A Great Alternative to Windows
Why Linux is so lovely
When you switch on your laptop, you are greeted by a mainstream welcome screen — the prairies. It makes you wait for what seems like an eternity — most of the time — before allowing you to use it. No, I am not talking about mac. I am talking about Windows.
As your system gets old, Windows gets so heavy on it that you’d rather throw it out of the window than use it — may be, to change your social media status or to edit a diary entry. Things unforeseen get a front-row seat whenever you need your Windows to work. This is when Linux enters the picture.
Linux runs when you need it if you use it for your work and don’t tinker around with it in your free time. I mean, you should tinker with it but only if you are aware of what you are doing. More than being a warning, it is a friendly tip.
Linux is an Elixir that helps your old desktop run as if it was a young man’s system again. I may not be surprised if a desktop from the early 2000s is brought back to life using the latest Linux kernel. Linux is running on so many electronic gadgets that its traces would be found in significant numbers even after a digital apocalypse ever occurred.
It is a brainchild of Linus Torvalds. He was a student at the University of Helsinki playing around with an idea of creating a Unix look-alike for educational purposes. Unix was the dream of every average-Joe OS.
New dawn emerged in the computing world when Linus finally showcased it to the world in 1991. Things just changed their course: He made technology free as in freedom as well as in free beer.
Linux is a kind of app butler (and, at times a master) that helps the other apps on your system communicate efficiently with the system hardware. Something that Windows is not capable of pulling off — most of the time — despite all the tricks it has inside the cuffs and hat. Sometimes, you wonder whether the important parts of Windows, function; or are just a dead weight bogging it down.
Windows may not be a deadweight (according to some of you) but it is also not a Lego toy set, that Linux is. The makers of Linux use a modular approach to make Linux reliant, maintainable and secure.
People like the fact that they pay for the software they use, and get help when their system fails. But does Microsoft have the resources to tackle all the conundrums a Windows user confronts? They may, but for a limited set of organisations. Others — The individual users — have no choice but to reinstall the OS and hope that it doesn’t reappear again. Something that a dumb person like me would do.
Linux, on the other hand, lets every eyeball a look under its hood and when there are so many eyeballs doing just that, the loopholes in its code are detected and solved within no time.
Building on the above information, we can say that the firewall on a Linux system is able enough to protect itself against attacks. Linux systems make up less than 2% of desktops and laptops used around the world. There are not many incentives to make a virus that exploits a Linux system. Which in turn means, you do not need an antivirus to protect your Linux system. As you can notice, being part of the minority helps, doesn’t it?
Windows, on the other hand, being a widely used OS provides a good deal to a malicious person to exploit its vulnerabilities. And Windows is closed-source, so there are not enough eyes looking for a problem in it. No wonder most of the Windows systems on this planet are infected by one or the other kind of computer virus.
You may say, Windows UI is intuitive enough for a kindergartner to operate without the need for hands-on training. I would say that it is rigid. You can have only one kind of Windows on your system. I mean, the regular kind. You don’t get a choice. It is called the Metro user interface. It does not allow enough customization of its UI.
Linux gives you a choice when selecting a user interface. It has a Windows-like UI that is more customizable than that of Windows. It is called KDE. And it provides you even more, with its other user interfaces such as Gnome, LXDE, and XFCE, etc.
Linux provides you with lots of Operating Systems to choose from. You like cutting edge apps then Arch Linux and Fedora Linux have your back. If you want a stable system on your old hardware then Debian Linux is for you. There are kinds of Linux OSes that can run from a USB stick as well. You name a condition and Linux will solve it for you.
All the apps you want are freely available in the Linux ecosystem. You name a feature and Linux will provide an app that applies this feature.
As you can gather from what you have read in this feature, Linux can be molded in a way you choose. It allows you to use it creatively.
- It allows you freedom. It does not restrict you to My Way or the Highway, unlike Windows.
- It lets you do your things without getting in your way. It does not say, “your problem will be resolved shortly” for hours and hours on a stretch.
- It comes with a host of free apps in the box. Just install Linux and you would be surprised to find that that app or its alternative is present on a newly installed Linux system already. Windows, on the other hand, makes you install that third-party app, you wish, came in the box.
- Your data is safe in the grip of Linux as its firewall is more than enough to protect against unwanted threats. With Windows, you are supposed to install an Antivirus to keep your vital data safe.
Having said that, I believe that having a Windows system is better if you have the money and time to invest in it just to keep your data safe. Microsoft provides support. But whether or not that support is widely available and useful is another question altogether.
