Q. Compare the Operating system from Microsoft with OS from Open Source  S / W

            Firstly, we will discuss the basic difference between the closed source software and an open source software.

            In Closed Source model, you can use a program the way the vendor has intended you to use it. You can't make changes to it, such as fixing a security glitch if you notice one or tweak it to suit the changes in your business.

            while in open source approach, the programmer gives out the source code if his program, so that you can see the architecture of the program and copy it or make changes to it if you want. this way you have more control over the software that you run.

To compare the OS from Microsoft with the OS from Open Source S/W, following points can be taken into consideration :

1. Pricing Issue :

Total cost of ownership [TCO] of a business which includes ensuring regular updates, looking into vulnerabilities and security issues and cost of support and maintenance, amongst others.

With open source approach and since distributions of Linux will always cost considerably less, it's market share will continue to grow. For corporate, the TCO of ownership is much less than owning an all Microsoft Office or MS- Windows.

2. Free or Low - cost software :

Most of the open source operating system software like Linux, Free BSD are usually free or comes at a very low cost, in distribution with Books, Magazines or we can download it from internet also.

But in case of MS-Windows, you need to purchase a legal licensed copy for every client PC.

3. No Extra Licensing Costs :

Microsoft Software  have very strict licensing terms, commonly charging on per client basis.

For ex: when you buy a proprietary server OS for your server with many clients, you pay for each client that will access it.

Open Source Licenses like GPL [ General Public License ] specifically allow for the modification of a program for your business purposes or for improving the software from it's present state. Under the Open Source Scheme, there is no concept of "Number of client licenses" for a server or licensing of s/w based on no. of CPU's or the no. of installed systems.

4. No Upgrade Costs :

Microsoft always releases frequent upgrades to their existing products along with the gradual withdrawal of support for the previous versions. This often results in catch-22 situation for the user, means if you continue with the earlier version, you will not get any support, while  if you upgrade , you'll have to pay software cost & license fee on a per client basis all over again.

in case of open source s/w, there is no need of often upgradation, and if there is, then the cost of upgrades is negligible when compared to that of MS-Windows and is often covered in an annual subscription fees.

5. Stability & Security :

In case of MS-Windows project, only a particular team works on security aspects. in such case, if a user files a bug report, it's upto the Microsoft to decide of and when he wants to fix it.

while in open source OS like Linux, the code is open to the scrutiny of  a vast community of developers. so chances of someone identifying and fixing bugs are much much higher than in Windows... For most backend jobs like Firewalls, gateway, proxy, etc. there is no need of latest software. so open source software can be deployed on older machines.

6. Customization :

In open source s/w [Linux], you can modify code according with organization's needs and applications and if you give the modified code out, you may also end up contributing to the improvement of the program.

But this is not the case in MS-Windows, because the source code of windows is closed.

            There is no doubt that Microsoft policies have been aimed at making windows the most popular OS, specifically for the home PC market. in reality, the fact that windows is extremely user friendly has made the PC a very effective and popular tool in virtually every industry.

One of the keys to the success of the Microsoft and DOS or the Windows OS has been it's secrecy; if they had made the source open, they would have never grown to this extent.

Therefore, when users are able to overcome their fears with respect to mystery of unknown, they will discover a whole world outside Microsoft Windows.