Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Windows 10 comparison

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56,997 views|17,616 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
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15,821 views|8,068 comparisons
90% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jan 9, 2023

We performed a comparison between Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Windows 10 based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions agree that their initial setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) users like the solution’s robust integration capabilities and its powerful security software. Reviewers say that it could be much more user friendly.

    Windows 10 users like its firewall and say the solution is flexible and user friendly. Several Windows 10 users mention that it requires a high amount of resources, and that its security needs to be improved.
  • Pricing: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) users say the solution is expensive. Most Windows 10 users feel that the price of the solution is fair.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions report being satisfied with the level of support they receive.
  • ROI: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) users report a positive ROI. Windows 10 users do not mention an ROI.

Comparison Results: Windows 10 wins out in this comparison. The main difference between the two solutions is that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is not user friendly, while reviewers say that Windows 10 is. Windows users are also happier with its pricing.

To learn more, read our detailed Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows 10 Report (Updated: March 2024).
769,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"I find the satellite feature the most valuable. It allows us to manage disconnected workstations, keeping their patching, software updates, and bug fixes up to date.""The solution is very stable, reliable, easy to use, and has good technical support.""The most valuable feature is the security insight and the internal firewall, which are common in all the machine tests that we use a lot.""The most valuable feature is the OpenShift platform.""Aside from security, the advantage of Red Hat as compared to the other distributions is the availability of support and patching. When you have an enterprise subscription with Red Hat, you get support and patching.""The biggest thing that I have found valuable is stability.""Red Hat has introduced a fast server, where Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be integrated or connected to via a client.""The tool's most valuable feature is simplicity. There is value in having a fully CLI-based operating system instead of a GUI-based one. It is lightweight and can be leveraged without resource constraints."

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"The most valuable feature is that it's a good enough operating system for anyone who isn't technically proficient.""The main features of Windows 10 are ease of use and performance.""The performance is decent. I don't see many incidents of it crashing.""It offers an easy user experience for our customers.""Windows 10 is stable, but you need to install system updates constantly and download new antivirus definitions to avoid getting into any trouble.""Windows 10 is a user-friendly solution that has good stability and performance.""The user interface of Windows 10 is good. It is better than the earlier versions. Its performance is also better than the earlier versions. These are the two good points for me.""Technical support is great in South Africa."

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Cons
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux's monitoring could be improved. I would like additional monitoring features, like a greater ability to monitor services and workloads running. Satellite can provide centralized monitoring of subscriptions and deployments. You can build a monitoring console, but there is no native monitoring.""A feature that I would like to see in the image builder is the ability to open the image in live mode and access a command line interface.""Considering an area where the solution lacks, I think we can look into a lot more automation and integrations with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other products.""The product should be made more accessible to someone who isn't experienced with Linux.""The biggest thing that is crushing RHEL is documentation. Their documentation is haphazard at best. The man pages that you can use locally are pretty good, they've been fleshed out pretty well, but the documentation from Red Hat itself really needs somebody to go through it and review it.""The solution lacks proper documentation.""The cost could be lower. Red Hat is considered a costly solution. It can be expensive if you want all the features in the license. A cheaper license would make Red Hat more accessible to a broader range of users.""The labor required to maintain the on-premises storage systems has room for improvement."

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"Microsoft could improve the solution by adding enhanced translation and speaking recognition.""This solution is good enough, but Windows is always playing catch-up when it comes to development. An improvement I would like to see is in Windows updates. They don't seem to test the updates.""It takes a lot of hard drive space when you're using it. I also have Windows 10 on my personal computer, and it does take up an awful lot of hard drive space. This is probably something about which nothing can be done, and it is just a pet peeve of mine.""The solution could improve by having better security.""There is some room for improvement in the security of the solution.""Major update, that poses an issue should be able to be rolled back.""The only thing which concerns me is updates. It gets updated often. Sometimes, however, it automatically gets updated. That is an issue. It can happen when you do not want it to be done. It's possible it can start and your files are not saved. They may be open while your laptop enters sleep mode. Then, when you re-open the computer to continue work, it all of a sudden decides to update, destroying your work.""There is room for improvement when it comes to the licensing."

