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Rocky Linux vs Windows 10 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 13, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.3
Transitioning to Rocky Linux yields cost savings and efficient support, though ROI remains partially evaluated due to retained resources.
Sentiment score
1.3
Windows 10 increases efficiency with fewer crashes, better security, and user-friendly features, achieving ROI within 18 months.
When it comes to return on investment, a lot of money is saved since we moved from a purchased license to the open source provided by Rocky Linux.
Cloud Infrastructure Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
ROI has been good as we have significant open source community involvement.
Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have seen a return on investment since there was definitely money saved at the time due to the lack of need for licensing since Rocky is available openly.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.5
Rocky Linux is reliable with minimal customer support needed; community resources are effective, and official support responds promptly.
Sentiment score
4.8
Windows 10 users often prefer online resources over Microsoft support, despite its helpfulness and knowledgeable staff, due to faster solutions.
The support level is extraordinary, providing on-time assistance.
Senior System Engineer at Al Jazeera Media Network
We have not yet needed to contact a vendor regarding Rocky Linux.
Senior Network Engineer at KLC bvba
Even if we raise a support ticket, we receive a resolution or a reply from the team within two business days.
Cloud Infrastructure Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We have informed Microsoft, but the issue is still there, and it has been more than three to four months.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
The customer service and support from Microsoft are quite responsive and generally good.
Senior Manager at Morgan Stanley
The Office 365 support is good, it takes a while sometimes to point to the problem, but they're good.
IT Administrator at a university with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.6
Rocky Linux is praised for scalability, ease of integration, and effective performance in scalable and high availability environments.
Sentiment score
5.4
Windows 10 is adaptable and scalable for diverse organizations, offering seamless expansion and cross-device compatibility with regular updates.
Even if the server is not responding and we want to attach the volume on another instance or a temporary instance, it is very easy and straightforward with no hiccups.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
It has handled growth or changing needs well.
System Administrator at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The scalability is quite good, though there are some issues with Rocky Linux.
System Engineer at clusterkit
We can focus fully on our work without pressure or concerns about issues on our own PCs.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
For scalability, I would rate it a nine or ten because performance-wise, Windows 10 has never given me those issues.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I can increase the licensing amount easily when there is company growth or when new people join.
Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Rocky Linux is praised for stability, reliability, and ease of use on low-resource systems, receiving high user satisfaction ratings.
Sentiment score
6.5
Windows 10 is appreciated for stability and reliability, despite occasional update issues and third-party software compatibility challenges.
Rocky Linux is stable, scalable, and it is very much easier to use.
Cloud Infrastructure Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is stable.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The challenges were related to third-party agents and their supportability.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
Windows 10 is stable for my daily development work, providing frequent security updates and user-friendly updates, which are excellent.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
I would rate the stability of the product an eight.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Rocky Linux needs improvements in software availability, documentation, integration issues, updates, Kubernetes support, and security solutions to satisfy user needs.
Windows 10 requires improvements in updates, security, user interface, stability, resource usage, pricing, and compatibility for better user experience.
It is based on customer requirements, as they might want to use Rocky Linux or Ubuntu, depending on their needs.
System Engineer at clusterkit
Rocky Linux could be improved by having more integration with Kubernetes.
Linux architect at European Commission
Currently, it takes more than one month to release a new package or kernel, so speeding that up would help reduce reported vulnerability remediations.
Cloud Infrastructure Services at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft can improve their Teams product because everybody uses Teams, and it's very clunky and unfriendly in terms of scrolling back, downloading files, and moving back and forth within the different teams.
Senior Engagement Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Investment in Windows 10 may not be ideal as the world is changing with advancing technology in the AI age.
DevOps Engineer at CipherTV Corp.
The transitions within Teams are not smooth, and call quality in meetings is not great.
Senior Manager at Morgan Stanley
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise clients find Rocky Linux economical, with options as low as $10 yearly, enhancing affordability compared to VMware.
Enterprise buyers find Windows 10 licensing flexible but desire clearer pricing and competitive adjustments for better affordability.
We switched to Rocky Linux because of the license price, and in our business, we don't need to have a higher cost as that is not a good idea.
