How does Windows 10 compare to Linux?

Realistically speaking, “the year of the Linux desktop” is never going to happen, but that doesn’t mean the operating system should be dismissed. Now that Microsoft has officially released Windows 10, it’s only natural that the new operating system be compared to not just its predecessors, but its competitors: Linux and OS X. It’s a rather difficult and complex comparison, but Linux Format (via Techradar) has done it nonetheless. 

So the latest iteration of Windows has now been unleashed, and as has become tradition at Linux Format, we pit the Redmond-ian OS mano-a-mano with Linux to determine the ultimate operating system. Of course, in reality this is comparing apples and oranges: One is a free codebase which can run on most any hardware imaginable, the other is a proprietary product with an undecouple-able GUI that, until recently, has run only on x86 PCs. Our approach will be to consider features from Windows 10 and compare them with like-for-like equivalents from various Linux distributions. Microsoft’s new operating system has certainly brought forth a lot of changes, and perhaps the most notable is that Windows 10 will be the last incarnation of the OS. That doesn’t mean the end of Windows, but rather the beginning of “Windows as a Service”. Updates will be pushed to consumers once Microsoft deems them ready, while businesses will be offered a choice of two release channels, dubbed Current and Long Term which offer more rigid release cycles. Individuals who purchase (or are entitled to a free) copy of Windows will see it supported “for the lifetime of that device”.