by Kieron Deane

Created on: March 10, 2010

In the past and even now, many people have the belief that windows is the best operating system. These users are not always true. Out of the 3 major operating systems in the world, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Before I go on to explain the reasons why people should switch to Linux, I will explain a few things about other operating systems as well. Most commercial operating systems, have one motive, to make a profit, and even though many companies are unaware of it, they actually limit their customers choice by restricting their freedom.

First of all apple computers shouldn't be classified as something different. I often hear people saying “I have a mac”. So what? A Mac is no different from any other computer, it is simply a computer made by apple, which has a different design, runs a different operating system and is also over the budget of the average worker or student. In the early years, the main difference between a normal computer and a Mac, was that apple computer ran a processor made by Motorola rather than a processor from Intel or AMD.

Secondly windows happens to be the the most widely used operating system in the world, this is mainly because windows comes preloaded with the majority of computers that most people can afford, this then means that the majority of the world has only been exposed to and known windows, while Linux was left aside for the geeks, and Macintosh for the Apple enthusiasts.

As I said before, each operating system has its own problems. Since windows is considered to be the main competitor to Linux, I will now be identifying the problems with windows.

Using its power as the worlds most popular operating system, Microsoft acts as a monopoly.

In schools, children are taught to use mainly one company's products. That company happens to be Microsoft. Examples are Microsoft Office, and again Microsoft Operating systems that are actually installed in computers at most schools.

Microsoft again acts as a monopoly by restricting a user's choice of operating systems. When a user goes to a store, many computer companies will refuse to sell a computer that doesn't have an operating system on it. In many cases these are Microsoft operating systems. These users often do not have a choice to another operating system even if they demand it, simply because Microsoft has set agreements with those companies.

Microsoft also inflates technological developments by creating new operating systems that need higher requirements

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