19 January 2007
Novell Compares SLED 10 to Vista
Novell has just launched a site comparing Vista and Linux and not surprisingly lists SLED (Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop) as a better option for business users.
Even with the expected bias from the Novell side, SLED would still win. At a cost of only $50 with a complete office suite comparable to MS Office (OpenOffice.org) included along with other software, it easily beats Windows Vista on price. For the same functionality using the business upgrade of Vista, the user would have to pay $179 for the upgrade or $299 for the full installation of Vista and yet another $499 for the full version of MS Office Professional or $329 for the upgrade. This issue is ignoring any additional costs to upgrade your hardware to meet Vista's high requirements.
Also pointed out is the security differences between Linux and Vista. Linux has the years of UNIX use to back up it's security, while Vista has the previous versions of Windows which have been always been a security problem. Also pointed out are the statements from professionals about the security features of Vista stating that some of the features are too intrusive and many users will be tempted to turn them off. AppArmor, Novell's idea of extra security solutions, isolates unusual behavior and stops possible vulnerabilities in different applications from becoming a problem.
Two reasons Windows is insecure are given. The first, Windows contains a huge amount of code (over 50 million lines). This amount of code is very difficult to maintain and debug. The other reasons is that Internet Explorer and other applications are very closely integrated with the OS and are given administrator rights. This allows attackers to use those applications to gain access to the system.
Other problems with Vista's security were also found. The features tend to be user unfriendly making people not want to use them. Some of the biggest vulnerabilities from previous versions of Windows were still a problem in Vista as of May 2006.
Also listed are greater usability and flexibility with Linux over Windows.
Because of Linux being open-source the flexibility cannot be argued. Greater usability can be argued, although even if you argue that SLED is not more usable than Vista, it is definitely not less. The desktop environment was designed after researching how users use their desktop. With the ability to preview the applications you are switching to as well as the applications running on that desktop, the alt+tab functionality greatly increases usability. Similar features when switching desktops using ctrl+tab provide the same increase in usability and productivity. Much of the same functionality is provided in both SLED and Vista in other senses. Both provide a 3-D interface - SLED with less hardware requirements. Multimedia capabilities are included in both with SLED having more options. Applications for collaborative work are provided in SLED and Vista has Outlook express for such tasks.
Even with the expected bias from the Novell side, SLED would still win. At a cost of only $50 with a complete office suite comparable to MS Office (OpenOffice.org) included along with other software, it easily beats Windows Vista on price. For the same functionality using the business upgrade of Vista, the user would have to pay $179 for the upgrade or $299 for the full installation of Vista and yet another $499 for the full version of MS Office Professional or $329 for the upgrade. This issue is ignoring any additional costs to upgrade your hardware to meet Vista's high requirements.
Also pointed out is the security differences between Linux and Vista. Linux has the years of UNIX use to back up it's security, while Vista has the previous versions of Windows which have been always been a security problem. Also pointed out are the statements from professionals about the security features of Vista stating that some of the features are too intrusive and many users will be tempted to turn them off. AppArmor, Novell's idea of extra security solutions, isolates unusual behavior and stops possible vulnerabilities in different applications from becoming a problem.
Two reasons Windows is insecure are given. The first, Windows contains a huge amount of code (over 50 million lines). This amount of code is very difficult to maintain and debug. The other reasons is that Internet Explorer and other applications are very closely integrated with the OS and are given administrator rights. This allows attackers to use those applications to gain access to the system.
Other problems with Vista's security were also found. The features tend to be user unfriendly making people not want to use them. Some of the biggest vulnerabilities from previous versions of Windows were still a problem in Vista as of May 2006.
Also listed are greater usability and flexibility with Linux over Windows.
Because of Linux being open-source the flexibility cannot be argued. Greater usability can be argued, although even if you argue that SLED is not more usable than Vista, it is definitely not less. The desktop environment was designed after researching how users use their desktop. With the ability to preview the applications you are switching to as well as the applications running on that desktop, the alt+tab functionality greatly increases usability. Similar features when switching desktops using ctrl+tab provide the same increase in usability and productivity. Much of the same functionality is provided in both SLED and Vista in other senses. Both provide a 3-D interface - SLED with less hardware requirements. Multimedia capabilities are included in both with SLED having more options. Applications for collaborative work are provided in SLED and Vista has Outlook express for such tasks.
Labels: linux, microsoft, os, sled, vista, windows
