forgetting that it's also their first SSD computer. The whole reason I bought the new machine was to have something significantly faster!
 
9to5cynic said:
I haven't ever used win8, but I recently met my first win8 user. He seemed to really like it, in fact, he was quite adamant that it was superior to win7.

As far as gaming goes, I'd say windows beats linux currently. Hopefully linux catches up (and it seems like it is with steam)... that's all just my opinion, your mileage may vary and all that.

For daily use, what's wrong with linux? :p so many commands, so little time :D
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I'm using Windows 8 and actually like it. It's just like Windows 7.
But for Linux, I still will be trying a lot of different distros in virtual box, because I like Linux.

Speed Daemon said:
I don't play games either, so I can't say which is better in that context. But after a month of using Windows 8, I have absolutely NOT warmed up to it. Maybe it's a novelty for users of keyboard-less devices, but it's nothing but a pain to have to find where Microsoft hid everything. They do it to some extent with each new Windows release, but this is by far the most odious. Being different without being better doesn't cut it with me. And I'm not buying anything from their store!

Some people claim that Windows 8 is faster, but I think it's more likely that they're forgetting that it's also their first SSD computer. The whole reason I bought the new machine was to have something significantly faster!
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I find things very logical to use in Windows 8. Though I am in Desktop mode 90% of the time, sometimes I will hit that start menu and use that. Even in Arrow mode. Sure I won't be using the mobile web browser like this, but for something like checking mail I find things a lot faster using the modern UI. On regular Windows, in desktop mode, it can take me about 30 seconds to get my Email up and check to see if I have something. This is because I don't like too many apps working at the same time, and don't want a Email client up. But with Windows 8, I can check to see if I have mail in less than 3 seconds. All I would need to do is click the start button on my keyboard, and look at the live tile. This is why I like the live tiles, because they are like keeping clients open for everything without even having them open at all.

Everything else, to me is straight forward. When in a app on the modern UI I find things easy to navigate. Right click brings up the menu, there you can control most things you will need. Keyboard shortcuts are very useful in the Modern UI also. But sense I am not too much in the Modern UI for things, I don't have to use it too much. For me, compared to my previous experience with Linux, with the same hardware, I am finding that Windows 8 is faster. I have a SSD and a Hard Disc Drive in my machine. I found that as the older Linux got the slower it was going. Maybe Windows 8 will do this, I haven't had it long enough to test this. But so far things are simpler. Partitioning a Hard drive was something that took me about 2 1/2 hours to figure out in Linux. Because I needed the right software, then I needed to learn how to use it, and it was a catastrophe coming over that, countless forum post on the various Linux community websites, that got me frustrated to the point were I just wanted to install Windows.

I came over that, and eventually got it working, but found that Linux sucks at managing files. Basically everything is recognized as one thing, and I didn't want that. Windows it took me less than 30 seconds to partition my 2nd hard drive. And one post on the Microsoft Forums.

Like other people said in the forums here, Linux is a great operating system. I want to see it advance very much. But as of now, in my opinion, am not seeing it do the things as easy as I would like.
 
From a PURELY TECHNICAL standpoint, Linux is superior to Windows for its up-to-the-moment updated OpenGL support (hardware pending, of course). OpenGL typically runs faster and has newer features than DirectX, but most nnever realize this due to Microsoft FUD. That being said, Valve seems to be trying to help but most companies never produce many Linux titles. ID Games and Epic Games are exceptions (UT2004 came WITH the Linux installer on-disc in ECE, for example).
 
that is true. Many developers do not want to develop for Lennox because of the low population Linux has on the desktop. Many developers wants to develop on Windows because it has the greatest desktop population. Still for me Windows 8 is working out very well for gaming, I just installed some mods for Skyrim today. They are working out flawlessly.
 
As far as file management on Linux, I'm not sure I understand your complaint completely. It sees everythign as 'one thing'?
 
