Costs of Linux vs. Windows

Costs of Linux vs. Windows

There is much debate currently among IT professionals as to whether Linux’s total Cost of ownership (TCO) is lower than that of Windows or any other operating system. The debate is complicated by the wide variety of factors on which a comparison can be made. First, there are many flavors of Linux. Which distribution is being compared to what version of Windows can lead to widely varied answers. There is no simple preset formula for making the comparison.

For the home environment it would be simple to say that since Linux is available free, it must be cheaper that Windows. However, virtually every computer today comes equipped with a Windows operating system. Therefore one has to replace it with a Linux operating system. As described previously some machines are now available with just a Linux operating system. These will certainly be cheaper than a similarly equipped Windows based machine.

A second comparison can be made for someone considering u...