If you’re looking to buy a new computer or laptop, one of the first things on your mind in terms of components or the computer build is not the operating system – it’s usually a pretty open and shut case, with many laptop or computer purchases coming bundled with a Windows operating system, or in the case of Apple devices, MacOs.
Windows and macOS are the most common options. Each one offers a different experience of using your computer – the way you navigate, the combinations for shortcuts, and the general theme is all styled to give the browsing experience a unique feel.
However, there is one more option – which offers a fundamentally different way of browsing your computer. Linux is much less spoken of but no less effective, having been created in 1992 to be just that alternative option.
Read on to learn more about how Linux could benefit you over the traditional options.
Open Source
The primary stand-out feature of the Linux operating system is the fact that it is completely open-source. Unlike Windows and macOS, which are entities owned entirely by their companies, Microsoft and Apple, the code that makes up the Linux operating system is freely available to access online, where users can innovate, update, and improve using their own skills and knowledge.
This gives users much more freedom to optimize their Linux operating system to their own liking – with the low-resource nature of Linux allowing it to run quickly and effectively on computers that are no longer powerful enough to support Windows or macOS.
This ability to actively enhance the system and effectively customize it captivates those with interest in coding and software.
Privacy
In the modern world, where our data is collected and used for marketing purposes at seemingly every opportunity, people worry about their privacy being compromised by their online devices.
While it is possible to reduce the amount of your data that gets sent to companies, it requires being extremely vigilant if using a Windows or macOS device. With Linux, however, this is not an issue – while Microsoft and Apple collect data to upgrade the operating systems, users of Laptops for Linux will find that little to no data is collected, as there is no head development team involved in producing it.
Enhanced Security
Another feature of Linux that is appealing to users, and provides enhanced capabilities over the traditional operating systems, is the unique security capabilities. These unique security features are possible because they are fundamental to how the system operates.
Of course, no operating system is completely impenetrable, so it’s wise to act with your security in mind at all times.
However, the fact that every program or application running on a Linux system has to be given permission to execute using a password means that even if a malware or virus makes it onto your system, that doesn’t mean it can do any real damage.
