Comparison between Windows XP & the Linux operating system - Essay Example

COMPARISON BETWEEN WINDOWS XP & THE LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM INTRODUCTION The world has been witnessing a revolution ever since the introduction of the windows operating system. This has been primarily due to the easy-to-use interface as also the user-friendly controls that it is equipped with. But, the advent of the 90s has seen the rise of another major operating system that was developed on a UNIX foundation. Linux, as this operating system is popularly known is a freely available version under the open source initiative. It was and continues to be a hit with hardcore software developers. Therefore, the present era is seeing a tug-of-war between the vendor-based Windows XP (the newest version of windows) and the Linux (open source) operating systems. As such, the windows vs. Linux debate are a heated topic for discussion under the OS (operating systems) domain. As far as the current paper is concerned, the main aspects that will be discussed as part of the discussion include the following: Synchronization. Process Management Security System performance. Synchronization The basic difference between Windows XP & Linux when it comes to the issue of synchronization lies in the manner in which the different processes are related to the underlying kernel. 'Synchronization' is a term that is more often associated with an environment that comprises the execution of more than a single process concurrently. Under such situations, synchronization ensures that all the processes execute concurrently such that there is a sense of coordination between them for the purpose of getting a task to execute in perfect run-time order so as to prevent undesirable race conditions from occurring (A. Silberschatz, 2006). When it comes to the Linux operating system, there is a process scheduler that controls access to the processor. Therefore, the scheduler is assigned the task of governing the state of execution of the various processes present. The scheduler uses a set of timers to determine the various durations such as the amount of time that is supposed to be allocated to a particular process, the time for bringing out a process out of the execution or waiting state etc. this governs the monitoring of the system for any occurrence of deadlocks that can be duly eliminated through efficient mechanisms (Gordon Fischer, Claudia Salzberg Rodriguez, Claudia Salzberg, Steven Smolski, 2005). As opposed to this, the various processes under Windows XP are directly attached to the kernel. This requires that the kernel (and thereby the scheduler as well) must keep track of all the various processes that are attached to the kernel, though they may not be in use. This increases the chances of a deadlock & in many cases there are serious aberrations in terms of proper execution sequence between the various processes that are connected to a particular task. This is the usual occurrence when one tries to open too many applications on a windows machine wherein the system fails to respond beyond a certain limit (system hang). Linux has been found to offer better performance in this regard, wherein a system hang-up occurs only when the system hardware can no longer maintain the pace. Process Management This is related to the synchronization problem in the sense that the discussion mainly revolves around the process. The process management deals with two aspects in particular. According to A. Tanenbaum (2001), the first case is the allocation of execution sate to various processes & the other one is the allocation of memory space to the programs (processes). While the first one is mainly concerned about deadlocks, the second one is aimed at the minimizing the time required to fetch a process from the memory to the waiting queue for the purpose of putting it under consideration for execution. Under Linux, very process is assigned a unique process number that is used to reference the particular process under all circumstances, be it to create child processes, execute it or for killing that particular process. Under Linux, the run queue that comprises the processes is made up of two different types of arrays that are operated on the basis of priority. These are the 'Active' & 'Expired' arrays. The active array stores the processes that have not used up their time slice while the expired array maintains a list of those processes that have finished execution under their respective time slices. As against this, the windows XP operating system uses two classes of processes. The first one is called a 'variable' classes wherein the priorities can be anywhere between 0 & 15. The second one, known as the 'real-time' class can hold priorities for processes ranging from 16 to 31. a dispatcher under the OS will examine for the conclusion of a process's time slice. In case, the process is under the variable class, the process's priority is lowered, but never below a base priority that is fixed. The process's priority is similarly raised once it is brought out of the 'wait' state. This arrangement has been known to have improved the efficiency of the I/O under windows by allowing for concurrent execution with respect to simultaneous memory read/write operations (also known as DMA-Direct memory access). Security On the security aspect, windows XP is a harder operating system as its source code is not available publicly. The reason for the majority of the systems that are affected today to be windows based is due to the fact Windows enjoys a global share of around 85% among all available platforms & this makes it the most vulnerable target at least in a logical sense. This is termed as 'Security by obscurity' as the faults are not observable to hackers for allowing them to hack into systems based on windows platforms. Files on windows XP are protected through the use of a feature known as 'access lists'. This feature is also found in Linux distributions though this has started to be distributed under the newer versions. Moreover, the permissions structure in windows XP is more robust when compared to Linux wherein the user privileges are just limited to the setting of a switch between the read, write & the execute modes, which is considered to be a typical low-end security measure. System performance The windows XP is known to accommodate a large number of applications & is known to support a large number of them in a flawless manner. This is because of the provision of a large number of standard interfaces that allow software developers to develop applications & making them run by connecting them to these standard interfaces. On the other hand, Linux was a command line based OS until recently, which has been the main reason for people not opting for it. The trend continues even today, at least under normal users, which is the reason for most vendors to choose Windows as the platform for development. Another major consideration for the development has been the utilization of the memory for accessing the various files & programs. Flawlessness & the accessing speed are the major criterion in this regard. Memory management under Linux has been known to avoid a technique called 'swapping' that allows it to keep track of vacant blocks in the memory. As against this, another group of software experts are of the opinion that the use of the 'swap file' as it allows for predicting future memory accesses. Linux enthusiasts are of the view that the windows XP is less stable on account of performance, but such problems have been detected in Linux as well. This problem has been attributed to the presence of bugs as well as due to the inclusion of third party software. In addition, the inclusion of device drivers into the kernel under Windows XP has been found to be deficient in the case of unstable drivers. All this has led to occurrences of low or defective system throughput in a number of reported instances. CONCLUSION Speaking on an overall basis, it can be truly said that it makes no difference whether the application under consideration is a vendor-based or a open-source based resource. The provision or non-provision of the source code is not going to limit attacker's attempts. On a general note, it has been found that either of Windows XP or Linux has been found to have a slight upper hand over the other on the various aspects that have been discussed above. The only suitable conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis has been that while Windows XP is the best option in terms of the appeal & user friendliness aspects, the Linux operating system continues to be a software developer's charm. REFERENCES 1. Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne (2006), Operating System Concepts. New York: John Wiley. Seventh Edition. 2. A. Tanenbaum (2001), Operating Systems: Theories & Principles. London: McGraw Hill. 3. Gordon Fischer, Claudia Salzberg Rodriguez, Claudia Salzberg, Steven Smolski (2005), Linux Scheduling & Kernel synchronization. New York: Prentice Hall. Read More