Comparing Ubuntu to Windows 7:
A review of security features and the user interface.
By:
Operating Systems
May 2013
INTRODUCTION
When it comes to operating systems (and computers in general), there are two specific areas that are of interest to me; 1) security features and 2) user interface. I have never used a Linux operating system or product of any sort, other than the firewall at my office, which is a Linux based program called Untangle. I plan to compare the security features and user interface of Ubuntu to those of Windows 7. I will compare the ease of use of both features for the end users, as if I was preparing a comparison to present to my office management to help aide in their decision of which operating system to utilize.
Originally, for my research I was going to use an old Dell Inspiron 8600 (purchased in 2004) with Ubuntu version 7.04 Feisty Fawn, which was released in April of 2007 and is no longer supported by Ubuntu. However, I felt that comparing an OS that had been released in 2007 with one that had been released in 2012 was like comparing apples to oranges. I attempted to install version 13.04 on the system, but was unable to do so. Instead, I downloaded and installed version 12.04 Precise Pangolin on a newer Inspiron 1545 (purchased in 2009) which was able to accommodate the newer version of Ubuntu without any issues.
HISTORY
Ubuntu
Before there was Ubuntu, there was Debian. The Debian Project began in 1993. Using the Linux kernel, the goal of the group of volunteers was to create and distribute an operating system made up of free software (Debian Documentation Team, 2013). It continues to this day, with version 7.0 Wheezy having been released in May 2013. It has been described as the “rock upon which Ubuntu is built” (Canonical Group Limited, 2013) by Ubuntu’s founder, Mark Shuttleworth.
The first “official” version of Ubuntu was released in October of 2004, version 4.10 Warty Warthog. Unlike Debian, which was...