We performed a comparison between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Server based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Users of Windows Server 2016 feel that it is a very user-friendly solution. Furthermore, they note that its active directory feature is highly valuable. They also note that it is highly scalable. However, many users feel that its security capabilities could be greatly improved. They also feel that the graphical interface could be better.
Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Red Hat Enterprise Linux seems to be a slightly superior solution. All other things being more or less equal, our reviewers found Windows Server 2016 rather expensive to purchase and not as secure as it should be.
"The most valuable feature of RHEL is the Ansible Automation Platform, closely followed by Satellite."
"LVM is a valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature is Satellite. Its consistency in patch upgradation is great. For the ten-year lifecycle, we have been able to rely on it and not worry if the patch will break. We do not need additional patching features since it covers everything."
"When it comes to security, scalability, and robustness, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) excels in all aspects. That's why we rely on this operating system."
"The solution’s security feature is the most valuable feature for my company."
"Enterprise support is available for our customers."
"We have access to the Red Hat knowledge base. We have frequent meetings with Red Hat. Red Hat partners provided us with all the information and any kind of training."
"Management is portable and easily automated so deploying or installing packages and running updates is seamless."
"Most applications are compatible with this operating system."
"The solution is stable. The performance has been great over the years."
"Windows Server is a good technology that allows IT staff to consolidate their expertise on a single product, avoiding the need to manage different sources."
"My organization benefits from the use of the product since it is a tool that offers security while being user-friendly and easy to manage."
"It is easy to use, and its performance is good."
"Compared to other solutions, the ease of administration is great."
"The domain controller features are useful."
"The solution is easy to use and it supports multiple applications compared to other basic systems that are currently in a production environment."
"I would like to see the GNOME system monitor feature, which shows CPU usage and other aspects. It will help to save time."
"Its user interface could be better for people who want to use the GUI. They can provide a better user interface with more features."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux could do better in live patching. In this day and age, vulnerabilities are constantly emerging, I feel that Red Hat Enterprise Linux has fallen backward in terms of live patching, particularly live kernel patching."
"In the past and with older versions, you couldn't expand the root file system without rebooting the server or restarting the operating system. That is something that they have actually corrected now, which is great. They corrected that issue somewhere around RHEL 7."
"The operating system might not be able to handle big scientific problems which require a highly parallel system."
"Red Hat Enterprise Linux should provide more training because many people are not very familiar with Linux's user interface."
"Red Hat can improve its operating system by making it better from the quality assurance perspective. Users do find bugs, which they, of course, shouldn't encounter. A better QA would probably make the job a lot better. It would make the product a lot more stable than it's today."
"The technical support has room for improvement."
"There should be the ability to add other databases to be installed and configured instead of going to other virtual machines. They should be better integrated so they are all in one place."
"One area that needs improvement is the management console."
"In the future, there should be better protection for this solution."
"The solution could offer higher availability."
"More security features would be great."
"As for additional features, we are very interested in the new feature released by Windows: Azure Virtual Desktop. We are currently exploring it so that instead of people depending on their own desktop, we could work on Azure Virtual Desktop. Integration with Azure Virtual Desktop would be cool."
"In the next release, I would like to see better pricing."
"Often, we get updates that affect productivity."
More Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ranked 1st in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 167 reviews while Windows Server is ranked 4th in Operating Systems (OS) for Business with 180 reviews. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is rated 8.8, while Windows Server is rated 8.0. 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 Server writes "Easy to setup, stable and caters to my wide range of use cases but lacks user-friendly interface". Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is most compared with Ubuntu Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows 10, CentOS and Oracle Linux, whereas Windows Server is most compared with Ubuntu Linux, Windows 10, Oracle Linux, Windows 11 and CentOS. See our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows Server 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.