difference of windows and linux

Introduction	Linux is a Unix-like and POSIX-compliant computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released	Microsoft Windows is a series of graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS.
Cost	Linux can be freely distributed, downloaded freely, distributed through magazines, Books etc. There are priced versions for Linux also, but they are normally cheaper than Windows.	$119 - $199.99, $69 for students, $99 to upgrade to pro
Development and Distribution	Linux is developed by Open Source development i.e. through sharing and collaboration of code and features through forums etc and it is distributed by various vendors.	Developed and distributed by Microsoft.
Manufacturer	Linux kernel is developed by the community. Linus Torvalds oversees things.	Microsoft
Company / developer	Linus Torvalds and the Linux community.	Microsoft
User	Everyone. From home users to developers and computer enthusiasts alike.	Everyone
Update method	Many	Windows Update
Preceded by	Basic Terminal (CLI)	MS-DOS
License	GNU General Public License	Proprietary
Available language(s)	Multilingual	Multilingual
Usage	Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.	On PC's desktops, laptops, servers and some phones.
File system support	Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, Jfs, ReiserFS, Xfs, Btrfs, FAT, FAT32, NTFS	FAT, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT
Default user interface	Gnome or KDE	Graphical (Windows Aero)
Text mode interface	BASH (Bourne Again SHell) is the Linux default shell. It can support multiple command interpreters.	Windows uses a command shell and each version of Windows has a single command interpreter with dos-like commands, recently there is the addition of the optional PowerShell that uses more Unix-like commands.
Source model	Free Software	Closed / Shared source
Supported platforms	All	PowerPC: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; DEC Alpha: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; MIPS R4000: versions 1.0 - NT 4.0; IA-32: versions 1.0 - 8; IA-64: version XP; x86-64: versions XP - 8; ARM: version RT;
OS family	GNU	DOS
Programmed in	C,	Assembly, C, C++
Marketing target	Server, Personal,	Personal, business
Compatibility	New version of linux support many kinds of hardware	Can coexist on local networks with Windows, BSD, Macs, and other Unix-like systems. Sometimes file compatibility issues may arise.

difference of windows 7 and 8

1. No Start Button – Metro UI

Never liked the Start Button? Well, it’s gone in Windows 8 by default. It’s now replaced by the Metro UI. Yes, Microsoft has said there will be a way to revert back to the traditional desktop we are all used to (thank god), but by default it’ll be set to the new UI interface. I’ve played around with Windows 8 on a few test machines and I have to say that even though I think it’s a great interface for a tablet, I was not at all excited about using it with a mouse and keyboard. It looks a little nicer, but that’s about it. And clicking at the bottom left and not getting my typical start menu pop up was just too much change, even for me.

2. Simpler Task Manager

Ever noticed what tabs you actually used in Task Manger up till now? Probably just Applications and Processes. That’s about all I ever use and normally just to kill off some processor hungry rouge program. What you see above is the new Task Manager! Yeah, that’s it. Just a list of apps running that you can kill with one click. What about processes you ask? Well, click on More Details, and you get a nicely split list of applications and background processes along with a heat map of CPU and memory usage.

Pretty nice actually! That’s one change I am looking forward too. The current task manager was too detailed and overly complicated for the average user. This one makes it a breeze for anyone to use.

3. Improvements to Copy, Move, Rename and Delete

Yes, this may sound trivial, but if you really think about it, you probably move, delete, rename or copy a file/folder several times a day, if not more. These four basic operations have pretty much been the same for years and through all versions of Windows. In Windows 8, they get vastly improved!

Firstly, when you copy stuff around, especially when you perform multiple copy operations, all of the info is consolidated into one dialog. No more doing 10 copies and having 10 different windows pop up. Now it looks like this:

What you’ll also notice is the new pause feature. Finally, you can pause a copy operation in the middle of it! Yay! What’s really cool, though, is if you click More Details, you can see the speed of the data transfer, the trend and the amount of data left in the transfer.

4. The New Windows Explorer

Say hello to the ribbon interface! You’ve probably already been introduced to it in Office 2007 and Office 2010 and now it makes its way into Windows itself. Love it or hate it, it’s there as a permanent fixture. Here’s what the new UI will look like:

What do you think about this change? Like it or not? Like I said before, Windows 8 has been completely reimagined and you can clearly see that with all the major differences.

5. Fast Startup Mode

Boot times have always been an issue with Windows and they have tried their best to fix that with new power states like hibernation and sleep. Unfortunately, those have their own set of problems. In Windows 8, there is a new fast startup mode (probably going to be called something else later on), which is a combination of a cold boot plus hibernation. Basically, this will be like “restarting” your PC without actually fully restarting it. You’ll still get a fresh user session with everything closed, etc like you just restarted Windows, but it’ll take significantly less time.

6. Plug-in Free Browsing

Not only does IE 10 significantly change the UI, it also changes the way you will be browsing. IE 10 is favoring HTML 5 over the traditional plug-in architecture and will actually run by default with no plugins. If you need to use something like Adobe Flash for a site, you can switch to a “desktop” view, but for the most part, they are phasing plugin support out. WOW! That is huge. And pretty bad news for Adobe Flash. Even though Apple doesn’t support Flash on their devices, Microsoft also moving in that direction is a major paradigm shift for the entire Internet.

7. Reengineered Boot Experience

Haven’t we all gotten sick of the same tired list of “Safe Mode”, “Safe Mode with Networking”, etc, etc when booting Windows with advanced options. It still looks a DOS command prompt, even in Windows 7. With Windows 8, that all changes. The boot experience is now very pretty and reminds me of setting up my iPhone when I upgraded it to iOS 5. You get nice screens to help you join a wireless network, pick your settings, etc.

