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The perenial Linux / Windows Debate continues to rage. How many times have we heard something to the effect of "Linux is fast replacing Windows as a prefered operating system in <insert sector name here>" Which I think most people take with a pinch of salt. Where am I going with this? Im afraid its another "is linux better than windows" article.

Personally, whenever Im reading some article about which option is best for any given situation, I like to get my answers quickly. So to keep things simple, Ill offer my opinion, and then give you the reasons:

"Windows is better than Linux, SOMETIMES"

Talk about sitting on the fence! Now im not looking to start a fight with a bunch of linux advocates.... or Windows advocates for that matter. To be honest, this is my attempt at answering the oft quoted charge that Linux will never get into the main stream of operating systems. Its also supposed to be a guide for Windows users who have seen the multitude of things that linux is cabable of, and are looking to take thier first steps into that "unknown" command prompt domainated world.

Im not going to go into the Linux equivelents of commands and options, Just give advice to those thinking of starting the journey, and hopefully imparting some useful advice. ... Infact, since that was the original focus of this peice, I think Ill do just that

"I use Windows server all the time, and now I want Linux to be my xyz server"

First of all, congratulations, you've realised that Microsoft isn’t the only option for server operating systems. Now you probably know that when it comes to usability, Microsoft has the game all sewn up.Consider the task of setting up a bog standard VPN for a Windows server: Install the Routing and remote access service (since Windows 2000 available through a wizard) define the users that access to "dial" in, if you want to get really complex, define some VPN policies. Now putting aside the fact that by default MS VPN uses PPTP and all the bad things that go with it (including the Windows inbuilt VPN client) What you have is a VPN server that does the job 90% of the time.. good enough for most people.. (even me!) then you have one fully functioning VPN server that users can connect to and get access to server and network resources. The whole process takes 10 minutes at most, you've got your vpn and you've got the rest of the day to relax (or at least do other things)

Its the same on Linux, of course you have install the OS to begin with (as you do with windows, but at least Windows makes it easy - if you want a VPN for more than 1 person at a time, get Windows Server 200x) Linux, not so easy Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Mandrake... the list goes on (I btw, use fedora) But to be fair to most Linux Distros (Distributions) most of them have a wizard style installation routine that is pretty easy to use.