First of all, Linux is just a kernel. It’s kind of tricky trying to *technically* compare Windows to Linux, because the first is an (in)operating operating system, while the latter is a kernel.

You are of course refering to the GNU+Linux operating system, wich most people know as “Linux”. That would be more meaningful, if you were trying to compare them *technically*.

If you concentrate in the technical area, you’ll find areas where one surpasses the other, or one is more convenient than the other, or whatever, as you say. When you look at the issue from a technical point of view, there is no definite answer.

However, the GNU+Linux system exists because of the Free Software Movement that Richard Stallman started in 1983/84. Think free as in free speech, not free as in free beer. The goal of the Free Software Movement is to enable people to use computers and keep their freedom. The GNU project was then started to translate these ethical concepts into an actual freedom-respecting operating system.

So, given that that was the issue that the system was designed to address, it’s meaningless to compare Windows and GNU+Linux in technical terms. The technical aspect is completely secondary: no matter how bad or good it runs, GNU+Linux will always be superior not only to Windows but to every proprietary piece of software out there, because it respects your freedom, wich makes it an ethical operating system. On the other hand, Windows, being propietary (or non-free), is an unethical user-subjugating operating system.

More information:

- http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
- http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html