Linux uses the Unix file system and management from that has been long before windblows thought about being. *nix has by far more superior file system and management than windows ever thought of having. Just because your used to the way that M$ wants you to do it doesn't mean everyone else is inferior. Perhaps you will feel differently after using Linux for a while

Gaming for Unix is slowly coming up in the folds. Since Linux is still growing the gaming community will be coming. Its all a matter of timing for now though Windows is King when it comes to gaming.
 
argedion said:
Linux uses the Unix file system and management from that has been long before windblows thought about being. *nix has by far more superior file system and management than windows ever thought of having. Just because your used to the way that M$ wants you to do it doesn't mean everyone else is inferior. Perhaps you will feel differently after using Linux for a while

Gaming for Unix is slowly coming up in the folds. Since Linux is still growing the gaming community will be coming. Its all a matter of timing for now though Windows is King when it comes to gaming.
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I'd guess yes. :p As someone who was using windows for their whole life and has been using *nix for five years... it is so much better.

It's hard to compare it really. Just give *nix a chance and you'll probably fall for it. :)
 
dibblebill said:
As far as file management on Linux, I'm not sure I understand your complaint completely. It sees everythign as 'one thing'?
Click to expand...

argedion said:
Linux uses the Unix file system and management from that has been long before windblows thought about being. *nix has by far more superior file system and management than windows ever thought of having. Just because your used to the way that M$ wants you to do it doesn't mean everyone else is inferior. Perhaps you will feel differently after using Linux for a while

Gaming for Unix is slowly coming up in the folds. Since Linux is still growing the gaming community will be coming. Its all a matter of timing for now though Windows is King when it comes to gaming.
Click to expand...

I wrote a long reply for both of you're comments, but then when I posted it, the page failed to load. I went back and it is all gone. Well... That's unfortunate. I hate it when these types of things happen.
 
I know the Linux/Windows thing is kinda like a religious war, but personally I'm agnostic.

I love Unix (regardless of flavour - I'm also aware of the internicine wars there) for corporate systems. You just can't beat the stability, reliability and performance - plus shell scripting totally rocks.

A few years ago, Linux on my own machine might have made sense - I could maybe have been used it to replicate client configurations or develop shell scripts for them. But that was back when I used to have to provide hardware for use on client sites. These days - quite rightly - attempting to connect your own hardware to a client's LAN is likely to get you escorted from the building. Also, it's getting easier to connect to client's environments remotely, including accessing their Unix boxes. Consequently, me having a setup that mirrors clients' makes less and less sense.

So, despite promising myself I'd put Linux on my old machine every time I buy I new one, I've never ever bothered. For the sort of thing I do at home, I just don't see the point.

As for games, Linux was a complete non-starter. It's a little better these days, but I don't see it improving much more for the exact reason that gaming on PCs is also becoming less and less viable: the fact is that, given all the issues with piracy and the incentives the console makers provide, gaming is moving definitively to consoles. Many of the biggest, most broadly available titles have never had a PC version. You can bet they'll also never get a Linux one.
 
SiempreTuna said:
I know the Linux/Windows thing is kinda like a religious war, but personally I'm agnostic.

I love Unix (regardless of flavour - I'm also aware of the internicine wars there) for corporate systems. You just can't beat the stability, reliability and performance - plus shell scripting totally rocks.

A few years ago, Linux on my own machine might have made sense - I could maybe have been used it to replicate client configurations or develop shell scripts for them. But that was back when I used to have to provide hardware for use on client sites. These days - quite rightly - attempting to connect your own hardware to a client's LAN is likely to get you escorted from the building. Also, it's getting easier to connect to client's environments remotely, including accessing their Unix boxes. Consequently, me having a setup that mirrors clients' makes less and less sense.

So, despite promising myself I'd put Linux on my old machine every time I buy I new one, I've never ever bothered. For the sort of thing I do at home, I just don't see the point.

As for games, Linux was a complete non-starter. It's a little better these days, but I don't see it improving much more for the exact reason that gaming on PCs is also becoming less and less viable: the fact is that, given all the issues with piracy and the incentives the console makers provide, gaming is moving definitively to consoles. Many of the biggest, most broadly available titles have never had a PC version. You can bet they'll also never get a Linux one.
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You know, I completely agree with you. Gaming has moved more towards the console, despite the fact that PC used to be king. Big titles are mostly developing for consoles, but some are still with PC. Games I would like to see more on PC are Gears of War, and Halo, which are huge titles that sell millions. However, Steam really is pushing towards Linux, with their own operating system, and Steam box, I believe that have a bright future in Linux, even on their own. I think they have a very bright future, they are selling software and video games. Imagine the possibilities with that.