More Windows 10 Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing is a bit on the expensive side, mainly because of the support they provide. However, it is quite affordable if you are an organization. If, as a small company or individual, this is an expensive option, I would recommend CentOS, which is an exact replica of RHEL, minus the customer support."
  • "In terms of the solution’s single subscription and install repository for all types of systems, we can have as many RHEL installations as we want because we have a specific subscription that entitles us to have as many RHEL services as we want. We pay for a subscription and with that we get RHEL and Satellite as well."
  • "Red Hat Linux is inexpensive. Linux solutions are generally inexpensive."
  • "RHEL is expensive."
  • "Because it is a subscription, you can go elastic. This means you can buy a year, then you can skip a year. It is not like when you buy something. You don't buy it. You are paying for the support on something, and if you don't pay for the support on something, there is no shame because there are no upfront costs. It changes the equation. However, we have such growth right now on the Linux platform that we are reusing and scavenging these licenses. From a business standpoint, not having to buy, but just having to pay for maintenance, changes a lot of the calculations."
  • "We have a site license on a yearly basis. Generally, we're okay with its price, but everything could be cheaper."
  • "The licensing with Red Hat is on par with other organizations like Microsoft. We have a site license, which gives us a certain number of servers, perhaps 25,000, for the type of license that we have. That works really well for us."
  • "We are an educational institution and as such, what we pay is less than the average company."
  • More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Windows 10 is licensed. It was included with the purchase of my laptop."
  • "For my home computer it's a lifetime license, only purchased once."
  • "I think it is fair. I haven't bought it on my own because our laptops are from the company, and our company pays for it."
  • "Windows 10 came with the computer when I bought it, so it was already licensed."
  • "The basic operating system of any hardware should be free. Therefore, it should be free. They should charge only for the enterprise level or enabling the hypervisor. They should charge for Professional Windows 10, but the basic OS should be free."
  • "I have never bought this solution myself, I generally get it with my Notebook for free. I think they are competitively priced at this moment."
  • "When we purchase a new machine, it comes with it, and we don't pay separately for the license."
  • "This solution could definitely be a little cheaper."
  • More Windows 10 Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Anonymous User
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has… more »
    Top Answer:It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
    Top Answer:We use open source. We only have a subscription for support.
    Top Answer:I get updates continuously. The product must send updates less frequently. The copy speed changes depending on the size of the file.
    Top Answer:It is an operating system. I need it to access applications and services. I use the tool for personal purposes.
    Ranking
    Views
    56,997
    Comparisons
    17,616
    Reviews
    137
    Average Words per Review
    762
    Rating
    8.7
    Views
    15,821
    Comparisons
    8,068
    Reviews
    42
    Average Words per Review
    310
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
    Learn More
    Overview

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a stable and reliable open-source operating system for running application servers, databases, web servers, and production systems. It is also used for cloud infrastructure services, BI, and disaster assistance. Its valuable features include support and subscription, ease of management and troubleshooting, integration with existing infrastructure, security updates and hardening tools, scalability, and flexibility. 

    Red Hat has helped organizations accelerate deployment, provide stability, control, and reliable updates, and enable the deployment of current applications and emerging workloads across different environments.

    Windows 10 is one of Microsoft’s most advanced operating systems for personal computers (PCs), tablets, and other similar devices. To date this operating system is active on more than 1.3 billion personal computers worldwide.

    Windows 10 has many features that make it arguably the most popular operating system for PCs on the planet. Included in these are a wealth of security features designed to stop malware from compromising both devices and networks. It has integrations for various multifactor authentication as well as non-password-reliant login technologies such as iris scanning. These keep networks safe from the moment that a user logs in. It also has security tools which not only identify, isolate, and remove threats, but also limit the damage that they can cause.

    Benefits of Windows 10

    Some of the benefits of using Windows 10 include:

    • A wide array of security features that proactively protect your system from malware of all kinds. The Windows Defender Exploit Guard feature constantly scans your system’s background for threats. It identifies, isolates, and removes the malware from your infected network. It can also quarantine infected devices to stave off an outbreak of infection across your network.
    • Allows you to browse the web in a way that protects your network from cyber-threats, enabling you to browse the internet from the confines of a virtual machine. If your device becomes infected, the malware will be unable to spread beyond the virtual machine that it has already infected.
    • The ability to synchronize multiple devices so that you can work from anywhere at any time. Windows 10’s Timeline feature enables you to save your work in a Microsoft application. You can then access this saved work on another Windows 10 device and continue from wherever you left off.

    Reviews from Real Users

    The Windows 10 operating system stands out from the competition for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure users from digital threats and its main app management screen, which gives users the ability to easily manage their applications.

    One PeerSpot user who is the founder, president, and COO at an analyst firm, noted Windows 10’s impressive security suite when they wrote, “My impression is that the security via Windows Defender is good enough that I no longer feel a need for another third-party security solution, which had always been the case in the past. I think that perception still holds true.”

    Mike K., a collaboration specialist at a comms service provider, takes note of the main app management screen when he writes, “I like the main window pane where you can sort your mostly used and different types of apps, such as OneDrive, Google Chrome, and Access. I can just open up the main window, and those apps are right there at my fingertips.”

    Sample Customers
    Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm29%
    Government13%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company12%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company12%
    Educational Organization9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business24%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise66%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business39%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise59%
    Buyer's Guide
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows 10
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows 10 and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    769,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ranked 1st in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 167 reviews while Windows 10 is ranked 7th in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 248 reviews. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is rated 8.8, while Windows 10 is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) writes "Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Windows 10 writes "User-friendly, easy to setup and manage domain ". Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is most compared with Windows Server, Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, CentOS and Oracle Linux, whereas Windows 10 is most compared with Windows Server, Ubuntu Linux, Oracle Solaris, openSUSE Leap and Rocky Linux. See our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows 10 report.

    See our list of best Operating Systems (OS) for Business vendors.

    We monitor all Operating Systems (OS) for Business reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.