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CentOS vs Windows 10 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows 10
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
271
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 6.1%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 10 is 3.3%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Mahender Nirwan - PeerSpot reviewer
In-depth documentation available and command-line utility works well
One issue I recently faced, but I think it was due to my IT support guys, was that when the server storage gets full, the service crashes. It's very difficult to regain access and stability in that situation. That could be improved. So, the stability might be improved. But I don't think it's a CentOS-level issue. The system administrators need to come up with a solution for that, but I don't think it's CentOS's fault. I haven't done any research [R&D] on this issue. There's one thing for sure. We recently migrated from CentOS 7 to CentOS 9, and it was a bit difficult. For example, updating Windows is simple; you just download it, and it takes about 15-20 minutes. But that's not the case with migrating from CentOS 7 to 9. We had to back up the entire server, launch a new server, and then restore the backup to the new server. We couldn't directly migrate. I think that was a bit of a problem. The setup and updates are not that new in CentOS.
Akos Szirmai - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy installation and the initial setup time is reasonable
Stability can be an issue. I have to restart it every two days. And the boot time is quite long. My laptop's old, has no SSD, and is just a traditional Winchester. Had desktops with Windows 11 and SSDs, much better performance. But hardware limitations on my current laptop lead to stability and response issues. It's more like the whole reinstall every two years thing. It makes cleaning a pain. Performance improves significantly after a fresh install, then slowly deteriorates as I add more programs. But my biggest concern with Windows 10 is actually bigger than my situation. I'm replacing my laptop anyway, but I read that Windows 10 support ends in a year or so. And with hardware limitations, many other computers won't run Windows 11. So it's not just me. A lot of people with decent, still-working Windows 10 machines will lose support and be unable to switch to 11. This will be a significant problem for individuals and institutions. Large companies with thousands of computers don't replace them every three years, and they might face issues with many computers unable to run Windows 11 and lacking support for 10.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is performance."
"CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly."
"Setup is straightforward. You can complete it in about 30 minutes."
"It’s scalable."
"There's lots of great documentation available."
"You can work with the UI or in command line, if you prefer."
"The product is very efficient when it comes to virtualization."
"The user access level is most valuable. When you do administration with CentOS, the number of customizations that you can do for each user is higher than other solutions. It is very customizable."
"Windows 10 makes it easy to access the taskbar section and browser tabs. Additionally, I can easily access and use applications. I find the task manager valuable, as I can quickly access it and turn off applications I don't want to use. Having a default Windows security feature makes it easy to engage."
"Technical support is very good."
"The new security features are very good."
"The GUI has been enhanced and it supports the 365 suite."
"We are satisfied with this operating system."
"The usability is satisfactory."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The product is easy to use."
 

Cons

"The main issue is the End of Support. For that reason, we will switch to another operating system."
"We occasionally have issues with software installation."
"Integration with Open Stack could be improved."
"This solution is no longer supported and will not receive any updates going forward."
"The YUM install manager can be improved. It is below average as compared to the other install managers. This is the only major problem that I see with CentOS. They should reduce dependency on the YUM manager."
"It would be ideal if Red Hat would continue the CentOS versions in an open-source format. They seem to be moving away from that. Now only paid versions are available."
"The support could be a bit better."
"When comparing the GUI of CentOS to Microsoft Windows or Mac, it could improve."
"The overall performance could be improved — it loads slowly at times."
"of the problems with Windows 10 is that it hangs when you open multiple programs."
"The stability of the product has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The security and the updates could use improvements, as well as scalability."
"The pricing could always be lower."
"I would like the updates to be less intrusive. It would be great if Windows could update without restarting. They've made some improvements in that regard, but there is still some room to do better. I would still like monthly updates, but it would be nice if I didn't need to tell everyone to log out and save their work because their computer needs to be rebooted."
"It could be more secure. We just want them to focus on security."
"There are a lot of patches that are released frequently that always ask for a reboot. This causes errors and unpredictable actions on the computer. Sometimes it will get hot and reboot and all those kind of patches which will happen after an installation. That is something that needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a free solution."
"CentOS is an expensive solution. There are other solutions that are rated at the top that are not expensive, such as Red Hat."
"We are using a subscription-based license option for CentOS."
"I'm not required to pay a licensing fee."
"There are no licensing fees for CentOS."
"It's free."
"CentOS is cheaper compared to Windows."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved."
"When compared with other Operating Systems, such as Linux-based solutions, it's expensive."
"The product is not that cheap."
"The license came with the computer when I purchased it."
"While the licensing costs of Windows 10 certainly exceed those of other operating systems, as far as the product, its performance and its wide range of usage goes, it is fine. It's worth the price."
"Windows 10 came preinstalled on my laptop, I am not sure the price."
"I paid for a license, but there's no monthly fee."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and the cost is in the range of 10,000 to 12,000 rupees."
"I have a home license that costs me around 1,000 rupees."
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 24, 2017
It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.
Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?
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 fe...
What do you like most about CentOS?
CentOS is very easy to use, and all the commands are user-friendly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CentOS?
I am not responsible for the setup cost in my company, so I am unsure about the cost of the license.
What needs improvement with Windows 10?
I do not have notes for improvement.
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
In my case, I would mostly say it's because of security reasons. At least for the typical use cases that I generally rely on Windows for, there didn't seem to be a noticeable performance difference...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about CentOS vs. Windows 10 and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.