Microsoft Windows vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Windows
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Windows is an operating system with editions to support business workstations.N/A
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux distribution mainly used in commercial data centers.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Best Alternatives
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Small Businesses
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.6 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Score 9.3 out of 10
Ubuntu
Ubuntu
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.5
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft WindowsRed Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Likelihood to Recommend
I highly recommend it because it's the most used operating system in the world. If you work with other organizations or share info, it's easier if you have the same system instead of Linux, for example. Also, a large number of employees know how to use it, but not so many know how to use Linux or macOS.
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is well suited for cloud environments, fast deployments and to run non-intensive apps/tools (with low memory and low cpu consumption).Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) might not be suited for really huge databases and intensive CPU processing.
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Pros
  • Great integration with my business accounting software Quickbooks
  • Great integration with Microsoft Office 365
  • Easy to find files that I haven't used in awhile with search feature
  • Simple, easy to find listing of programs available
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  • Virtualization, like the operating system level task. I see this product is very good and it blends very well with the middleware components like all the JBoss and other things. And other than that, either you install it or a virtual machine or physical servers, it works seamlessly anywhere. And if you want to go further, like Red Hat OpenShift or those things also work very nice with it.
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Cons
  • Forced updates occasionally have bad timing when ignored for too long
  • Microsoft Edge Web Browser is a bit clunky
  • The 3D desktop still needs some improvement
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  • Well, one of the things, this ties right back to my previous answer from what it sounds like, the cloud platform for Insights doesn't currently have an easy way to generate CVE compliance reports, or do scans for where you have remediations required, but it does not currently produce those reports in a way that I could just hand off to our security team and be like, here's our compliance, here's where all the things are specifically because Red Hat does backporting of patches and a lot of security tools don't know how to handle that and think that we're vulnerable when we're not. So from everything I've heard, it's possible. That's why I'm excited for it. But it's not easily pushed button generated report yet. So we're working with them to get that in there.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We find RHEL to be a superior OS with stable operations and long life. It is also easier to use and fix then most other OS's.
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Usability
An all-purpose operating system for business or personal users. Overall, the OS is very user-friendly and intuitive, enabling even new users to quickly utilize the system. The same can be said about the apps within Windows. There is also good cross-functionality between applications, although the ease of use could be improved.
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The Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distro is the simplest enterprise version of Red Hat that is enterprise supported and when you deploy as many VMs as we do, it is vital to have that enterprise support. On top of the enterprise support, having access to a commercially supported backbone for updates and upgrades is a huge plus.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Product support and regular patches.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
As with any OS enhanced testing will need to be done prior to application integration.
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Support Rating
support remains spotty, researching online articles are a pain
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Red Hat support has really come a long way in the last 10 years, The general support is great, and the specialized product support teams are extremely knowledgeable about their specific products. Response time is good and you never need to escalate.
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Implementation Rating
MDT helped deploy OS to users machines via PXE boot.
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Don't be afraid of it, its easy to install and configure for the tasks needed.
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Alternatives Considered
We selected Microsoft Windows because of the user friendly nature of it and a big factor is that other user never used macOS or Ubuntu so the productivity will decrease a lot because you have to explain a whole new OS. I always only recommend macOS or Ubuntu if you are a graphic designer of a developer. But for the day to day office work Microsoft Windows is the way to go.
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It's superior. I mean they're all Linux so it's all that code, but I find that the intangibles that you get with Red Hat, meaning the enterprise support, the lifecycle, that's what clearly makes it better than the rest of them.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
Operational ease of use backed by support
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Return on Investment
  • As a a windows-based app, with a windows-using customer base, working in the environment is extremely helpful.
  • Relatively easy to develop on, there is documentation and support widely available.
  • VERY wide hardware compatibility, any replacement parts we need for our machines are easy to use.
  • Windows updates frequently fail requiring our MSP or more often one of our customer support staff to intervene to get them running again.
  • Poor performance and inefficient resource utilization requires frequent upgrades.
  • Windows 10's service ending next year has required company-wide hardware upgrades due to the Windows 11's excessive requirements.
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  • RHEL provides a good base OS and additional tool sets for various deployments.
  • We are able to use Satellite to manage hundreds of OS's behind our corporate firewall. No other OS provides the level that RHEL does.
  • It is a known good quantity. Their support for the OS is amazing.
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ScreenShots