Network Infrastructure Manager at SAGEMCOM
There is no extra cost for a license if we are purchasing Rocky Linux from the AWS Marketplace.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Rocky Linux is free, and I can download it and deploy it in whatever environment I have, whether it be H3C, VMware, or Hyper-V.
Server & Cloud Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
For those buying a Windows license, it might be better to buy a Windows 11 license.
DevOps Engineer at CipherTV Corp.
Windows is considered overpriced, especially given the normal software functionalities.
Design engineer at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Windows 10 is cost-effective when compared to other competitors available such as Mac and Linux.
BI developer at Jubilee Life Insurance Company Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Rocky Linux enhances reliability and efficiency with strong community support, stability, easy migration, scalability, and cost savings.
Windows 10 is popular for its user-friendly interface, enhanced security, fast performance, and strong application and hardware compatibility.
Rocky Linux has positively impacted my organization, specifically through cost savings, because we did not have to buy any licenses or extra licenses of other distros, such as Oracle or Red Hat.
IT / IAM Senior Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
For production deployment, Rocky Linux is a great choice because it offers full RHEL compatibility without licensing costs, along with strong community support.
CloudOps Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released.
Linux architect at European Commission
When using mapping software such as QGIS or ArcGIS, the system remains stable, especially when handling heavy files.
Co-Founder at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Device encryption is a main priority for us as developers in a FinTech company because we have the most secure user data.
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
The configuration management tools, such as SACM, are effective.
Technology\Cloud Architect | IT Infrastructure Security & Compliance at IDFC Bank
 

Categories and Ranking

Rocky Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows 10
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
284
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Rocky Linux is 13.0%, up from 13.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 10 is 2.8%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Rocky Linux13.0%
Windows 102.8%
Other84.2%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Massimiliano Adamo - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux architect at European Commission
Has supported seamless migrations and enabled running complex data workloads securely
The best features Rocky Linux offers include clustering and all the packages from Red Hat.Rocky Linux has impacted my organization very positively because we migrated everything from CentOS and Windows servers to Rocky Linux. Everything is clear, with good packaging, and now it's version 9.6, which is very important for us due to security problems since we are in Europe. Rocky Linux is very good for security and other aspects. Since migrating to Rocky Linux, I've seen specific outcomes such as improved security because CentOS stopped the project, and security patches aren't being released. We need to maintain a system similar to Red Hat, which is very stable and has many features such as file system, topology, and containers.
R Pranavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Collaborative development has become more secure and efficient for our team
We have faced some issues with Windows OneDrive because if one developer has a folder in a common OneDrive folder, it took some time to show it to others. It becomes somewhat difficult to work, as there is latency on that, so if you update that, it will be more efficient and useful for the developers. My main focus on Windows 10 is the giving of regular updates, so it might take some time to update Windows, which is also mandatory. As a developer, when we are working with Windows 10, if it takes more time to update and restart the PC, it affects our efficiency at work. If we could stop the updates on a regular basis or if they were delivered faster, it would be easier. As a developer, the frequent updates are too annoying for working on it, so it would be better if we stop the frequent updates and only provide the most important ones. Performance issues over time due to background apps and programs piling up and using an SSD instead of a hard disk are also concerns.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
13%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Performing Arts
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business125
Midsize Enterprise64
Large Enterprise120
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Rocky Linux?
It's very simple to work with, easy to learn, and know where things are.
What needs improvement with Rocky Linux?
I am not an expert on Rocky Linux, but I do not have anything to say regarding improvements; I think it is doing better. I chose a rating of eight out of ten because Rocky Linux must grow more; it ...
What is your primary use case for Rocky Linux?
My main use case for Rocky Linux is for the Nutanix environment, where we have a data center and everything is hosted there, including all the services and systems. Rocky Linux is the main OS of th...
What needs improvement with Windows 10?
We have faced some issues with Windows OneDrive because if one developer has a folder in a common OneDrive folder, it took some time to show it to others. It becomes somewhat difficult to work, as ...
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
As a developer, we can work collaboratively, and Windows 10 is also good from a UI perspective. I chose to rate it an eight because I have faced issues when updates come in, which can be annoying. ...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Rocky Linux vs. Windows 10 and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.