I would like to see more businesses use Linux, instead of Windows XP which is what I see most of them using. Windows 8, in the enterprise, I never heard a positive thing about it, but for someone like me, who just wants to play modern Steam games, Windows 8 works just fine. I believe Linux/Unix has a advantage over Windows for this.
 
The problem with getting Linux onto the desktop in businesses is cost: simply upgrading Windows can cost millions, switching to something else would cost way, way more.

The cost of the OS is almost irrelevant. The real costs come in testing which of the 100s of existing systems can work with it; doing conversion work or upgrades to those systems that can be converted; replacing those systems that will never work with it; recruiting / training the support staff and training all the other staff.

The reason so many businesses are still on XP is that they can't justify the relatively small cost of upgrading to a later version of Windows. There's simply no way on earth that they can justify the way, way more expensive switch to something that in the end only saves a few bucks a year in software costs.

You might argue that Linux would be cheaper to maintain in the long run than Windows but at the minute, that's an unproven assertion at best. It's a bit of Catch-22: until enough people make the switch, there won't be enough evidence to prove the benefits of the switch.
 
SiempreTuna said:
The problem with getting Linux onto the desktop in businesses is cost: simply upgrading Windows can cost millions, switching to something else would cost way, way more.

The cost of the OS is almost irrelevant. The real costs come in testing which of the 100s of existing systems can work with it; doing conversion work or upgrades to those systems that can be converted; replacing those systems that will never work with it; recruiting / training the support staff and training all the other staff.

The reason so many businesses are still on XP is that they can't justify the relatively small cost of upgrading to a later version of Windows. There's simply no way on earth that they can justify the way, way more expensive switch to something that in the end only saves a few bucks a year in software costs.

You might argue that Linux would be cheaper to maintain in the long run than Windows but at the minute, that's an unproven assertion at best. It's a bit of Catch-22: until enough people make the switch, there won't be enough evidence to prove the benefits of the switch.
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You bring an excellent point here. Training and installing and everything else will cost a lot of money in the short run. But in the long run Linux being free, it could save them money. But they may not see that as worth it at all, just save trouble.
It's not a bad thing that they are still using XP, though it's old, it still works, and runs a lot of software and gets the job done. But what will happen when Microsoft lets it go completely if they do. Soon I heard that they will stop supporting it meaning no more updates will be there, so what will businesses and schools do? (I'm on a school computer right now, running XP)
My complaint with these computers, XP, they get a limited amount of work done, sure for most students they work very well because they just open up Word and start typing. But in terms of power, these computers can't handle much. But they don't need to.

I hope to see more schools and businesses (Especially schools like mine) adapt to Linux. For something like Ubuntu, which is very easy to use, a school and it's students in this day and age, can easily adapt to the new operating system. All they really need is word and internet, which Linux is excellent for.
 
I got two MMOs and Flight Simulator X to run quite well inside Linux however the amount of steps, skill, and time wasted to make it happen compared with double-clicking an *.exe file on a DVD just isn't in most user's tolerance levels. There are also a ton of games that just won't work in Linux no matter the amount of coffee and hacking you do, and some of those games lack even a console variant and people just wont give them up for a little more customizations that can be done in Linux

The filesystem in Linux isnt much of an issue today since the same folders most are accustomed to in Windows (my documents, downloads, etc) are default placed in the user's /home folder in many popular distros
 
Where I work, we're still using XP on some fairly decent hardware, Lenovo's ThinkCenter, dual core machines with 2gb of memory. I'm hoping they will upgrade to Win 7 but it's been over a few years since we got this hardware and no upgrade. Why would they wait till MS stop supporting XP before upgrading. Though we do have MS Office installed, we're using Lotus Notes as the default email app, which sucks big time, since it's an IBM shop.

Do the gamer makers would make the games for Linux, I'm sure it would be just as easier as clicking the .exe files.
 
Staples and Office Depot in town still uses Win2k Pro!

When devs make Linux ports I am sure they can be installed through the software center or via apt, like other apps
 
Speed Daemon said:
Some people claim that Windows 8 is faster, but I think it's more likely that they're forgetting that it's also their first SSD computer. The whole reason I bought the new machine was to have something significantly faster!
Click to expand...

I had 7 when I first did my SSD setup and can say 8 is definitely faster.

As far as the OP's question since there aren't as many games available for Linux yet it is a moot point. It does appear to be changing but until you can play the majority of games available for Windows the question is purely academic.
 
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