Seven Ways that GNU/Linux Tops Vista

Feb 17, 2009, 23:32 (4 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Bruce Byfield)

"3) Use a full suite of default utilities and software

"When you use Vista, you get an operating system and a few utilities like a defragger and a backup tool, and audio-visual players, and a time-limited version of MS Office. Your computer manufacturer may add several other utilities, usually games or setup and configuration tools. To add more would look like Microsoft was competing with business partners, which is why it backed off adding to Vista as simple a tool as a PDF writer.

"When you use GNU/Linux, the operating system is only a small part of what you install -- perhaps a third or a quarter of the space that the installation takes on your hard drive. The rest of the space is taken up by other software -- although not defraggers or anti-virus software because, generally speaking, GNU/Linux has no need for them. This software includes programs like OpenOffice.org, the free alternative to MS Office, the desktop publisher Scribus, and the graphic editor The GIMP, all of which are included at no extra cost and can mostly hold their own against equivalent proprietary programs.

"As a bonus, GNU/Linux installs all these things in less than half the space needed for Vista: a Vista install of over 20 gigabytes is common, while a 10 gigabyte GNU/Linux install includes every imaginable category of software, and often several programs for the same function."

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