Once upon a time, a company named Microsoft dominated the OS market. "ph34r m3!" he said to all the Macs. "n00bs" he would say in a mocking manner to all challengers. Then arose a penguin, a penguin which has now captured the hearts if thousands and thousands of 1337 h4x0rz. This penguin, is known as "Linux".

Linux, most people will respond interrogatively with that word. "What is that?". Well, those people will usually respon like that with any computer term such as RAM, adware, or Google. Over the years, more and more people have owned a computer in their household. Why not? Computers are cool, you can read my blogs with them.

But unfortunately, some get them, without knowing one thing about them. It's a shame really...luckily, they have people like us (or atleast, most of us) that they can consider a "computer whiz". This will bring up my first point. Or rather, a note type of thing. I believe there are 3 main levels of computer people out there:

• Complete noobs
• The average user
• 1337 hackers

Now of course, these aren't the only groups, there are sub-levels. Some people don't use the computer so much to know a lot about it, but they know how to do the stuff they need like installing programs or going online. Then theres those that are above average, the "computer whiz" which can give you a network, or fix a problem (usually by running something as simple as Spybot or Adware) . Either way, these are the main groups of people. Now, the first part in a Linux vs. Windows debate would be price, but that's easy, Linux is free Windows is not. This can be controversial, in terms of businesses and servers, but nobody cares about them, this is about home users. The next point would be interface; how can one move about doing his stuff.

Yet before I go about rambling on my opinions, I'd like to let you all know: I am not a Linux freak, nor a Windows worshipper. I believe both are great operating systems, each with their own pros and cons. In fact, my point-of-view would be mainly for those who are just finding out about Linux. I use Windows XP Home and Knoppix 3.4 for future reference. I've used it many times, and have also been using Windows since 3.1. However I will do my best to keep from being bias.

Anyway, in this section, I really believe Windows wins. Nice green button, icons, and themes, a noob is able to get around without problems...usually. However, I know Linux is very, if not equally matched with Windows in interface. Atleast, with what I use in KDE, both Windows and Linux are easy to use. Linux using bigger quicklaunch type buttons, yet Windows being incredibly skinnable with the help of programs from Stardock. This would probably the only thing between victory for Linux. In detail, here are some main things I've noticed:

• Skins - Stardock has made great products that make Windows look freaking awesome. I've yet to find a Linux program capable of things like this. Yeah the Linux theme is cool, but sometimes you needa change other than your wallpaper.
• File Management - This is one thing I really don't like in Linux. Mounting drives is annoying, but tolerable. Having /mnt/hda1, /dev/hdb2, and such instead of C:,E:, D: as drives can be annoying, but that's most likely do to using Windows so much. Also, Linux really doesn't have its own "Windows Explorer", seeing as it uses its main browser, Konqueror. However, Konquere is very capable of doing what you need to do.
• Off-the-bat-iness - If you've never used a compuer before, ever. Which do you think would be more simple? Actually, I would consider Linux to be a winner here. I mean, in Knoppix, you press the big K, look through the simple menu which is sorted by easy categories. Games, Internet, and such, allowing you to find a program faster than remembering the program's company and searching through a huge list. The help button is also right on the menu for Linux, in the form of a Life Saver (which I think is quite creative) yet I'm sure the Linux help isn't nearly as thorough or easily found as the encyclopedical and iconic menu of the Window's Help. Then again, I usually never have to use Linux help, which is a good thing right?

Ok, next point, what would be the purpose of a beautiful interface, if it takes 10 seconds for your start menu to appear right? Yes, this is now about speed. No benchmarking or anything here, what seems to go faster for you?

• Boot time - Hmm...this is interesting. I usually boot off a CD in Knoppix, but I also have an install on my hard-drive. This one is kind of hard though. I personally do think, that a brand-new Windows machine *might* (have to say mgiht, because I haven't had a brand new machine in a while ) could boot faster than a Linux machine. But after installing all your programs, Windows gets slower every day. Linux however, even with the hardware detection (God I love that...) in the beginning (which is even optional, because if you have a complete good install of Linux, it probably doesn't do this, seeing as how I have Knoppix) will boot faster than Windows, no matter how much tweaking I do to Windows. Even with a lot of programs on Linux, this probably doesn't effect boot times because Linux doesn't have a registry (or so I've heard); Which could be a main problem in Windows.
• Applications - Well, after reading some stuff, people think Linux is getting bloated. With the new Fedora core putting up minimum requirements, program makers seem to want to take advantage and pump up their apps, adding features that require those same requirements. However, in my experience, Linux wins from the start in this. For instance, Internet explorer...oh Lord, after installing every patch that is necessary, IE to me is a piece of crap. Konqueror will load in 3 seconds flat, wwhile IE will take 10 seconds to boot up and load a page. Luckily, I use Firefox, which is a great alternative to Internet Explorer.

So far, Linux seems to be winning right? Here, however, is the biggest problem I find with Linux. Gaming. *jab*jab*punch*. Windows wins. Why? A main problem with games is that they're not suppose to be cross-platforming like some applications. Some are made for Macintosh, some are ported to Linux, but every game I know is made for Windows. With DirectX 9's special shaders and what not, games get more and more complex, and with more people getting gaming machines,more people get to own a copy of Windows. All hope is not lost. Linux has a special program, WineX, which is basicly an emulator of Windows and DirectX for gaming. I'm sure though, that Linux and gaming will never get ahead of Windows, as much as everyone would like to see it do. This keeps about every Linuxer with that partition of Windows on there HDD. I don't think there's much else to say.

Lastly, would probably be what many consider, the K.O. punch Linux gives Windows. Security. Windows, and the hundreds of patches it has leading up to SP 1 and SP2. Why? What's wrong with you Microsoft? Releasing something that needs all this to start with. Yeah no one is perfect, but c'mon, how many applications have you seen release that many patches? Viruses, worms, trojans, all dreaded things for Windows, yet on Linux, you don't have to worry about that junk. Atleast not yet. I'm sure that as more companies migrate their computers to Linux, those evil virus writers will switch targets and aim at the Red Hat running servers. However, no matter how good Linux may be in security, one day or another, it will probably become just as vulnerable as Windows.

Well, those are my 2 cents. I'm obviously not incredibly informed on everything, nor did I do all this research. This is all info from what I've heard and experienced, and thats what new Linuxers will be thinking. Maybe we should just all go over to the Macintosh side...