8. Sign in using Windows Live ID

With Windows 8, you can now sign into your PC using your online credentials at Windows Live. That’s right, Windows 8 is moving to the cloud (a little). With SkyDrive integration also coming in Windows 8, you can sign in using Windows Live credentials and have your files, settings, apps, etc stored in the cloud. You can log into another Windows 8 machine and all of that will follow you automatically.

It’ll keep track of all your favorites in IE, your desktop wallpaper, and lots more. You can buy extra storage and store your files on SkyDrive and access them online or on your mobile device including the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices.

9. Refresh/Reset Your PC

Two cool new features of Windows 7 are the refresh and reset options. Reset will remove all your personal data, apps, and settings and reinstall Windows. Refresh will keep all data, apps and settings and reinstall Windows. If you ever had to do this before in Windows XP or 7, you know what a real pain it is to try and restore Windows without deleting your personal data. And what happens if your PC doesn’t boot at all? Well, you can now refresh or reset from the boot screens.

10. Scaling for Different Screen Sizes

Along with the new UI interface, there have been many improvements in Windows 8 for scaling to different screen resolutions, screen sizes and pixel densities. Even though this may seem minor, you will be able to use Windows 8 on everything from a small Windows phone to a giant 30 inch screen with a 2560×1600 resolution! A lot of the apps in Windows 8 will be designed to automatically adjust to these different screen sizes and provide more/less content based on the size.

Overall, the Windows 8 team has spent a lot of time trying to get things right and Windows 8 will be a huge step forward for PCs. What are your thoughts about Windows 8? Are you excited or not? Let us know in the comments! Enjoy!

HOW TO READ SPECIFICATION OF SSD

Computer hardware has been watered-down into a marketing game of bigger numbers, new, obscure specifications, and unexplained benchmark ratings, generally leaving consumers to fend for themselves. As we did in our GPU Dictionary, we'll break-down the very basics of SSD specs and take a look at how, on the top-level, SSDs work. Understanding how to read SSD specs is easy: As a consumer, there's no reason to read through pages-upon-pages of white papers to understand how electron tunneling works (but it is really cool) solely to buy a solid state drive, but there are a few primary numbers you should be concerned with (and a few to ignore).

Solid State Drives have been on my mind since the flooding in Thailand offset spindle-based prices, so let's delve into what to look for in one. As an add-on, I'd recommend also looking at our guide that discusses SSDs and gaming.

 

Common Specifications

For starters, we'll take a fairly common SSD from Newegg to look at its specs, then drill-down into what they mean: in our example, we'll use Mushkin's Chronos SSD.

Memory Components: See Also: SLC vs. MLC vs. TLC. These three acronyms, fully-defined as "single-level cells," "multi-level cells," and "triple-level cells," devise the methodology and technology that is used for flash memory-based drives. The 'level' determines how many bits are stored per cell, with more bits per cell correlating with more storage at a diminished cost (but less stability). Single-level cells store 1 bit per cell, multi-level cells store 2 bits per cell, and triple-level cells can store 3 bits per cell, with triple-level cells costing about 30% less than what we're used to now. It's much more complex than that, but that's the groundwork - Anandtech has an amazing explanation of these from a more mathematical and in-depth level, if that interests you.

Why is the cost less, though? Because the fabrication location (we explained how these work in our 'where was your CPU born?' post) can output more silicon dies per silicon wafer, the yield-per-wafer is higher and cost to the fab plant is lower, which equates lower prices for consumers. There is a down-side, though: MLC and TLC technology is more volatile and less stable, normally resulting in slower overall speeds than SLC technology, which is faster, but is a higher cost-per-gig. There are numerous countermeasures to MLC and TLC instability, though, so don't avoid them merely on that. SLC is preferred for high-performance systems that are required to have reliable up-time and availability, whereas MLC is quite acceptable for normal users (even to include gaming enthusiasts). Once more, for good measure:

SLC: More stable, reliable technology that often costs significantly more per gigabyte.

MLC: The most common technology used in consumer drives; normally a bit less expensive per gigabyte.

TLC: The least expensive, but also brand new to the consumer market. It's not quite ready for us, yet, and is also less reliable over longer periods of time.

NAND Tech	Cost per GB*	Advantages
SLC	$3.00	Reliability
MLC	$0.90	Compromise
TLC	$0.60	Capacity

* = Averaged figures based on OCZ projections (OCZ will be the first to deliver TLC SSDs to the consumer market).

So what does it all really mean? Not much -- if you're a normal gamer, you're probably going to be pretty forced into an MLC drive.

Transport Interface: This part is familiar ground for many of us: The transfer interface of SSDs is typically seen listed as SATA II, SATA III, or PCI-e. The last two are much faster than SATA II -- but by how much? Here's the maximum bandwidth per 'pipe:'

Interface	Maximum Bandwidth
SATA II	3Gb/s (384MB/s)
SATA III	6Gb/s (768MB/s)
PCI-e 2.0 x4	20GT/s (2GB/s)
PCI-e 2.0 x8	80GT/s (8GB/s)

Quite a difference! That's the maximum bandwidth, though - it doesn't guarantee you'll use much of it. Just because a SATA III interface can transfer up to six gigabits (or 768MB) per second doesn't mean your device can. Though I'm certain many of you know this, it's important to point out that a 'little b' means "bit," whereas a 'big B' means "byte" (8 bits in a byte).

In general, and going forward, putting an SSD on a SATA II interface is limiting your options: SATA II can only transfer a maximum of 384MB/s, so anything above that number goes to waste. PCI-e SSDs are an interesting bit of technology, though -- they're still catching on, but in general, they're for those with a lot of money. If someone asks you, "What's your budget?" and you answer "I'm the Batman," then PCI-e is a great option for you. For the rest of us, there's SATA III.