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CentOS vs Windows 10 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 3, 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
8.6
Businesses rely on CentOS for efficient web application management, ensuring operations efficiency and cost savings through regular updates.
Sentiment score
1.4
Windows 10 boosted efficiency, security, and performance, offering rapid ROI and compatibility, despite differing opinions on financial gains.
It saved a lot of time through troubleshooting, which gives us substantial room for improvement in terms of fixing things.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
CentOS relies on an active community, offering troubleshooting through forums and documentation, despite lacking official technical support.
Sentiment score
5.0
Windows 10 support is generally satisfactory with knowledgeable staff, but response times and accessibility could improve.
I would rate the customer support for CentOS a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
I would rate the documentation about eight in terms of usefulness.
We have informed Microsoft, but the issue is still there, and it has been more than three to four months.
The customer service and support from Microsoft are quite responsive and generally good.
The Office 365 support is good, it takes a while sometimes to point to the problem, but they're good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
CentOS efficiently scales across user volumes and hardware, though some users note limitations requiring external tools or license changes.
Sentiment score
4.7
Windows 10 offers robust scalability, effectively supporting user growth and system expansion for organizations of all sizes.
CentOS's scalability for my organization has handled growth and changing needs smoothly.
For scalability, I would rate it a nine or ten because performance-wise, Windows 10 has never given me those issues.
I can increase the licensing amount easily when there is company growth or when new people join.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
CentOS is highly stable, with users praising its reliability and scoring its performance between eight and ten out of ten.
Sentiment score
6.2
Windows 10 is stable, highly rated, minimal crashes, but requires frequent updates for security and optimal performance.
I believe CentOS is stable, but we are gradually moving away from it.
The challenges were related to third-party agents and their supportability.
I would rate the stability of the product an eight.
 

Room For Improvement

CentOS struggles with performance, stability, UI complexity, limited documentation, security concerns, and needs more updates and support.
Windows 10 needs better update management, system stability, security, performance, integration, and more flexible pricing and installations.
CentOS removed long-term support, and version releases every two to three years are not ideal for production environments because they necessitate frequent updates.
CentOS should introduce more security patches to fix different vulnerabilities.
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.
Investment in Windows 10 may not be ideal as the world is changing with advancing technology in the AI age.
The transitions within Teams are not smooth, and call quality in meetings is not great.
 

Setup Cost

CentOS is cost-effective for enterprises, offering free open-source use with optional third-party support and nominal fees.
Windows 10 pricing for enterprises involves complex licensing models, with costs varying by volume, agreements, and hardware bundles.
There was no cost in terms of deploying it or getting the license for it.
CentOS is a free product with free updates.
For those buying a Windows license, it might be better to buy a Windows 11 license.
Windows is considered overpriced, especially given the normal software functionalities.
Windows 10 is cost-effective when compared to other competitors available such as Mac and Linux.
 

Valuable Features

CentOS excels in stability, performance, and security, favored for compatibility, scalability, and open-source flexibility with minimal resource consumption.
Windows 10 excels in security, multitasking, integration, and performance, offering features for developers and gamers alike.
The update cycle changed when CentOS was prioritized for updates, causing stability issues.
In my experience, the best feature that CentOS offers is the network configuration of a device from the command-line interface, which is exceptionally clean.
When using mapping software such as QGIS or ArcGIS, the system remains stable, especially when handling heavy files.
The configuration management tools, such as SACM, are effective.
Windows 11 brings some AI features for Microsoft Copilot, which probably weren't as integrated into the previous version.
 

Categories and Ranking

CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
70
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
4.5
Number of Reviews
282
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of CentOS is 4.5%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows 10 is 2.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Windows 102.8%
CentOS4.5%
Other92.7%
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.
Arjun Meda - PeerSpot reviewer
User appreciates ease of use but desires improvements in pricing and update process
I do not find Windows 10 compatible with my applications as I am not using any legacy applications. Regarding my experience with Windows 10, I was annoyed with updates that constantly make my PC restart. Additionally, the user interface could be more intuitive because it is sometimes too hard to find specific items.
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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
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business125
Midsize Enterprise63
Large Enterprise119
 

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?
CentOS is a free product with free updates. There are third-party companies available for support, but they charge varying amounts for their services.
What needs improvement with Windows 10?
Performance and slowness are areas that could be improved in Windows 10. Sometimes the system experiences slowdowns. The only issue I face and can remember is related to performance.
What is your primary use case for Windows 10?
I use Windows 10 for regular office activities.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

CentOS 7 (x86_64) - with Updates HVM
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about CentOS vs. Windows 10 and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.